Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a recognised global problem that undermines the integrity of responsible fisheries management arrangements and results in lost value to coastal States. The effects of IUU fishing are often hardest felt by developing coastal States heavily reliant on fishing for income.
MRAG companies have extensive experience on IUU fishing issues and are an acknowledged world leader in techniques to estimate IUU volume and value. In the Pacific region, MRAG Asia Pacific completed the first ever attempt at quantifying the nature and scale of IUU fishing in Pacific tuna fisheries in 2016 and updated the estimates in 2021.
MRAG Asia Pacific also has extensive practical experience in the design, implementation and assessment of fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) regimes. Our experience comes from being an operational provider of MCS services, through the delivery of observer programs, being an independent reviewer/advisor on the design of MCS programs and from our staff and associates who have overseen the delivery of large scale MCS programs as heads of fisheries agencies.
Our MCS and IUU services include:
- IUU quantification;
- Development and monitoring of IUU indicators;
- MCS/IUU risk assessment and operational planning;
- Independent review of MCS tools and programs;
- Economic cost benefit analysis of MCS services;
- MCS data analysis and reporting; and
- Institutional capacity building to strengthen MCS services.
