What are my takeaway thoughts from the international MCS meeting?
I’m not much of a meetings man, I get easily exhausted, and there is a level of pomposity that I find difficult to deal with… is like when I have to wear a shirt or a jacket, even if they are of the right size, I always have the feeling that there are too small, that makes me fill uncomfortable and generally put of place like if I don’t belong there.
Also, most people in meetings belong to some organisation and have a job title, business cards and stuff like that… I’m just Francisco… so being in meetings fills me with impostor syndrome.
Yet on the other side, it is absolutely humbling to have so many people coming to say hello and tell me how useful and enjoyable my blogs are, that they appreciate my honesty and independence, and so on. But more importantly, listening to others from other parts of the globe talk about the diversity of their issues and problems is super important and informative.
Many of the IUU-related problems are the same, yet it is like saying the instruments you use to play in a grunge rock and a reggae band are the same, which is the case… yet the mixing, tunning, and playing of the same instruments produces totally different music.
So here are my personal takeaways:
1) There is nothing like a “global fishery”, hence there is nothing like a “global IUU problem”.
There is a sum of a hell of a lot of very defined and localised specific and in some cases, regional issues.
For example;
a. for the guys of the Bahamas, the main issue is the American boats sneaking in and not respecting the local lobster maximum take and closure.
b. Yet for the Americans, the cradle of IUU is China in almost all fisheries
c. For the crew in Peru and Ecuador, besides their own local issues, is the complexity of dealing with the Chinese and Taiwanese squid fleets outside their EEZ under the structures of a relatively new RFMO.
d. Sandy Davis from FISH-i Africa told us that transhipping in the highs seas is not their main problem in East Africa’s east coast / Western Indian Ocean, and she worries about the focus given to that, while for us in the Western and Central Pacific is the main problem we quantified and the use of the impracticability loophole of the TS CMM.
e. While the extent of IUU fishing seems to be huge in some parts is well-defined and quantified as small in other parts. i.e. for us in the Pacific is around 8% of total catches / less than 200 million USD in the WCPO -out of a 6 to 8 billion USD fishery.
f. So I really question the utility of quoting an old study that says 20% of world fisheries is IUU? Who does that help? There are many places, like in the FFA membership, where things are way less… yet we get cornered with that figure and treated like liars if they dispute those numbers with our own commissioned ones. Furthermore, the worst performing nation in the function of compliance issues per fleet size is not CN or TW, but South Korea… yet in other parts, it is different.
So this makes me also wonder about the IUU index and rankings, not that there is nothing wrong with making them… but what is the use in the local context where we use it? Even big ports tend to (surprisingly for many) with mostly a known number of vessels that keep returning.
g. IUU Rankings keep telling us that countries with low governance indexes and those that are poor (and even more those that are both), perform worst than those that are rich and well-governed… now tell me one area where that is not the case?
2) Flag states get a free ride.
a. According to UNCLOS, the Compliance Agreement, Flag State Performance guidelines, ICJ advisory opinions, etc… the Flag State is primarily responsible for conducting due diligence on the activity of its vessels. End of story!
b. We had a representative of a DWFN saying that is was very difficult for them because they have over 1000 vessels fishing worldwide… So fuk*n what? Either have more people or fewer vessels! A country doesn’t have to flag fishing vessels… you should not flag them in the number your resources allow you to control them. Don’t ask for sympathy… even if you have only 100 and only the capacity to control 20…. You have 80 too many, and they are your responsibility. When not living up to yours, you are putting it into the hands of port states.
c. You could be saying… port states have the capacity of not receiving them… yet, and we exercise it, yet we have to have documented reasons… furthermore is not the same… I can only receive as many as my port capacity allows… flag states seem to flag as many as they want.
3) Nationals get a free ride
a. The role of “nationals” is present in all multilateral legislation and treaties from UNCLOS onwards all the way to PSMA and others… in fact the IUU International Plan of Action Implementation says “One reason why IUU fishing has been such a persistent problem is that many States have not been successful in controlling the fishing activities by their nationals.” I wrote about here
4) The AIS analytical platforms are here to stay.
a. We had a lot of presentations and talks that involved AIS analytical platforms that MCS agencies. And we have two models:
i. The free platforms (i.e. GFW, Skylight and OM - even if OM is in its own universe), yet it comes with a “mission”, a “line to tow” these are tech providers but also NGOs… where you get to use their tools under their terms and they also engage with universities and NGOs to produce research that normally relates to the conservation side of things.
ii. Then on the other side you have Starboard.nz, which has produced a fantastic tool with a really user-friendly UX, and they keep working with fisheries agencies, and MCS practitioners to keep refining tools, algorithms and capabilities specifically designed for PSM, dark vessel detection, biosecurity risks and so on designed to cover the needs of clients that keep ownership of the data… yet here is the keyword “clients” which implies that you access their product under a subscription service. Now the issue is that the countries that need them the most, are generally the ones with less money, and they tend to rely on donor funding… which is not always sustainable. I think the model is to create a tool that is good enough as to be paid because it produces results. This is the case in RMI, we got a subscription under funding, yet we made such good use of it and got enough money from fines as to pay for the subscription ourselves at the end of the year contract.
5) The Pacific is ahead of the pack in terms of MCS and RMI’s PSM is world-class.
a. I don’t know of any other body like FFA that has had such a massive influence on combating IUU in the world.
b. I don’t know of any other country in the region (and the developing world) that does the depth of PSM work that MIMRA does… and the price we got shows it.
6) Good MCS is a process that relies on good and motivated people.
a. And there is no way around that. Good tech and traditional tools are of no help if there are no good people behind them.
So this little homemade movie is my way to show my respect and the process we went through with some of the coolest and most motivated people I had worked with.
Thank you guys