IJC - International Joint Commission’s Post

In this episode of Ocean, we step on board the Ocean Sentinel patrol vessel to see first-hand how EU member states and agencies are working together to enforce fishing regulations in the Adriatic Sea. #Ocean

🌊 At the Wildlife Justice Commission, we're committed to advocating for intelligence-led approaches and enhanced cooperation to address the trafficking of vulnerable marine species. In pursuit of this goal, we were present at the UN Ocean Decade Conference held last week in Barcelona. The Wildlife Justice Commission and the UNODC co-organised a Satellite Event exploring the impacts of crimes in the fisheries sector and strategies to counteract them. The event, held as part of the Ocean Decade Week, brought together experts from UNODC, Sri Lanka’s Navy, Skylight, and the WJC to discuss the serious and transnational nature of these crimes, as well as the enabling role of #corruption. We explored strategies that leverage innovative tools & technologies, build the capacity of national agencies & implement a criminal justice approach, to counteract fisheries crimes. 🐟 Read more and watch the event recording 👇 #FisheriesCrime 

More on the tangled web of vessels beneficial owners using flags of convenience and other convoluted tactics to cover their tracks while driving illegal fishing. The same goes for legal overfishing which is endorsed via commercial pressures and corruption driving delegates to ignore scientific advice. Case in point for the latter option being tuna purse seine fleet defenders firm avoidance of implementing a 3 month dFAD Closure in the Indian Ocean, even though it's been scientifically shown to be the best option and such closures are enabling more sustainable stocks in all other tropical oceans already. #fisheries #tuna #purseseine #reimaginetuna

According to EU laws, its citizens cannot support or benefit from illegal fishing. However, Member States do not have a comprehensive system in place to identify foreign ownership of fishing vessels. Many companies, including those with EU owners, hide behind complex corporate structures to exploit fisheries resources in non-EU countries, where controls might be weaker. Fighting illegal fishing requires acting against those who ultimately benefit from it, and the solution is making key information public. 📰Read the Financial Times article with Oceana’s insights: https://lnkd.in/dpfiVTwd

We found a number of egregious environmental abuses and illegal fishing taking place on board Chinese vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocean. In many cases, fishing vessels ensnare vulnerable marine megafauna, often intentionally killing them for their body parts, which are kept as souvenirs, used as bait, consumed, or sold. These species often have low fertility rates, making this killing particularly damaging. We need far more transparency in the fisheries sector to bring these perpetrators to justice. In particular, closer attention must be paid to 🇨🇳's DWF and fisheries investments in the SWIO by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, coastal states, market states, port states, flag states and, most of all, by the Chinese government. Learn more in our report: https://lnkd.in/eBB4-Ukv Watch a crew member's testimony of witnessing the killing of four false killer whales 🎬:

Good news in the fight to restore the health of our ocean! Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan Republik Indonesia) has successfully captured fishing vessels engaged in illegal activities using Night Lights and Satellite Imagery data in Skylight. Remote sensed data and training on how to use these data - as provided by our partners at UNODC - are key to monitoring enormous Exclusive Economic Zones. Reducing illegal fishing is key to protecting coastal fishermen and local economies: https://lnkd.in/eVfHW5MU

This is excellent reporting and a fascinating read! It's so important to shed light on one of the most opaque aspects of the fishing industry: joint fishing ventures. It is clear that the lack of transparency surrounding these European investments in West African countries is allowing potential damage to local communities to go unnoticed.

These Trees (by Liana Mahoney) If walnuts come from walnut trees and almonds come from almond trees, then how come acorns come from oaks? Can anyone explain this, please? A redwood tree's not really red, and red pine trees are green, (not red). So, why's the white birch aptly named? And why's the white pine green instead? Now, ash trees don't grow ashes, right? and beech trees aren't on beaches, right? and fir trees don't have furry trunks although that would be quite a sight! These trees! These trees! I wish it would be less confusing in the wood. If trees had better-chosen names, they might be better understood.

Every corner along Japan’s long coast has a fishing port. Yet Japanese fisheries are now undergoing significant change in the marine, environmental, socio-economic and policy spaces. Read more details in SAMUDRA report at https://bit.ly/3T2or1z

Illegal fishing and human rights abuses go hand in hand. Violence against crew and poor living conditions on board are often accompanied by shark finning, dolphin killing and more. Our investigation into China's distant-water fleet explores these links: https://lnkd.in/ez7vXEVp