Markus Burgener – Programme Coordinator TRADE MONITORING- A TOOL IN TACKLING ILLEGAL FISHING Markus Burgener – Programme Coordinator

Fish catch and trade chain compliance controls STATE AGENCIES: FISHERIES – CUSTOMS – TAX AUTHORITIES – POLICE Observers VMS Patrols Invoices Permit Permit Routine Inspections Invoices Routine inspections DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA Import & Export Retail and restaurant Sea Landing Buyer Processor Trader Consumer Plate A fairly standard trade chain for fish product in international trade – from boat to plate. At each point you have controls, systems for enforcing these controls and a variety of agencies with a mandate for enforcement – at sea and landing this is mostly just fisheries agencies, from that point on the product is essentially in trade. Arguably the greatest effort in tackling illegal fishing is on the water and at landing – these measures are by far the most expensive ones. Trade controls involve lots of documents - on their own these provide enforcement challenges – are they original/forged/a lot of information that needs to be verified and assume a lot of knowledge o the part of the enforcement official. Trade control situations provide challenges but also opportunities need to be disruptive in as many places as possible if we are going to deal with the group near the top of Eve’s pyramid. And also involves seafood products in various traded forms that provide identification challenges – processed, dried, filleted, in container Now talk though some examples of specific cases that illustrate the challenges, but first show a pic that highlights the challenge of id and documentation Voluntary compliance through purchase of certified product Customs export /import permits/controls EU Reg catch certificates RFMO trade document: CDS and SDP CITES documents Monitors Shore-based compliance officials Permit Invoices Routine inspections

What data are we looking at and comparing? HS code: 030381: Dogfish and other sharks, frozen Data (HS) collected and held by National Customs and Statistical Agencies Data collected and held by National Fisheries Agencies Fish Catches Country A Export of fish products Border Import of fish products Country B In international trade, an export permit/record is captured by the country form which the product is exported. This will contain information on the nature of the product using the WCO managed Harmonised system – if it’s poached abalone it would be declared as something other than abalone e.g. frozen fish, other or duvets, car parts, bathroom accessories. In the country of import – mostly Hong Kong, the consignment is openly declared as what it is – abalone – because there is no national legislation that requires the importer to demonstrate that the product was legally sourced. So the importer runs no risk at all in declaring it for what it is. In fact the risk is greater if they mis-declare it. Even if the importing country has been notified about a consignment by the South African government, and that consignment is known to contain poached abalone, if the importer declares it as abalone, the consignment can not be stopped and no action can be taken. 2 separate documents that are not compared: An export document and an import document

What information should we/could we access? Trade monitoring can guide us to finding information on: Possible volumes and values of illegally sourced products Trade routes for illegally sourced seafood products, including countries of transit and market States IUU catch and trade not previously identified Level and nature of misdeclarations Containers/consignments Importing and exporting companies Shipping agents Documents (SARS forms, bill of lading, health certificates etc) Only available to government officials

Estimating poaching levels: South African abalone

Identifying transit and market States Imports of all forms of H. midae from sub-Saharan Africa as reported by all importing countries, 2000 – 2016

Determining trading countries and volumes Quantity (kg) Hong Kong imports, 2012 - 2016

Determining the value of poaching and associated trade The estimated import value of illegally harvested abalone compared to the import value of products from South Africa’s top export fisheries, in 2016

IUU catch and trade not previously identified Overall reported exports of fish maw from all reporting African countries compared to overall imports reported by Hong Kong, 2012-2017 Fish maw trade

How do we get the data? Trade data: Is almost all free and easily available over the internet! Some data has to be purchased but this is only the case for a few countries and costs are generally very reasonable. Catch data: Depends on how good systems are for recording catch data. NB: Where there is no or poor catch data, good quality import data can provide a very useful proxy figure. Trade analysis can provide an indication of catch volumes (legal and illegal) – for that proportion of catch that is exported.

http://www.fisheries-trade-data.org/

https://detect.trade