How do IUU activities affect the livelihoods of honest fishermen?
IUU fishing represents the theft of essential fisheries resources from those fishermen who do abide by the law. Accurate estimates of the full extent of any illicit practice are, of course, difficult to obtain. Notwithstanding, the value of IUU fishing has been assessed to amount worldwide €10 billion. For comparison, the value of landings by the EU fleet was €6.8 billion in 2004. The EU fishing industry faces fierce competition from IUU operators who disregard all the many obligations which legal operators take on when working the same fishing grounds or targeting the same species and end markets (e.g., cod, redfish, swordfish, toothfish, tuna). EU fishermen operating legally thus suffer discrimination due to the unfair practices of IUU operators, which result in particular in loss of market share for the EU industry and trade distortions due to the different cost structures borne by legal operators compared to their illegal counterparts. This problem has worsened over the last years
