Countering Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: Training and Technical Assistance

The international community relies on the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement’s expertise in environmental crime, criminal investigations, the fishing industry, vessel monitoring systems, and case management. Much of our international work focuses on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. We accomplish this through training and technical assistance to international partners and agencies through government-to-government interactions. 

We provide organizations and communities the tools, resources, information, and information sharing avenues to allow them to address complex IUU fishing issues. This is usually accomplished through:

• Providing technical assistance to strengthen national policy and legislative frameworks
• Enhancing operational capacities for coordinated monitoring, control and surveillance operations
• Delivering training workshops to combat IUU fishing focused on implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement and complementary international instruments

The Port State Measures Agreement, which entered into force in 2016, is the first binding international agreement specifically targeting IUU fishing. It creates a standardized approach to gathering and sharing information on foreign-flagged fishing or fishing support vessels entering ports and restricting IUU fishery products from being landed at ports and entering the supply chain. With our support, several foreign partners have successfully acceded to the Agreement and updated their applicable national laws to be able to implement the operational requirements of the Agreement. They have also developed or enhanced their fisheries inspector training curriculum and strengthened existing or adopted new fisheries legislation to combat IUU fishing more effectively.

NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Around the World

Our sworn staff attend counter IUU fishing workshops, fostering collaboration across enforcement agencies both domestically and internationally.  

Bilateral and Regional Programs to Implement the Agreement

We have worked closely with the Department of State and embassies to fund several engagements to implement the Agreement in the Philippines and Indonesia. We have also worked on regional projects to combat IUU fishing in Southeast Asia through the Regional Development Mission for Asia. We completed several trainings in South America through the Partnership for Sustainably Managed Fisheries, which sought to combat IUU fishing while promoting sustainable management of critical marine species and ecosystems by building the capacity of partner country governments to effectively implement the Agreement. Additionally, we support training and technical assistance requests through Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act implementation,  working with priority nations and administrations to reduce IUU fishing. 

International Law Enforcement Academy

Under the Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the International Law Enforcement Academy Program funds Enforcement and NOAA General Counsel staff to deliver yearly Fisheries Enforcement and Prosecution Courses. We recently held courses in Thailand and Botswana.

Partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard 

With the U.S. Coast Guard, we lead international counter IUU fishing workshops through their Mobile Training Branch. The seminars have been conducted in locations across the globe, including Cote d’Ivoire, Vietnam, Panama, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone. The purpose of the seminar is to facilitate the principles and fundamentals of IUU fishing enforcement. Participants are encouraged to have interministerial dialogue and coordination, provide training on the Agreement and on IUU fishing enforcement.

Regional Engagement

We focus our work in high-priority regions such as the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa (with a focus on West Africa). Since 2020, we have conducted 61 engagements globally. We trained more than 1,500 fisheries law enforcement or attorneys across more than 70 countries to increase their technical knowledge and skills to combat IUU fishing and prosecute fisheries crimes. This has resulted in the increased capabilities of countries to detect, deter, and prosecute IUU fishing activities and increased international coordination through the usage of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Information Exchange System.  

Training in the Philippines

Partner counter IUU fishing work in Ghana

Training in Indonesia