4
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated IUU fishing also leads to significant bycatch — incidental
catch of un-target species — which threatens the food supply of larger predators and decomposes
and leads to oxygen-deprived "dead zones" when discarded in the ocean. Bycatch jeopardizes a
range of vulnerable species — including New Zealand's Maui dolphin besides the vaquita
porpoise of the Gulf of California — as well as, as shown by UN and academic reports, tacitly
lessens albatross species and sea turtles.
On seas, several fishermen use prohibited driftnets, that are massive-scale reflexive harvesting
networks which catch wantonly whatever marine creature which cannot fit through the openings.
The nets are left to float unreceptively with transmitters before the fishing vessel is able to
retrieve its catch; as per the NOAA, some of these nets are not retrieved and proceed to
continuously trap and even destroy marine faunae.
Heightened Tensions Between and Within Countries
For states that count on fishing significantly for food or employment, conflicts over access to
fisheries and fishing rights are becoming key causes for concern.
Conflict between Sri Lanka and India over traditional fishing rights in the Bay of Bengal has
contributed to the detention and confiscation of fishermen from either state. As of March 2016,
the Indian authorities estimated that ninety-nine Indian fishers and eighty-three boats were kept
by the Sri Lankan Navy ("Fishing Disputes in the Context of International Maritime Disputes"
2018).
Researchers, citizens and fishermen from Somalia protested in March 2015 in contradiction of
the existence fishing vessels from Italy that were reported to have been operating illegally in
Indian Ocean waters near Mogadishu (Baird 2019).
In January 2014, a fishing vessel confiscated for potentially illegal fishing seized sixty-two
Russians and twenty Bissau-Guineans on crew. Several days later, the ship was released until
$1.2 million was paid by the private entity, his third fine in a decade (Grancher 2016).
In March 2016, the coast patrol of Argentina drowned off the Patagonian cost a Chinese vessel
alleged of illegal fishing in the EEZ of Argentina. The Chinese boat started evasive measures
when it was detected but then, according to the Argentine Naval Prefecture, tried to collide with
the Argentine vessel.

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Managing Tropical Fisheries | Geography

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