Selig Elizabeth R, Wabnitz Colette C C, Nakayama Shinnosuke, Park Jaeyoon, Barnes Richard, Blasiak Robert, Borg-Costanzi Dawn, Golder Bronwen, Jouffray Jean-Baptiste, Leape Jim, Decker Sparks Jessica L
Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Sci Adv. 2025 Sep 5;11(36):eads1592. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads1592.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens the sustainability of fisheries and communities dependent on them. The Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) is a key tool for combatting IUU fishing by foreign fleets, requiring standardized inspections, information sharing, and port denial. Using satellite data, we characterized how PSMA has affected high seas vessel behavior and identify opportunities to strengthen its impact. PSMA adoption has increased travel distances to the nearest ports in States not Party to PSMA and channeled more fishing effort to domestic and PSMA Party ports. However, domestic fishing fleets need greater attention because they constituted 66% of port visits in 2021. Among reflagged vessels, we also found a 30% increase in visits to PSMA ports by vessels shifting to domestic flags after PSMA entered into force, allowing them to avoid PSMA requirements for foreign vessels. Our results highlight the centrality of implementing consistent, effective port State measures across foreign and domestic fleets to address IUU fishing risks.
非法、未报告和无管制（IUU）捕捞威胁着渔业以及依赖渔业的社区的可持续性。《港口国措施协定》（PSMA）是打击外国船队IUU捕捞的关键工具，要求进行标准化检查、信息共享和港口拒绝准入。利用卫星数据，我们描述了PSMA如何影响公海船只行为，并确定加强其影响的机会。PSMA的采用增加了前往非PSMA缔约国最近港口的航行距离，并将更多的捕捞努力导向国内港口和PSMA缔约国港口。然而，国内捕捞船队需要更多关注，因为在2021年它们占港口访问量的66%。在更换船旗的船只中，我们还发现，在PSMA生效后转向国内船旗的船只对PSMA港口的访问量增加了30%，使它们能够规避PSMA对外国船只的要求。我们的结果强调了对外国和国内船队实施一致、有效的港口国措施以应对IUU捕捞风险的核心地位。
