Due diligence screening against IUU fishing vessel lists: a necessary step to avoid contracts that support pirate fishing

Official lists of vessels that have been found to carry out or support IUU fishing have been adopted by thirteen Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and related organisations, with mandates to cooperatively manage internationally shared fish stocks or areas. Once vessels are added to these lists, sanctions apply. With the aim of stopping their activities, RFMO member countries are meant to ensure that these vessels cannot access ports, markets, or services.

The process of reviewing the IUU vessel lists published on each of the RFMOs websites can, however, be complicated and time consuming. These lists are not all presented in the same format, nor are they necessarily updated when vessels change their name, flag, owner or location.

With the aim of improving the effectiveness of the original IUU lists as a tool to combat illegal fishing, the non-profit organization Trygg Mat Tracking has created and maintains a user-friendly platform, the Combined IUU Fishing Vessel List. This platform is free to use and provides the best available, up-to-date information on all fishing vessels that appear on the IUU vessel lists published by RFMOs and related organisations. The Combined IUU Fishing Vessel List is a game changer in facilitating better due diligence as it serves as a single reference point to identify whether a vessel has been IUU listed.

Companies such as AXA XL, British Marine, DUPI Underwriting Agencies BV, Generali Group and the Shipowners Club have already adopted this strategy of due diligence screening to avoid insuring IUU fishing vessels and comment:

At AXA XL, we recognize the importance of eliminating IUU fishing for building a sustainable ocean. Improving our ability to detect possible connections to IUU fishing in the vessels we are looking to insure, and therefore avoid providing insurance to them, not only protects our ocean but also protects our bottom line. This is why we’ve been working with Oceana and other partners to incorporate checks on IUU into our underwriting guidelines, ultimately closing an avenue for these vessels to operate.

British Marine understands that having reliable data is crucial to preventing the provision of insurance to vessels engaged in IUU fishing. Utilising Trygg Mat Tracking’s database has empowered us to thwart these operators prior to insuring a vessel, and enabled us to monitor vessels whilst they are on risk.

DUPI Underwriting Agencies BV screen the fishing vessels and refer to the Combined IUU Fishing Vessel list in our daily underwriting and claims process. We found this screening easy to implement and it enables us to continue our contributing role in assisting Oceana to combat IUU fishing and to make sure that we fulfill our legal obligations as a Marine Underwriting Agent.

Generali Group adheres to the Oceana- led principles to address IUU fishing, in support of conservation management and sustainability, through the adoption of a Responsible Underwriting Strategy. We adopted this strategy of due diligence screening, referring to the Combined IUU Fishing Vessel List as well as the EU rules to combat IUU fishing, to avoid insuring IUU fishing vessels and to ensure our contribution to preserve our seas and oceans for the next generations. Our sustainability commitment is an enabler of our strategy which is inspired by our ambition to be a Lifetime Partner for clients, stakeholders and communities.

In 2017, Shipowners Club signed the statement in support of ‘The Insurance Industry’s Statement Against Illegal, Unreported And Unregulated (IUU Fishing)’. To reinforce this, checks against the IUU list are included within our compliance check system. In addition, to emphasise the exclusion of illegal fishing, under the ‘What is not covered’ policy wording, any fishing vessel added to the IUU list will automatically have its insurance with Shipowners’ Club terminated.