SPRFMO IUU List

SPRFMO IUU Vessel List

*2024 SPRFMO IUU Vessel List*

Combating IUU fishing is an important objective of the SPRFMO as is reflected in numerous articles of its Convention, in particular Articles 8, 23, 24, 25, 27 and 31. According to Article 27, the Commission is tasked with addressing IUU fishing activities and adopting appropriate measures to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, such as the development of an IUU vessel list, so that owners and operators of vessels engaging in such activities are deprived of the benefits accruing from those activities.

Non-Contracting Parties to the SPRFMO Convention are invited to become party to the Convention or to agree to cooperate fully in the implementation of conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission (see also Decision 02, Rules for Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties).

CMM 04 establishes the SPRFMO IUU Vessel List. It outlines the process by which the Commission Members decide if a vessel suspected of IUU fishing activities should be included in the SPRFMO IUU List. In 2023, the SPRFMO IUU List does not contain any vessels.

IUU fishing in SPRFMO

IUU is the abbreviation of "Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated". According to the SPRFMO CMM 04, (IUU Vessel List) paragraph 1, vessels are presumed to have carried out IUU fishing activities if they:

Engage in fishing for fishery resources and are not registered on the SPRFMO list of vessels authorised to fish in the Convention Area;
Engage in fishing for fishery resources whose flag State has exhausted or has no quotas, catch limit or effort allocation, including, if applicable, those received from another Member or CNCP under relevant SPRFMO conservation and management measures;
Do not record and/or report their catches or catch related data made in the Convention Area, or make false reports;
Take on board, tranship or land undersized fish in a way that undermines SPRFMO conservation and management measures;
Engage in fishing during closed fishing periods or in closed areas, without or after exhaustion of a quota or beyond a closed depth, in contravention of SPRFMO conservation and management measures;
Use prohibited or non-compliant fishing gear in a way that undermines SPRFMO conservation and management measures;
Tranship with, or participate in joint operations such as re-supply or re-fuelling vessels included in the IUU Vessel List;
Are without nationality and engage in fishing for fisheries resources in the Convention Area, and/or
Engage in fishing activities contrary to any other SPRFMO conservation and management measures.

Consequences of IUU vessel listing

SPRFMO Members and CNCPs shall take all necessary non-discriminatory measures, under their applicable legislation and international law, including the measures listed below. These measures apply to any vessels operating in the SPRFMO Convention Area which are included on any RFMO final IUU vessel list (refer CMM 04, paragraph 16 and 19).

a) to remove or withdraw any fishing authorisations for fisheries resources under the competence of SPRFMO granted to vessels on the IUU Vessel List and not to grant fishing licenses, permits or licenses to those vessels;

b) so that the fishing vessels, support vessels, refuelling vessels, the motherships and the cargo vessels flying their flag do not assist in any way, engage in fishing processing operations or participate in any transhipment or joint fishing operations with vessels included on the IUU Vessel List;

c) so that vessels on the IUU Vessel List are not authorised to land, tranship, re-fuel, re-supply, or engage in other commercial transactions in their ports, except in case of force majeure;

d) to prohibit the entry into their ports of vessels included on the IUU Vessel List, except in case of force majeure;

e) to prohibit the chartering of a vessel included on the IUU Vessel List;

f) to refuse to grant their flag to vessels included in the IUU Vessel List, except if the vessel has changed owner and the new owner has provided sufficient evidence demonstrating the previous owner or operator has no further legal, beneficial or financial interest in, or control of, the vessel, or having taken into account all relevant facts, the flag Member or CNCP determines that granting the vessel its flag will not result in IUU fishing;

g) to prohibit the imports, or landing and/or transhipment, of species covered by the Convention from vessels included in the IUU Vessel List;

h) to encourage the importers, transporters and other sectors concerned, to refrain from transaction, transhipment and processing of species covered by the Convention caught by vessels included in the IUU Vessel List;

i) to collect and exchange with other Members and CNCPs any appropriate information with the aim of searching for, controlling and preventing false import/export certificates regarding species covered by the Convention from vessels included in the IUU Vessel List.

SPRFMO IUU Vessel List

IUU fishing in SPRFMO

Consequences of IUU vessel listing

IUU Lists of other RFMOs

SPRFMO IUU List Archive