In poor coastal villages in Latin America and the Caribbean, fishers are entering the drug trade. The harvesting of sharks as bycatch in Ecuador and Costa Rica, countries known for conservation, is devastating threatened populations. And vessels in China’s distant-water fleet are turning off their transponders to plunder South America’s waters.
Experts at a panel discussion hosted by InSight Crime and the Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS) at American University made clear that the consequences of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are immediate and enormous across the region. IUU fishing damages livelihoods and marine ecosystems while facilitating other crimes, such as labor abuse and drug trafficking.
But all is not lost, said the experts, who presented ways to go after the perpetrators, increase enforcement capacity, and rein in bad actors. Initiatives for fishers who can no longer make a living at sea are also needed.
“The impact goes beyond the fishing industry,” said Matthew Taylor, a professor of international studies at American University who collaborated with InSight Crime on a recently published working paper on IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Philippe Le Billon, a professor at the University of British Columbia, began the conference by highlighting a study he conducted on the connections between drug smuggling and fishing.
While acknowledging that data were limited, Le Billon explained that his study analyzed 292 known cases of vessels engaged in drug trafficking between 2010 and 2017. The findings, he said, show that “more and more small-scale fishermen are getting forced into” drug smuggling.
Paradoxically, small-scale fishers are susceptible to exploitation by drug traffickers because of the effects of IUU fishing practices, such as declining fish stocks and access to fishing grounds. The flow of drug money into local fisheries also can lead to “fishing overcapacity,” Le Billon said.