Key report on fisheries crime

”Fisheries crime makes sustainable management difficult and can also negatively impact the reputation of the Norwegian seafood industry. If Norway is to maintain its position as the world’s leading seafood nation, it is absolutely essential that the problem be taken seriously,” says Norway’s Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen. 

Fisheries crime is a big problem globally. It constitutes a serious threat to fish stocks and marine ecosystems, and makes it difficult to implement sustainable management of stocks. Fisheries crime impacts the resource base and the income of law abiding fishermen and a fishing industry that takes its responsibilities seriously, as well as affecting competitive relations within the industry.

”In recent years we have implemented a number of new initiatives and these have already shown good results. We have got to grips with the problems in the Barents Sea, and we can no longer identify any illegal overfishing of cod and haddock in this area. However, this does not mean that we consider the job done. Breaches of the law are still occurring in the fisheries industry and illegal fishing and other forms of fisheries crime demand our continuous attention,” says Norway’s Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen.

She continues: ”My overriding impression is that the Norwegian seafood industry consists primarily of serious players. Although, of course, we are well aware that instances of illegal activities occur within this industry. But we cannot allow a few individuals to destroy the reputation and resource base for an entire industry. To me, it is important that the inspection authorities involved carry out their work in a systematic and coordinated manner to uncover these types of criminal activities, and I want to see them come down hard on the perpetrators when we catch them.”

An effective effort against fisheries crime requires a broad-based approach, close cooperation between the involved authorities and up-to-date knowledge. In this regard, the establishment of the Norwegian national advisory group against organized IUU-fishing in 2010 is an important initiative. The project is a cooperative venture involving seven different Norwegian authorities: the Directorate of Fisheries, the Coast Guard, the Directorate of Police, the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, the Directorate of Taxes, the Directorate of Customs and Excise, and the Coastal Administration. The project is a specific initiative targeting organised crime within the fisheries industry, and is one of several initiatives described in the government’s action plan against economic crime.

The advisory group  also helps with knowledge gathering and has recently published a study of organised crime in the Norwegian fisheries industry. The study is the work of criminologist Dr. Jan Georg Christophersen and is financed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. It documents instances of organised crime in the Norwegian fisheries industry and shows that offences in the industry are often economically motivated and committed in order to conceal breaches of quota limits and illegal fishing. When owners of fishing vessel, crews and fish landing stations cooperate in breaking the law, this can be construed as organised crime.

Other examples of such acts of crime include under-reporting of catches, discards, unregistered landings with fish, document falsification, reloading and illegal turnover. The report also points out that illegal activities in the fisheries sector is often followed by serious breaches of tax, accounting and customs regulations. Examples include fraud, avoidance of taxes and customs duty, embezzlement, money laundering, handling of stolen goods and serious economic crimes.

Initiatives proposed in the report include stricter penalties in order to improve the preventive effect, greater preventive efforts on the part of management and the industry, and more collaboration between the various law enforcement agencies  in order to uncover illegal activities.

”The report shows that crime in the Norwegian fisheries industry is often of a serious economic and environmental nature. Therefore we need to have the guts to describe this activity as criminal activity and not use words that disguise the seriousness of the offences committed, says Norway’s Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen.

The report was presented last Monday at a meeting of the nine-party cooperation involving trade unions, industry organisations and law enforcement agencies. The parties have agreed to cooperate on various measures including countering a range of illegal practices and contributing towards an understanding of the need for a set of regulations.

”I hope that the report will help stimulate debate and strengthen efforts to counter fisheries crime, both at management level and in the fisheries industry. The fisheries industry is based on the harvesting of common resources, and therefore the industry also has a sizeable responsibility for tackling the problems that have been identified,” concludes the Minister for Fisheries and Coastal Affairs Lisbeth Berg-Hansen.