New Zealand Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unregulated & Unreported Fishing, May 2004.

This New Zealand’s National Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing has been developed in accordance with the International Plan of Action to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing, adopted in 2001 by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. The growing incidence of IUU fishing, globally, is of significant concern to New Zealand and other members of the international community. IUU fishing can occur in all capture fisheries, both in national jurisdictions and on the high seas. IUU fishing results in widespread environmental, social and economic consequences. It adversely affects target species as well as associated and dependent species and the wider ecosystem. It can seriously impair efforts to achieve sustainable fisheries and can ultimately lead to the collapse of a fishery. By distorting competition, IUU fishing jeopardises the economic survival of those who fish legitimately. Because of their lower operating costs, IUU fishers gain an unjust economic advantage over legitimate fishers. The impacts of IUU fishing undermine international, regional, and national efforts to effectively conserve and manage fish stocks and the impacts of fishing. New Zealand’s National Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing closely follows the provisions of the International Plan of Action to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing.
The IPOA serves as a comprehensive “toolbox” of measures to address IUU fishing in a range of contexts. The IPOA-IUU contains general measures targeted at all States, as well as measures targeted specifically at flag States, coastal States and port States. It also contains market-related measures, measures to support the special requirements of developing countries in their achievement of the objective of the IPOA-IUU, and measures to be taken by States through Regional Fisheries Management organisations (RFMOs). Some of the IPOA-IUU provisions reflect obligations that many States have accepted as binding, either through global instruments, or through RFMOs. The IPOA-IUU incorporates the following principles and strategies: Participation and coordination: To be fully effective, the IPOA should be implemented by all States either directly, in cooperation with other States, or indirectly through relevant RFMOs or through the FAO and other appropriate international organisations. The full participation of stakeholders in combating IUU fishing, including industry, fishing communities, and nongovernmental organizations, should be encouraged.