Adverse Consequences of IUU Fishing

IUU fishing has a number of deleterious effects worldwide. This report details how these adverse consequences play out in diverse ways in nine countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. We draw on press reports; interviews with local fishers, experts and government officials; and comments by participants in off-the-record workshops hosted virtually at American University, May 23-25, 2022. The direct adverse economic consequences of IUU fishing are multiple, including tax revenue losses for governments, declining revenues for legal fishers, and loss of livelihood and even food security for artisanal fishers and fishing communities. Estimates of the cost of IUU fishing in South America suggest economic losses as high as US$2.3 billion, income losses as high as $600 million, and tax revenue losses of as much as $500 million.1 Together, these figures suggest that, after Asia and Africa, South America is the region that suffers the biggest losses globally due to IUU fishing.2