International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 5th of 2017. The goal of the observance is to fight illegal fishing. According to the United Nations, illegal fishing activities are accountable for the death of 11 to 26 million tons of fish per year. This quantity can be valued at over $10 billion.

International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing is observed annually on June 5th. This date was chosen because on June 5th of 2016, the first international treaty was created to end illegal fishing.

Top 8 Facts for International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in 2026

• The Agreement on Port State Measures represents the first legally binding international treaty specifically designed to target the entry of illegally caught fish into global markets by empowering ports to block suspicious vessels.
• Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing accounts for an estimated one out of every five fish caught worldwide, leading to an annual economic loss ranging from $10 billion to over $30 billion.
• In January 2026, the European Union implemented a sophisticated digital traceability platform known as CATCH to modernize catch certification and prevent fraudulent seafood products from entering the single market.
• Beyond environmental damage, illicit fishing is frequently linked to transnational organized crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking, and the use of forced labor within the global seafood supply chain.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations identifies illegal fishing as a primary threat to the food security of the 2.6 billion people who rely on fish as their main source of protein.
• A critical focus of current maritime surveillance involves monitoring dark fleets, which are vessels that intentionally disable their automatic identification systems to evade detection while operating in protected waters.
• The 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by the World Trade Organization established new global rules prohibiting government subsidies for vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities.
• Foundational to these modern efforts is the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, a voluntary framework that remains the global benchmark for sustainable aquatic resource management.

In the News and Trending in the US for International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

Top things to do in the US for this observance

• Explore the Port State Measures that countries agreed to in order to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
• Watch a video explaining more about illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

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