The illegal, unreported and unregulated fishery (IUU) seriously compromises the sustainable management of marine resources globally. According to recent estimates, the "turnover" linked to global IUU fishing would amount to more than 10 billion euros, which puts the industry IUU the second largest producer of fish in terms of value, just behind China.

IUU fishing is a global problem. It is also a problem for which the European Union is called upon to play a leading role. It has indeed a fishing fleet among the most important and represents the third largest in terms of catches. It is also the largest market of fishery products in the world and the largest importer of these products. The imports of IUU fishing in the EU have been evaluated, at least, to 1.1 billion euros per year.

The loss is much more than economic. In many cases, IUU fishing also has a high environmental cost. At a time when 75% of global fish stocks are exploited to their maximum level, even over-exploited by fishing lawful, IUU fishing is an insidious evil that threatens to worsen an already worrying situation. This threat also weighed on vulnerable marine ecosystems, even though the international community strives to protect these ecosystems against destructive fishing practices.

Founding documents:

- The fight against IUU fishing-Proposal of the RFA, updated 04/02/2008.

- EU Parliament Fisheries Committee-RFA Presentation. Présentation powerpoint 27/02/2008.

Other documents of interest:

• Visit the port of Las Palmas, October 19, 2006. Congresswoman Aubert, Fisheries Commission, European Parliament.
• COM (2007) 601 final, European Commission.
• COM (2007) 602 final, Council Regulation, European Parliament

Relations with other allies:

World Forum of fishermen and fisheries workers