Illegal Fishing and Transparency - Oceana USA

Illegal Fishing and Transparency

Expanding Transparency and Traceability to Stop Illegal Fishing and Seafood Fraud

SHARE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:

The Campaign

The world’s oceans face a dire threat: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Across the globe, IUU fishing depletes marine resources, destroys habitats and is  explicitly linked to forced labor and human rights abuses. While the federal government has taken some steps to combat these problems in the past, an estimated $2.4 billion worth of seafood derived from IUU fishing was imported into the U.S. in 2019 alone. Oceana is working to ensure that U.S. dollars do not continue supporting these illicit activities at sea, which can impact the economy, environment and human rights.

Background: IUU fishing costs the global seafood industry as much as $26 billion to $50 billion annually. In the United States, up to 90% of the fish consumed is imported, with up to 32% of wild-caught seafood imports being products of illegal or unreported fishing.

IUU fishing can include fishing without authorization, ignoring catch limits, operating in closed areas, targeting protected wildlife, and fishing with prohibited gear. These illicit activities can destroy essential habitats, severely deplete fish populations, and threaten global food security. These actions not only contribute to overfishing, but also give bad actors an unfair advantage over honest fishermen that play by the rules.

Oceana’s campaign aims to stop illegal fishing, increase transparency at sea and require traceability for all seafood ensuring every fish sold in the U.S. is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced and honestly labeled.

Victories

Take Action

END ILLEGAL FISHING AND FIGHT FORCED LABOR

Add Your Name

PRESIDENT BIDEN: STOP ILLEGAL FISHING, EXPAND TRANSPARENCY AND FIGHT SEAFOOD FRAUD

Act Now

News & Reports

Press Releases

More Press Releases

Blog

More Blog Posts

Reports

More Reports

Around the Web

More News

Learn More

What is Seafood Fraud?

Learn More

Seafood Fraud Reports

Learn More

The Global Reach of Seafood Fraud

Learn More

2016 National Seafood Fraud Testing Results (MAP)

Learn More

More than 500 Chefs for Seafood Traceability (MAP)

Learn More

Shrimp Fraud Report Infographic

Learn More

Infographic: What is the Path Your Seafood Takes?

Learn More

Conservation Impacts of Seafood Fraud

Learn More

Examples of Commonly Mislabeled Seafood

Learn More

What Can You Do? Tips for Consumers

Learn More

VIDEO: One Name One Fish

Watch

VIDEO: Fish Stories

Watch

2019 Nationwide Seafood Fraud Testing Results

Fact Sheet

How Oceana Uses Global Fishing Watch Data

Learn More

What is AIS?

Learn More

Fact Sheet: Human Rights Abuses at Sea

Learn More

Overlap of Tagged Sharks and Commercial Fishing

Learn More

Video of Tagged Sharks Overlaid with Commercial Fishing

Learn More

Hotspots of Suspected Transshipping

Learn More

View Global Fishing Watch Here

Learn More

Photos from Global Fishing Watch Launch

Learn More

Poll: American Voters Want to End Illegal Fishing & Seafood Fraud

Learn More

Health Risks of Seafood Fraud

Learn More

FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Protect North Atlantic Right Whales

Oceana seeks to reduce threats to North Atlantic right whales, including entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships.

Learn More

CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS

Ending the Shark Fin Trade

Protecting Ocean Habitats

Responsible Fishing

View All

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A DONATION

We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

Donate Here

Become a Wavemaker

Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.

Gift Center
Employment Opportunities
Contact
Financials
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use

REGIONAL SITES :

International
Europe
Chile
Canada
Belize
Philippines
Brazil
Peru
Mexico

FIND OCEANA

TWEET TO SHARE OUR MESSAGE

Twitter