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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Illegal Fishing Climate Change
HEADLINE: Warming Oceans Exacerbate Security Threat of Illegal Fishing, Report Warns
TEASER: Unlawful fleets pursue shifting fish stocks across boundaries, intensifying geopolitical tensions, according to report by Britain’s Royal United Services Institute
PUBLISHED AT: 03/14/2023 at 8:45am
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: London
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, Holly Franko
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Teams, AFP, APTN, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:30
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[Illegal fishing is a multibillion-dollar global industry closely linked to organized crime. The trade will pose a greater threat to security as climate change warms the world’s oceans, according to a report from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute. Henry Ridgwell has more from London.]]
((NARRATOR))
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — or IUU fishing — is worth up to 36.4 billion dollars annually and represents up to 33 percent of the global catch, according to a report from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank.
As climate change warms the world’s oceans, fish stocks move into cooler, deeper waters. And criminal operations are expected to follow.
((Lauren Young, Royal United Services Institute))
“Chasing those fish stocks as they move. And there’s predictions or obviously concern that they will move in across existing maritime boundaries, and IUU actors will pursue them across those boundaries.”
((NARRATOR))
That in turn will impact local coastal fishing communities.
((Lauren Young, Royal United Services Institute))
“As their livelihoods become more vulnerable, they may begin engaging more in IUU practices like disruptive fishing practices or engaging in other type of criminal activity as well. There is a nexus with other crime types as well, like narcotics, human trafficking, labor abuses.”
((NARRATOR))
Many poorer countries do not have the capacity to police their waters. In parts of Africa and South America, coastal community members say foreign trawlers, including vessels from China, have devastated fish stocks.
((Alfred Ojah, Cameroonian Fisherman (in English) ))
“When the Chinese were not here [before the Chinese boats arrived], at least, if a fisherman goes to the sea, he can at least have something good for a day. But nowadays it's not really easy for us fishermen. Things are tough.”
((NARRATOR))
China denies its fleets conduct illegal fishing.
The United States Coast Guard said in 2021 that IUU fishing had replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat.
The British report identifies a warming South China Sea as a flashpoint. Already, fishing grounds and maritime boundaries are hotly contested — with frequent armed confrontations.
((Lauren Young, Royal United Services Institute))
“Many relate to China’s commitment to the nine-dash line, which is the country’s self-declared sort of maritime boundary. And they enforce that through armed fishing militia. So that obviously plays into it a lot as well. But those existing tensions there are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. And that is in line with predictions of climate change being this kind of threat multiplier.”
((NARRATOR))
This month, United Nations member states agreed to a High Seas Treaty to protect biodiversity, establishing vast marine protected areas.
((Lauren Young, Royal United Services Institute))
“Whilst it’s a positive move with climate change that we’re looking to protect more of the world’s oceans, we need to improve our ability to actually monitor and enforce them [the agreements] as well.”
((NARRATOR))
The report authors call for governments and multinational bodies to tackle illegal fishing activity based on climate change predictions; enhance vessel monitoring capabilities; and toughen enforcement in recognition of the role the illegal fishing industry plays in wider criminal networks.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMarch 14, 2023 22:34 EDT
BylineHenry Ridgewell
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
