TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE FISHING INDUSTRY Focus on: Trafficking in Persons Smuggling of Migrants Illicit Drugs Trafficking UNITED NATIONS Vienna, 2011 The description and classification of countries and territories in this study and the arrangement of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. © United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2011 This document was not formally edited. Acknowledgements The present publication was prepared by Eve de Coning (consultant) under the supervision of Alexia Taveau of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Special gratitude is extended to Celso Coracini, Ian Munro, Morgane Nicot, Ric Power, Riikka Puttonen, and Fabrizio Sarrica at UNODC, Vienna. We would like to express our appreciation to the experts attending the expert consultation in Vienna 8-9 March 2011: Kresno Buntoro (the Indonesian Navy); Duncan Copeland (Sea Change Consulting); Alexander Dalli (Frontex); Shaun Driscoll (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)); Annette Hübschle (Institute for Security Studies (ISS)); Kristiina Kangaspunta (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)); Paola Monzini (independent expert); Barbara Salcher (International Organization for Migration (IOM)); Gunnar Stølsvik (Norwegian National Advisory Group against Organized IUU Fishing); as well as Beate Andrees and Brandt Wagner (International Labour Organization (ILO)) via telecom. The author would also like to thank Stephen Cederrand (Community Fisheries Control Agency), Douglas Guilfoyle (University College London), and Gail Lugten (University of Tasmania) for their comments on excerpts of earlier drafts of this study. In addition a large number of individuals and organizations have shared generously of their time and knowledge for the purpose of this study, for which we remain very grateful. We would like to acknowledge the assistance we received at various stages of the study from Alan Goldberg (Alan Goldberg and Associates); Alexander Sukharenko (New Challenges & Threats Study Center of the PIGMU (Vladivostok, Russia)); Alistair Graham (World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International); André Standing (TransparentSea); Andrew Hickman (Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)); Australfisheries; Darling López Medrano (Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas); Eric Peasah (IOM); Fredrik Laurin; Gunnar Album; Henrik Österblom (Stockholm Resilience Centre); Jan Pieter Groenhof (South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO)); Jeff Radonski (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)); Jerry Walsh (Fisheries and Oceans Canada); Jon Whitlow (International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)); José Leite (Maritime Analysis & Operations Centre (Narcotics) (MAOC(N))); Joss Lean; Kwesi Aning (Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre); Mary Ann Palma (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security); Michele Kuruc (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)); Morley Knight (Fisheries and Oceans Canada); Rebecca Surtees (NEXUS Institute); Rossen Karavatchev (ITF); Sarah Craggs (IOM); Stuart Cory (NOAA); Steve Trent (EJF); Martin Exel, Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd; and Natasha Slicer (Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)); as well as from the International Maritime Organization (IMO); the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The study was made possible through funding received from the Government of Norway. Contents Executive summary 3 1. BACKGROUND 8 1.1 Introduction..................................................................................... 8 1.2 Terms of reference ............................................................................ 9 1.3 The study....................................................................................... 11 1.4 Structure of the study........................................................................ 13 1.5 The fishing industry........................................................................... 13 2. TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 21 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 21 2.2 Note on methodology and sources particular to trafficking in persons in the fishing industry.............................................................................................. 24 2.3 Trafficking in persons in the fishing industry............................................. 25 2.4 Main trafficking flows ........................................................................ 42 2.5 Links to other forms of crime ............................................................... 52 2.6 Findings......................................................................................... 55 3. SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS 58 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 58 3.2 Involvement of the fishing industry in organized migrant smuggling ................. 59 3.3 Findings......................................................................................... 72 4. ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN DRUGS 74 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................... 74 4.2 Involvement of the fishing industry in the illicit traffic in drugs at sea.............. 75 4.3 Findings......................................................................................... 92 5. LINKS TO OTHER FORMS OF CRIME 95 5.1.Environmental crime ......................................................................... 95 5.2 Corruption.................................................................................... 111 5.3 Piracy and other security related offences ............................................. 120 6. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 126 6.1 Summary of main findings ................................................................. 126 6.2. Main gaps in the current knowledge about transnational organized crime in the fishing industry................................................................................... 129 6.3 Main vulnerabilities of the fishing industry to transnational organized crime and other criminal activity .......................................................................... 131 6.4 Recommendations........................................................................... 136 2 Executive summary The study posed the questions whether there is transnational organized crime and other criminal activity in the fishing industry and, if so, what the vulnerabilities of the fishing industry are to transnational organized crime or other criminal activity. The research took the form of a six-month desk review of available literature, supplemented by ad hoc consultations and a two-day expert consultation held in Vienna, Austria. Importantly the study did not set out to tarnish the fishing industry. Rather, the study sought to determine whether criminal activities take place within the fishing industry to the detriment of law-abiding fishers, the legitimate fishing industry, local fishing communities, and the general public alike. The study considered the involvement of the fishing industry or the use of fishing vessels in trafficking in persons (Chapter 2); smuggling of migrants (Chapter 3); illicit traffic in drugs (Chapter 4); and other forms of crime such as marine living resource crime, corruption, and piracy and other security related crimes (Chapter 5). Perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study was the severity of the abuse of fishers trafficked for the purpose of forced labour on board fishing vessels. These practices can only be described as cruel and inhumane treatment in the extreme. Fishers are held as de facto prisoners of the sea, and the study documents several instances of reported deaths, severe physical and sexual abuse, coercion and general disregard for the safety and working conditions of fishers. A particularly disturbing facet of this form of exploitation is the frequency of trafficking in children in the fishing industry. The study found several reported instances where trafficking in persons on board fishing vessels were linked to marine living resource crimes. Marine living resource crime is defined for the purpose of the study as criminal conduct that may cause harm to the marine living environment; typically offences committed on the basis of contraventions of marine living resource management and conservation regulations. The study found that transnational organized criminal groups are engaged in marine living resource crimes in relation to high value, low volume species such as abalone. This criminal activity is also linked to illicit traffic in drugs, particularly ATS and ATS precursors, as a barter arrangement for marine living resources. The study also found that some transnational fishing operators are engaged in marine living resource crime. These fishing operations are highly sophisticated with complex incorporation and vessel registration strategies, as well as a high degree of logistical 3 coordination of vessel support services at sea and the laundering of illegally caught fish on to the