IUU Fishing in the South China Sea:

Challenges and Opportunities for Practical

Maritime Security Cooperation

Emeritus Professor Carlyle A. Thayer

Presentation to
MAFDC Forum on the South China Sea 2023
hosted by Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College and the National University
of Malaya, supported by East Asia International Relations Caucus
Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 10, 2023
 Introduction
1. What are the major challenges that led to the
difficulty of fostering maritime security cooperation
to reduce IUU fishing conflicts?
2. How can extra- and intra-regional actors create
opportunities in advancing practical cooperation
among themselves?
 Major Challenges in Fostering Maritime Security
Cooperation to Reduce IUUF Conflicts

• South China Sea mirrors IUUF problems found globally

• Growth of state-supported regional fishing fleets
• Larger boats, fuel subsidies, protection by Coast Guard/Maritime
Law Enforcement/maritime militia
• China, Hong Kong and Vietnam account for 70% of fish catch
• Over fishing, depletion, environmental damage
• Local fishermen face dwindling catch and loss of income
• Loss of national income for littoral states
 Major Challenges in Fostering Maritime Security
Cooperation to Reduce IUUF Conflicts

• Maritime boundary disputes (EEZs)

• Spurious historical claims
• Inaction and/or lack of capacity by littoral states to curb IUUF
• Independent action by illegal fishers
• Turn off AIS, alter boat registration number
• IUUF shifts south: Indonesian & Malaysian EEZs, and Gulf of
Thailand
• Many initiatives to end IUUF, but IUUF persist
 Role of Extra-Regional Actors to Create
Opportunities to Advancing Practical Cooperation

• 2001 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International

Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal,
Unreported and Unregulated Fishing
• 2010 European Union IUU Regulation
• 2016 World Trade Organisation set 2020 deadline to
eliminate subsidies that promote overcapacity and facilitate
IUUF
• 2020 US Coast Guard Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated
Fishing Strategic Outlook
 Role of Intra-Regional Actors to Create
Opportunities to Advancing Practical Cooperation

• 2007 Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing

Practices Including Combating IUU Fishing in the Region
• Australia-Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New
Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam
(11)
• 2016 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members
pledge to enhance sustainable fishing at ASEAN-SEAFDEC
meeting in Bangkok
 Association of South East Asian Nations

• 2015 ASEAN Guidelines for Preventing the Entry of Fish and

Fishery Products from IUU Fishing into the Supply Chain
(revised August 24, 2015
• 2016-20 Strategic Plan of ASEAN Cooperation on Fisheries
• 2020 (December) ASEAN Network for Combatting IUU
Fishing established
• Established under EU-ASEAN Cooperation (Enhanced Regional
Dialogue)
 Vietnam: Case Study
• 2017 European Commission issues Vietnam a yellow
card for illegally exporting seafood
• 2017-2019 Vietnam’s share of EU market declined 12
percent, EU dropped from Vietnam’s second largest
market to fourth
• If EC issued a red card Vietnamese seafood exports
would be totally banned in EU market
• Loss of US$480 million per year
 Vietnam & Maritime Law Enforcement

• June 2021 MARD Notice to People’s Committees

to install satellite Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS)
• June 2021 Prime Minister’s Directive on Inter-Sectoral
Coordination to prevent IUUF in foreign waters
• Four ministries (MARD, MND, MOFA and MPS) and 28
People’s Committees ordered to provide updates of
specific activities
 Vietnam and Regional Cooperation
• Indonesia’s BAKAMLA (Maritime Security Agency)
• Agreement on demarcation of continental shelves (2003)
• MOU on bilateral cooperation December 28, 2021
• Agreement on EEZ boundaries (December 2022)
• 1st Vietnam Coast Guard & Friends – December 2022
• Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and
Thailand
ASEAN-China Single Draft Code of Conduct in
the South China Sea Negotiating Text
Section 2.c Option 2 [ID, SG]
• Indonesia added:
• e. combating transnational crime, including but not limited to
trafficking in illicit drugs, [ID: illegal fishing,] piracy and armed
robbery at sea, and illegal traffic in arms (emphasis added).
• Must be adopted by consensus
• Brings in China and Myanmar
• Reference international law & conventions on IUUF
 Draft Code of Conduct: Outstanding Issues

• Reference to illegal fishing in SDNT needs to be expanded

with greater details
• International conventions and other regulations and norms
related to IUUF need to be incorporated
• Geographic scope and disputed areas need to be defined
• Disputes over maritime delimitation should be resolved or
disputants should enter into “arrangements of a practical
nature”
 Draft Code of Conduct: Outstanding Issues
• Legal status of the COC needs to be clarified
• Will it be a treaty?
• Enforcement measures should be included
• Role of third parties
• No mention is made of third parties in SDNT
• Third parties should be able to accede to the final Code of
Conduct
 Draft Code of Conduct: Outstanding Issues
• Australia, Japan, the United States and other maritime
powers should lobby ASEAN members to support
Indonesia’s proposal to include illegal fishing
• U.S. Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement
(SAFE) Act – possible U.S. role
• Interagency Working Group on IUUF Priority Areas: Tier 1 (of 3), Southeast
Asia (2019)
• Other Maritime Law Enforcement agencies have roles
to play
 IUU Fishing in the South China Sea:
Challenges and Opportunities for Practical
Maritime Security Cooperation

Emeritus Professor Carlyle A. Thayer

Presentation to
MAFDC Forum on the South China Sea 2023
hosted by Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College and the National University
of Malaya, supported by East Asia International Relations Caucus
Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 10, 2023
 References
• Carlyle A. Thayer, “Will the ASEAN-China South China Sea Code of Conduct Address
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing?” Presentation to International Conference
on IUUF Indo-Maritime Security Exchange 2021 Webinar, hosted by the Navy League of
the United States Honolulu Council, Honolulu, Hawaii, September 8-9, 2021.
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/523850335/Carlyle-A-Thayer-Will-the-ASEAN-
China-South-China-Sea-Code-of-Conduct-Address-Illegal-Unreported-and-Unregulated-
Fishing-Presentation-to-Interna.
• Carlyle A. Thayer, “The Roles of the Vietnam Coast Guard, Fisheries Surveillance Force
and Maritime Militia in the Blue Economy,” Presentation to Workshop on Beyond
Borders: Security, Economy, and Fisheries in the Maritime Spaces of Southeast Asia co-
sponsored by Research Initiative on Taiwan Studies, Southeast Asia Research Initiative,
and the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of
Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, October 14, 2022.
https://www.scribd.com/document/600566113/Thayer-The-Roles-of-the-Vietnam-Coast-
Guard-Fisheries-Surveillance-Force-and-Maritime-Militia-in-the-Blue-Economy.