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IUU fishing contributes to the over-exploitation of natural fisheries resources and is detrimental to coastal communities' quality of life. IUU fishing has targeted African ports, which are at particularly great harm from the practice. To deter IUU fishing, the Port State Measure Agreement (PMSA) came into force to enable port officials to deny foreign vessels access to their port and services such as refueling and repairs if suspected of illegal activities. However, Stop Illegal Fishing recognizes the agreement itself is not enough. With the support of others, they will work to implement the PMSA in African countries through a holistic approach that requires looking at legal and policy issues, compliance and enforcement, and cooperation and awareness.

The UN's ambitious PMSA intends to stop IUU vessels from entering port and ensure that vessels are complying with conservation and management measures, among other responsibilities. However, developing nations were concerned about the resources required to build this capacity. In response, the PEW Environment group is working to create a Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) methodology, a tool states can use to find a personalized strategy in implanting the PSMA. The PMSA capacity building needs run the risk of being unfeasible for developing nations, but this CNA methodology provides a clear and accessible tool for bridging this divide.

Trawling is recognized as ecologically destructive and unsustainable and contributes to widespread IUU fishing in Indonesia. The number of trawlers is highest in North Sumatra, even though trawlers were banned in Indonesian waters in 1980. Indonesian authorities, because of bribery and corruption, have been unwilling to enforce the ban, leading to a rise in trawler activity. Trawlers often illegally enter a 3-mile zone reserved for traditional fishing activities. This invasion has led to ecological harm to the area, a decrease in stock leading to increasingly less income and a collapse of local fisheries, and most alarmingly, high levels of violence and conflict, sometimes leading to death. JALA is working with local fisheries to represent their needs to the Indonesian government and provide a solution for this urgent situation.

Stop Illegal Fishing's (SIF) mission is to combat IUU fishing, particularly in coastal African countries. To complete this goal, SIF has partnered with multiple African fisheries to implement the Port State Measure Agreement. SIF has a robust system to recognize and take action against illegally caught fish and illegal vessels (a check, inspect, and act process), which they are now developing into standard operating procedures (SOPs) that they train on the ground. They have also aided multiple task forces around Africa which translate into greater regional and international cooperation. Through their work in 2019, SIF is helping achieve a more equitable and effective blue economy.

In an extensive one-year research on Thailand's overseas fishing fleets, Greenpeace finds that many of Thailand's distant water fishing fleets participate in illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. Despite the Thai government passing regulation in 2015 to control distant fishing fleets, Greenpeace uncovers multiple enduring human rights violations. Many of Thailand's companies, aided by large refrigerated vessels known as "reefers", are once again sailing at sea, continuing practices that lead to trafficking, fatalities, disease, and countless other human rights violations.

This Issue Paper is based on a desk review of research carried out on Transnational Organised Crime at Sea, with particular emphasis on existing UNODC materials concerning transnational organized crime at sea and
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also captures discussions held in an expert group meeting Vienna held in November 2012 and serves as a background document to the recommendations of the expert meeting. The paper examines piracy and armed robbery at sea, migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, drug trafficking, organized crime within the fishing industry and oil bunkering, both in terms of the specific activities and the common challenges and intertwined elements of these crimes.