Why is IUU fishing a threat to sustainable fisheries?
By definition, IUU fishing means that catches are either misreported, or not reported at all, to the relevant public authorities. IUU fishing is thus a major contributor to over fishing. Come forms of IUU activity specifically target juveniles, which would otherwise be protected by rules on minimum sizes, or are carried out during periods or in areas which are normally closed, thus jeopardizing the renewal of the fish stocks concerned. When stocks are already outside safe biological limits, IUU practices can act as the trigger for further, dramatic consequences. A good example of this is the case of blue fin tuna in the Mediterranean, where the IUU catch has been estimated to be running at such a high level that it could soon bring the stock to the brink of extinction if allowed to proceed unchecked.
