Combating IUU Fishing and Enhancing the Competitiveness of ASEAN Fish and Fishery Products
Annex 8 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION
FOR COMBATING IUU FISHING AND ENHANCING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF
ASEAN FISH AND FISHERY PRODUCTS By Dr. Kom Silapajarn
Secretary-General, SEAFDEC
Distinguished Senior Officials and delegates of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries, Representatives from international and regional organizations,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Firstly, let us call to mind the important role that fisheries in Southeast Asia plays in the region’s economic development. As shown in Fig. 1, the region’s fisheries attained steady growth during the last three decades. Specifically in 2014, the region’s total fisheries production from marine and inland (including aquaculture and capture fisheries) was more than 40 million metric tons (MT). This is about two times that of the total production in the last decade of 2004.
The capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors are of fundamental importance to the Southeast Asian region in terms of ensuring food security, enhancing revenue generation, improving economies, and creating employment. In many Southeast Asian countries, catching of or farming aquatic resources forms vital part of rural people's livelihoods. In cultural terms, aquatic resources mean more than source of income or food supply, as traditional fishery products such as fish sauce and fish-based condiments are important ingredients of people's daily diet which cannot be easily substituted. It is therefore becoming apparent that fish plays an important role not only in food stability but also in nutritional security of many rural and coastal populations.
The fisheries and aquaculture sectors have improved the livelihoods of peoples, especially in terms of employment generation. More than 10 million fishers and fish farmers are involved in these sectors that also generate employment especially for rural and coastal communities.
Looking at the trends of fisheries production in each ASEAN Member State, Fig. 2 shows that in 2014, Indonesia had the highest production in terms of volume which is about 48% of the total fisheries production of the Southeast Asian region. The figure also shows the drastically increasing fisheries production from 2008 until the present, although the total fisheries production of Thailand and the Philippines had been decreasing in late 2000s.
Fig. 1. Total fisheries production of Southeast Asia from marine and inland waters, in million metric tons (1980-2014)
50 In terms of Export of Fishery Products
based on the ASEAN Statistics, it could be gleaned that the region’s largest exporting country of fishery products in 2013 was Viet Nam, accounting for about 37% of the total ASEAN Export of Fishery Products (Fig. 3). Indonesia followed contributing about 26% and Thailand at 19%. This implies that the region’s foreign exchange earnings generated starting in 2013 could be between 11 to 16 Billion US Dollars.
Now, let us take a look at the global fishery resources (Fig. 4). We are aware that these have declined or to some extent collapsed due to over-exploitation and un-controlled fishing operations whether within national jurisdictions, sub-regional/regional areas or in the high seas. This implies that capture fisheries production would decline as predicted, while aquaculture had to increase its production to fill the gap in fish supply.
Fig. 2. Total fisheries production of the ASEAN Member States, in million metric tons (2014)
Fig. 3. ASEAN Export of Fishery Products (Since 2013, 11.15-16.00 Bilion USD )
Fig. 4. Declining trend of global fish stocks
51 Then, let us look at the increasing
demand of fish from capture fisheries and aquaculture based on FAO Fishery Statistics (Fig. 5). Comparing the global seafood consumption in 2009 with the future requirement in 2030, the demand from aquaculture product will increase from 55 million MT in 2009 to be 93.6 million MT in 2030.
Meanwhile, that of wild caught fish will be reduced from 67.9 million MT in 2009 to 58.2 million MT in 2030.
It is therefore necessary that the fisheries industry should be sustainable in order to nail the gap between the supply and demand of fish in the future. How can sustainability in fisheries be attained when there are a lot of challenges that confront the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the ASEAN Region. These include the international fish-trade related requirements which had become very stringent. These include compliance with guidelines and regulations to: combat IUU fishing such as for example the EU Regulation 1005/2008; promote traceability of fish and fishery products such as the US Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud, and RFMOs Catch Documentation Requirements, among others; and on the need to address labor issues in fisheries.
Let us have a look at IUU fishing as shown in Fig. 6. IUU fishing has been identified as one of the causes of the declining fishery resources, and can take place in all aspects of capture fisheries and in all sea areas. Initiatives to conserve and manage fish stocks have been undermined by IUU fishing, the result of which could lead to total collapse of capture fisheries seriously hampering all attempts to rebuild the stocks that may have already been overfished. This situation could also lead to losses of both short and long-term social and economic opportunities and thus, could have negative impacts on food security.
In the paper of Agnew et al. (2009), they estimated that IUU-caught fish in 2003 was 11-19% of reported catches, representing 10-26 million metric tons of fish valued at 10-23 billion US Dollars.
These eye-catching figures helped to mobilize international, regional and national efforts to combat IUU fishing which had been gaining pace since the mid 1990s until the present.
As we are also aware of, IUU fishing is occurring in the waters of Southeast Asia. This comes in various forms, such as:
1. Illegal Fishing Activities within Country, which could include
• Fishing with fake or without license, registration
• Use of prohibited fishing gears and methods
• Landing of fish in unauthorized ports, and
• Transfer of catch at sea; secondly
2. Landing of Catch Across Borders, and Double flagging;
3. Poaching in Other Country’s EEZ;
Fig. 5. Increasing demand of fish
Fig. 6. IUU fishing described
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4. Illegal Fishing and Trading Practices of Live Reef Food Fish, Ornamentals, and Endangered Aquatic Species, which could involve
• Direct shipments of Live Reef Food Fish from producers to importers that bypass in-country exporters, and
• Illegal/bad practices by stakeholders along the value chain, and
5. IUU Fishing in High Seas & RFMO Areas and landing catch in the ASEAN Member States.
In addition, the fisheries sector had been confronted with issues on labor. Regarding this, let us first consider the number of fishing vessels in the Southeast Asian Region which could be about 73% of the global fleet. Therefore, the issue of work in fishing affects several countries in Southeast Asia is very eminent, considering for example the fact that many Cambodian and Myanmar migrant workers work on Thai fishing vessels that operate in other coastal States.
With increased attention being paid to IUU fishing in the ASEAN, it is also important to consider the associated issue of exploitative labor practices. Migrant fishers are particularly vulnerable to abuse, even forced labor, for a number of reasons: the nature of work in fishing means that working hours and periods away from home are long, living and work conditions are tough and a number of hazards are involved. Moreover, there is limited inspection of conditions; and migrants have limited access to grievance procedures or complaints mechanisms.
All these challenges could not be addressed singly by one country alone, but through enhanced regional cooperation. SEAFDEC with support from donors notably the Government of Japan through the Japanese Trust Fund, and the Government of Sweden through the SEAFDEC-Sweden Project, has been assisting the ASEAN Member States in their efforts to combat IUU fishing in their respective waters through the development of measures as fisheries management tools to combat IUU fishing and enhancing the competitiveness of the ASEAN fish and fishery products in the global market. This is therefore the most opportune time to enhance regional cooperation for addressing those issues and challenges considering that the one ASEAN Economic Community building is in progress.
At this juncture, please allow me to inform you that through the regional collaborative efforts between the ASEAN Member States and SEAFDEC, opportunities have been created for relevant stakeholders to be engaged in readily. These include the following management tools that had been set up for adoption in the region, to combat IUU fishing:
• ASEAN Guidelines for Preventing the Entry of Fish and Fishery Products from IUU Fishing Activities into the Supply Chain;
• Regional Fishing Vessels Record for Vessels 24 Meters in Length and Over (RFVR-24 m);
• Regional Plan of Action for Management of Fishing Capacity;
• Implementation of the Port State Measures in the ASEAN Region; and
• Addressing Trans-Boundary Issues through Bi-Lateral/Multi-lateral Dialogues.
Moreover, management tools have also been developed that would enable relevant stakeholders to enhance the competitiveness of their fish and fishery products bound for the domestic as well as global markets. These include:
• ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme for Marine Capture Fisheries;
• Traceability System for ASEAN Aquaculture Products; and
• Good Aquaculture Practices: Preventing the Spread of Transboundary Aquatic Animal Diseases.
Other initiatives have also been undertaken to ensure that management of fisheries as well as utilization of fishery resources in the region would be sustainable, such as the following:
• Good Aquaculture Practices: Utilization of Alternative Protein Sources for Aquafeed to Minimize Pressure on Fishery Resources;
• Addressing Labor Issues in Fisheries; and
• Strengthening Fishery Resource Rehabilitation Measures to Mitigate the Impacts of IUU Fishing.
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First, let us look at the ASEAN Guidelines for Preventing the Entry of Fish and Fishery Products from IUU Fishing Activities into the Supply Chain (Fig. 7). The main goal of this ASEAN Guidelines is to ensure that all fish and fishery products in the supply chain do not come from IUU fishing activities. Specifically, the ASEAN Guidelines is aimed at:
• Introducing strategies and recommending appropriate measures for the ASEAN Member States to prevent the entry of IUU fish and fishery products into the supply chain by 2015;
• Providing guidance for the ASEAN Member States to develop and implement effective fisheries management for responsible and sustainable fisheries by 2017; and
• Promoting regional cooperation among the ASEAN Member States in strengthening Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Systems in the supply chain by 2015.
There are 5 Key Strategies and Measures spelled out in the ASEAN Guidelines which SEAFDEC and partners are championing in the ASEAN region, these are:
• Managing Fishing Activities within the ASEAN Member States;
• Regulating Transshipment and Landing of Fish / Catch across Borders;
• Preventing Poaching in the Exclusive Economic Zones of ASEAN Member States;
• Controlling Illegal Fishing and Trading Practices of Live Reef Food Fish, Reef-based Ornamentals and Endangered Aquatic Species; and
• Strengthening the Management of Fishing in the High Seas and RFMO Areas.
The second management tool is the Regional Fishing Vessels Record for Vessels 24 M in Length and Over. Through the RFVR Database System, IUU fishing could be defied through sharing of vessels information. Table 1 shows the 26 Items of Vessels Information that had been used as inputs for the development of the RFVR Database System for vessels 24 meters in length and over, which could be shared among the ASEAN Member States.
Table 1. Information on fishing vessels in RFVR Database that could be shared among ASEAN Member States
Information on fishing vessels
1) Name of vessel 11) Depth (D) 21) Nationality of vessel (flag) 2) Vessel Registration Number 12) Engine Power 22) Previous name (if any) 3) Owner Name 13) Shipyard/Ship Builder 23) Previous flag (if any) 4) Type of fishing method/gear 14) Date of launching/Year of
built
24) Name of captain/master 5) Fishing License number 15) International Radio Call sign 25) Nationality of captain/master 6) Expiration date of fishing
licenses
16) Engine Brand 26) Number of crew (maximum/minimum) 7) Port of registry 17) Serial number of engine
8) Gross tonnage (GRT/GT) 18) Hull material 27) Nationality of crew 9) Length (L) 19) Date of registration 28) IMO Number (If available) 10) Breadth (B) 20) Area (country) of fishing
operation
Fig. 7. ASEAN Guidelines for Preventing the Entry of Fish and Fishery Products from IUU Fishing Activities into the Supply Chain
54 Many items are very useful to monitor IUU fishing vessels such as information on the Vessel Registration Number, Port of Registry, Type of fishing gears, Serial Number of engine, etc. Such information are also very useful to identify vessels that are double flagging, or using fake flag. We are therefore encouraging the ASEAN Member States to make full use of the RFVR Database System (Fig. 8) in their efforts to combat IUU fishing in their respective waters.
In order that the ASEAN Member States could access the RFVR-24m Database System, the following information should be kept in mind:
• Web address is: www.seafdec.or.th/rfvr/index.php
• User account and password for login: SEAFDEC has provided the user account and password to all ASEAN Member States
• After receiving the User account and password, the user is requested to make registration online before accessing the RFVR-24m Database System.
The third initiative is the development of the Regional Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity. This regional initiative is meant to match fishing effort with the resources available and safeguard the interest of fishers. This is also intended to serve as guide for the ASEAN Member States to develop their respective National Plans of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity or NPOA Fishing Capacity.
The fourth main ASEAN-SEAFDEC Initiative to combat IUU fishing is the need for Regional Cooperation to Support the Implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement in the ASEAN Region. This is in order that illegally caught fish is prevented from entering international markets the countries’ ports. This also means that the ASEAN Member States have to take Actions on restriction of entry into port, use of port, access to port services, in addition the inspection and other enforcement activities to foreign vessels, which are stipulated in the Post State Measures Agreement or PSMA, which has just been ratified recently.
In order to effectively and efficiently promote management measures to combat IUU fishing in the whole Southeast Asian region, efforts have been made to scope down the whole area through sub- regional areas. This is considering that the region’s fishery resources are characterized as migratory in nature, fishing licenses are granted to foreign vessels, domestic fisheries are unregulated, high concentration of small-scale fishers that continue to provide significant contribution to the national economies, and high mobility of fishing crew. Therefore, SEAFDEC has embarked on a program that makes use of a sub-regional approach for improving fisheries management in order to control illegal and destructive fishing practices in the whole Southeast Asian region. The common elements that could be worked out for sub-regional fisheries management including the need to combat IUU fishing should be taken into consideration for the sustainability of fisheries in the whole Southeast Asian region.
Dialogues on the Trans-boundary issues within the Southeast Asian Region could be made based on the geographic features or sub-regional areas, such as the following:
• Gulf of Thailand (including Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam);
• Andaman Sea (including Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand);
• Southern South China Sea and Sulu-Sulawesi Sea (including Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Viet Nam); and
Fig. 8. RFVR Database System
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• Lower Mekong Basin sub-regional areas (including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam).
Now, let us tackle the aspects in enhancing the competitiveness of ASEAN Fish and Fishery Products to secure the niche of the region’s products in the domestic and global markets. Many questions had been raised by many countries with regard to their efforts in implementing the EC Regulation and RFMOs Catch Documentations. These are dovetailed toward the common Catch Certification required for trading fish among the ASEAN Member States. In response, the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme is being developed for the ASEAN Member States through regional collaborative efforts initially focusing on marine capture fisheries. This ACDS takes into consideration the various international and regional certification schemes that are also put to practice.
Table 2. ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme (ACDS) for Marine Capture Fisheries
Shown in Table 2 and Fig. 9 are the requirements from importing countries for fish trade as far as the ASEAN Region is concerned. These include the need for countries exporting to the EU to implement the EC-Regulation and those countries trading tunas to follow the RFMOs Catch Documentations.
The above Table also identifies the requirements of a simplified Catch Certification for intra-regional trade or even for trade of small-scale fish and fisheries products through the ASEAN CDS. The objectives of the ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme or ACDS are:
• To provide a unified framework that will enhance the traceability of fish and fishery products for effective marine fisheries management in the ASEAN Member States;
• To enhance the credibility of fish and fishery products for intra-regional and international trade;
and
• To prevent the entry of fish and fishery products from IUU fishing activities into the supply chain of the ASEAN Member States.
To support the implementation of the ACDS, SEAFDEC is seeking the support from the USAID- Oceans and Fisheries in the development of Catch Documentation Traceability System as an electronic system to be promoted in the Southeast Asian region. Meanwhile, support from the Governments of Japan and Sweden has been sustained.
Fig. 9. Fish trade requirements for traceability
56 Moreover, the Traceability Systems for Aquaculture Products from the ASEAN has also been developed (Fig. 10). As a matter of fact, the Regional Guidelines on Traceability Systems for Aquaculture Products in Southeast Asia would soon be published for promotion in the region. This Regional Guidelines would serve as common reference in implementing traceability systems for aquaculture products and for developing national programs on traceability. Concerns have however been identified by the countries that could hinder the implementation of the Guidelines. These include inadequate resources especially funding, lack of awareness on the part of the stakeholders, the complexity of the supply chain, and weak enforcement of regulations.
Nevertheless, these concerns could be mitigated if the aquaculture industry would only comply with the best practices in aquaculture.
As mentioned earlier, there is a need for the aquaculture industry to comply with good aquaculture practices. One of the most important aspects in this regard, is the prevention of the spread of transboundary aquatic animal diseases. Healthy and disease-free aquaculture products would surely secure their niche in the global market. We must recall that many aquatic animal diseases (Table 3) had impacted aquaculture production in Southeast Asia resulting in economic damages to the exporting countries. Although the spread of these diseases could be monitored and stopped through effective disease prevention and control as well as by complying with good aquaculture practices such as maintaining the necessary optimal environmental conditions during the culture period.
Table 3. Transboundary aquatic animal diseases that affected many Southeast Asian countries
Diseases Affected Organism
Epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) Freshwater fish
Koi herpes virus disease (KHVD) Koi, carps
White spot disease (WSD) Shrimps
Taura syndrome (TS) Shrimps
IMNV Shrimps
Viral nervous necrosis (VNN) Marine fish
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) Shrimp
There are also other initiatives that had been undertaken through regional collaborative mechanism.
Firstly, we are aware that part and parcel of promoting best aquaculture practices, is the need to utilize alternative protein sources for aquafeeds to get out from the fishmeal trap and minimize pressure on fishery resources that might have already been depleted due to IUU fishing activities.
Some ingredients that had been identified as fishmeal substitutes include plant protein, terrestrial animal protein, fisheries co-products, microbes and unconventional protein sources (Table 4). It is hoped that using these ingredients, the depleted fishery resources would be able to recover, and the regions’ aquaculture products would continue to be less-fishmeal dependent. However, there are issues and gaps in the use of these alternative dietary ingredients. Regional cooperation is therefore necessary to enable the countries to develop their respective NPOAs.
Fig. 10. Traceability systems for aquaculture products from the ASEAN