Civil-Military Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing A Summary of the September 2017 National Maritime Interagency Advisory Group Meeting By Emma Myers and Sally Yozell The Stimson Center Environmental Security Program JANUARY 2018 © 2018 The Stimson Center All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means with prior written consent from the Stimson Center. Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons: Cover photo STIMSON 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, 8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: 202.223.5956 | Fax 202.238.9604 www.stimson.org 2 Foreword In September 2017, the Stimson Center, the U.S. National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO), National Geographic, and the Waitt Foundation hosted a meeting of 100 experts on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Attendees represented entities across the U.S. government, several foreign governments and non-governmental organizations, as well as the private sector. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss current enforcement efforts against IUU fishing, with a focus on marine protected areas (MPAs). The participants identified next steps to increase international, national, regional and sub-regional enforcement frameworks. In light of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Aichi Targets to protect 10 percent of the ocean by 2020, governments have upped their efforts to create MPAs. This is good news. Recent research has shown that no-take marine reserves are highly effective in protecting and restoring marine biodiversity, increasing fish stocks and making the ocean more resilient to the effects of climate change. But equally important are efforts to move beyond the designation of MPAs toward management and enforcement. To ensure that protected areas are not merely lines on a map where IUU and unsustainable fishing can continue without consequence, MPA managers are seeking innovative ways to implement stronger monitoring, management, and enforcement mechanisms. Worth $15.4 to 36.5 billion annually, IUU fishing creates not just ecological and economic pressures, but also converges with a range of other security threats. For example, transnational criminal networks have been known to exploit the fishing industry to traffic weapons, drugs and even humans. Additionally, as fisheries become depleted, competition over increasingly scarce stocks are likely to escalate geopolitical tensions. In fact, we have already begun to see the effects of such competition in areas such as the South China Sea. Mounting recognition of these threats has spurred a conversation about the security dimensions of what was considered, until recently, primarily a conservation issue. At the same time, there has been a proliferation of technologies to monitor fisheries and illegal activities. Now the key to reducing IUU fishing is to leverage that technology for targeted enforcement efforts. The NMIO meeting was a benchmark in government-NGO efforts to rally behind this issue and to advance a security-based approach to combatting IUU fishing. The meeting stands out because of its focus on actionable solutions and innovative partnerships, several of which were forged during the two-day meeting. For example, the meeting effectively broadened the community of interest and action around this issue by convening experts and entities from both the security and conservation, governmental and non-governmental communities. These groups have not typically worked side-by- side in partnership to combat IUU fishing. A core goal of the meeting was to crowdsource solutions from the different types of organizations, with different focuses, and to forge relationships that can build comprehensive and innovative solutions to this multidimensional threat. 3 During the meeting we developed an action-oriented and network-based approach to the problem of IUU fishing in MPAs and enforcement at the ports in two specific countries—Chile and Costa Rica. Through gaming exercises using real situations in these two nations, it reinforced the understanding that perpetrators of IUU fishing and other fisheries crimes are often networked and adaptable to the environment around them. They are able to evolve their practices to outpace enforcement efforts. Collectively, we agreed on the need for a network of enforcers who can take action and respond effectively to the agility of the perpetrators. The two-day meeting broadened the community of interest around IUU fishing enforcement. It brought together a new kind of network, dubbed “the network of action.” The answer from participants was resounding—networks, like communities of interest, need to be broadened in order to put an end to IUU fishing and the associated threats. Sally Yozell Director, Environmental Security Program The Henry L. Stimson Center 4 Contents Foreword 3 Executive Summary 7 Match Technology to Capacity 8 Increase Information Sharing 8 Leverage Existing Bilateral and Multilateral Efforts 8 Tackle Surveillance, Enforcement, and Prosecution Jointly 9 Prioritize a Whole-of-Government Approach 9 Overview of the Meeting 10 Keynote Remarks by Admiral Robert D. Sharp 10 Panel 1: Why Does IUU Fishing Matter from a U.S. National Security Perspective? 11 Panel 2: What Does Current IUU Fishing Enforcement Look Like? 11 Panel 3: What Does Enforcement Look Like Moving Forward? 11 Keynote Remarks by the Chilean Ambassador to the United States Juan Gabriel Valdés 12 Keynote Remarks by the Costa Rican Ambassador to the United States Roman Macaya Hayes 12 Closing Remarks by Vice Admiral Charles W. Ray 12 Reflections on Steps Forward by RADM Sharp 13 The Security Dimensions of IUU Fishing 13 Threats to Economic and Food Security 13 Geopolitical Tensions and Consequences 14 Lacking or Undermined Governance Structures 14 Understanding the Unreported and Unregulated Dimensions 15 The Threat from Artisanal v. Industrial Fleets 15 General Recommendations 16 Vessel Tracking Systems (VTS) 16 Standard Operating Procedures and Training for Vessel Boarding and Inspection 18 Building Inspection Capacity 19 Enhancing Interagency Protocols 20 Information Sharing 20 Information Sharing Between Governments 21 Information Sharing Between Governments and Non-Governmental Entities 22 Electronic Submission, Storage, and Sharing of Information 22 Building International and Regional Information Sharing Standards 23 Leveraging Data Collected and Stored by RFMOs 23 Uncovering and Enforcing Against Onshore Networks 24 Target Support Vessels in Addition to Fishing Vessels 25 Increase Transparency and Traceability 26 Enhancing and Expanding the Implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement 27 Enhancing Prosecution to Support Enforcement 28 Communications 29 Appendix I: Chile 30 The IUU Fishing Threat in Chile 30 Current Enforcement in Chile 30 Juan Fernandez Marine Protected Area 31 5 Summary of Tabletop Exercise Discussions 31 Recommendations 32 Appendix II: Costa Rica 34 The IUU Fishing Threat in Costa Rica 34 Cocos Island Marine Protected Area 35 Current Enforcement in Costa Rica’s Cocos Island MPA 35 Summary of Tabletop Exercise Discussions 37 Recommendations 38 About and Acknowledgments 39 About National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office 39 About National Geographic Pristine Seas 39 About Stimson 39 About the Environmental Security Program 39 Acknowledgements 40 6 Executive Summary In September 2017, the Stimson Center, the U.S. National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO), National Geographic, and the Waitt Foundation hosted a meeting of 100 experts on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, focusing on enforcement within marine protected areas and at ports. In addition to reviewing global solutions, the meeting also focused on two specific case studies on Chile and Costa Rica. This report serves as a record of the meeting—the discussion and resulting recommendations. The report provides a roadmap to guide government-NGO partnerships in addressing IUU fishing with a particular focus on enforcement, and it highlights areas for further research. The meeting was conducted under Chatham House rules. Views are not attributed to participants but rather represented anonymously, except for the public remarks. Around the world, depleted fisheries jeopardize economic, ecological and food security, and foment unrest. In doing so, they pose direct and indirect threats to U.S. national security. Increasingly, experts within government and civil society have recognized this convergence. In September 2016, the U.S. National Intelligence Council released a report calling IUU fishing an ‘existential threat.’ In March 2017, in testimony to the U.S. Congress, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Daniel R. Coats drew similar connections between IUU fishing and insecurity. Still, there remains much to be done to build IUU fishing into the mandate of the U.S. military and other security agencies; operationalize a civil-military response to IUU fishing; and increase cooperation between the security and conservation communities, all with the goal of protecting valuable marine resources and minimizing the negative security impacts associated with IUU fishing around the globe. Recognizing these gaps, the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) held the September National Maritime Interagency Advisory Group (NIAG) meeting to focus on expanding cooperation between the security and conservation communities. Over the course of the two-day meeting, participants