Below the Surface: How Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Threatens Our Security

Operating out of sight, and largely out of reach of the public and law enforcement alike, organised, high-volume illegal fishing can involve a range of violent and destructive criminal practices. In particular illegal fishing offences are known to intersect with other criminal activities, ranging from human and drug trafficking to corruption and money laundering.

However, illegal fishing is often treated by governments as the result of technical regulatory infringements and designated a matter for industry regulators. Notably, it is often dismissed as a trivial issue insofar as it relates to national security.

This Occasional Paper calls for a paradigm shift in the way we view and respond to high-volume IUU fishing. To address the sophisticated and transnational threat it poses, large-scale IUU fishing must be treated with the seriousness it is due.

The event will be chaired by Commander Tony Long RN (Ret’d), Director of the Ending Illegal Fishing Project, The Pew Charitable Trusts, who will provide his own insights based on longstanding  experience in tackling IUU fishing through the lens of security.

Speakers will include:

• Cathy Haenlein, Research Fellow in Serious and Organised Crime, RUSI
• Lt Stephen Roberts RN, Future Operations TAA, EU Naval Force Somalia
• Peter Hammarstedt, Director of Ship Operations, Sea Shepherd Global
• Steve Trent, Executive Director, Environmental Justice Foundation
• Elsa da Gloria Patria, Chair, Stop Illegal Fishing

Copies of the Occasional Paper will be available at the event.

This event is open to all. To register for the event please click the ‘Register Now’ button on the right or email rusievents@rusi.org. Tea and coffee will be available following the event from 1100 – 1130 for all guests to attend.