Improving International Fisheries Management 2019 Report to Congress NOAA FISHERIES REPORT TO CONGRESS IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT September 2019 Developed pursuant to Section 403(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Neil A. Jacobs, Ph.D. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere THE REPORT TO CONGRESS (IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT) ACCOMPANYING THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT REAUTHORIZATION ACT, 2006 (PUBLIC LAW 16 U.S.C. §§ 1826h-k) INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall provide to Congress, by not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, and every 2 years thereafter, a report that includes— (1) the state of knowledge on the status of international living marine resources shared by the United States or subject to treaties or agreements to which the United States is a party, including a list of all such fish stocks classified as overfished, overexploited, depleted, endangered, or threatened with extinction by any international or other authority charged with management or conservation of living marine resources; (2) a list of nations whose vessels have been identified under section 609(a) or 610(a), including the specific offending activities and any subsequent actions taken pursuant to section 609 or 610; (3) a description of efforts taken by nations on those lists to comply take appropriate corrective action consistent with sections 609 and 610, and an evaluation of the progress of those efforts, including steps taken by the United States to implement those sections and to improve international compliance; (4) progress at the international level, consistent with section 608, to strengthen the efforts of international fishery management organizations to end illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing; and (5) steps taken by the Secretary at the international level to adopt international measures comparable to those of the United States to reduce impacts of fishing and other practices on protected living marine resources, if no international agreement to achieve such goal exists, or if the relevant international fishery or conservation organization has failed to implement effective measures to end or reduce the adverse impacts of fishing practices on such species. THIS REPORT RESPONDS TO THE CONGRESS REQUEST. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 6 List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 8 II. Introduction and Background ........................................................................................... 11 A. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing ..................................................... 12 B. Bycatch of Protected Living Marine Resources (PLMRs) ............................................ 13 C. Shark Conservation and Protection ................................................................................ 14 D. Other Ways of Addressing IUU Fishing, PLMR Bycatch, and Shark Conservation .... 14 III. Identification and Certification Provisions ....................................................................... 18 A. IUU Fishing ................................................................................................................... 19 B. Bycatch of PLMRs ......................................................................................................... 22 C. Shark Conservation and Protection ................................................................................ 24 IV. Identifications under Section 609 ..................................................................................... 27 A. Ecuador .......................................................................................................................... 27 B. Mexico ........................................................................................................................... 28 C. Republic of Korea .......................................................................................................... 29 V. Certifications under Section 609 ....................................................................................... 31 A. Ecuador .......................................................................................................................... 31 B. Mexico ........................................................................................................................... 33 C. Russian Federation ......................................................................................................... 35 VI. Concerns with China’s Fishing Practices ......................................................................... 37 VII. State of Knowledge on the Status of International Living Marine Resources .................. 38 VIII. International Actions to Address IUU Fishing ................................................................. 40 A. Port State Measures........................................................................................................ 41 B. Market- and Trade-Related Measures ............................................................................ 44 C. Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance .......................................................................... 47 D. Destructive Fishing Practices and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems ............................... 53 IX. Strengthening Fisheries Organizations to End IUU Fishing Activities ............................ 55 A. Renegotiation or Amendment of Underlying Agreements ............................................ 55 B. Performance Reviews .................................................................................................... 55 C. Bolstering Responsibilities of Members and Non-Members ......................................... 57 D. Steps to Enhance Participation by Non-Members ......................................................... 58 X. International Efforts to Reduce Impacts of Fishing on PLMRs ....................................... 60 A. Global Forums ............................................................................................................... 60 B. RFMOs ........................................................................................................................... 61 C. Specific Taxa ................................................................................................................. 62 XI. Shark Conservation and Protection ................................................................................... 67 A. Global Forums ............................................................................................................... 67 B. RFMOs ........................................................................................................................... 68 XII. International Cooperation and Assistance ........................................................................ 70 A. International Institutional Efforts ................................................................................... 70 B. Bilateral and Regional Assistance ................................................................................. 70 XIII. Forced Labor and Human Trafficking in the Fishing Sector ............................................ 77 Annex 1: International Fisheries and Related Agreements and Organizations ........................... 79 Annex 2: United States Laws Addressing IUU Fishing, PLMR Bycatch, and Shark Conservation, including Summaries of Recent Enforcement Cases ............................................. 84 Annex 3: Seabird Bycatch Issues ................................................................................................. 88 I. Executive Summary In the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA), Congress acknowledged the need for international cooperation to address fishing activities that have a deleterious effect on sustainable fisheries worldwide. MSRA amended the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act) by directing the Executive Branch to strengthen its leadership in international fisheries management and enforcement, particularly with regard to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and unsustainable fishing practices such as bycatch of protected living marine resources (PLMRs). The Shark Conservation Act of 2010 (SCA) further amended the Moratorium Protection Act to add a third focus: directed and incidental catch of sharks, especially the practice of finning, in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fisheries Enforcement Act of 2015 (IUU Fisheries Enforcement Act) harmonized enforcement provisions amongst international implementing legislation and implemented two new important treaties. It further amended the Moratorium Protection Act with improvements and technical corrections to the identification and certification process. The Ensuring