Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Impacts, Costs, and Countermeasures

This book explores in detail the complexity of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and highlights its impact on food safety and the regulatory framework of the European Union to combat it. Divided into five chapters, the book collects and synthesizes data and information from the most authoritative and exhaustive sources published to date, providing a comprehensive and detailed narrative of IUU fishing. After defining and contextualizing the phenomenon, the book analyzes the modus operandi of IUU fishing operations, emphasizing the complexity and transnational scope of such activities. It unravels the multiple causes and subtle motives that perpetuate the phenomenon and quantifies the interconnected environmental, economic, and social impacts of IUU fishing on a global scale, clarifying the involvement of organized crime. In particular, the book demonstrates the real risk that IUU fishing products pose to food safety and consumer interests worldwide, including industrialized countries with highly regulated seafood markets. The third chapter outlines the functioning and current state of the global fight against IUU fishing, with a focus on the past, present, and future efforts of the European Union. The book is structured into five chapters: after a short introduction presented in the first chapter, where some generic information is given about IUU fishing, the second chapter defines and contextualizes IUU fishing in detail, analyzing its modus operandi and exploring the causes of its persistence; the third chapter explores the environmental, economic, and social impacts of IUU fishing, encompassing links to organized crime, as well as the food hygiene and safety implications, including the risk of food fraud; the fourth chapter examines countermeasures against IUU fishing, focusing on the responsibilities of the States involved in the supply chain and outlining the main international provisions, with particular emphasis on the European Union's legal framework; in the fifth chapter the Authors formulate their conclusions in light of all discussed aspects. This book is an indispensable resource for gaining a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of IUU fishing and provides an insider's perspective on its implications for food safety and the European Union's legal framework for its contrast. Ending IUU fishing is one of the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and by promoting awareness of this issue this book supports those who wish to contribute to the achievement of this goal.