<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 6pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:20pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">New paper highlights spread of
organized crime from global fisheries</span></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">by </span><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/by/basten-gokkon/"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:black;text-decoration-line:none">Basten Gokkon</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">4 September 2020</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-paper-highlights-spread-of-organized-crime-from-global-fisheries/?utm_source=Mongabay+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4dee30bfe2-Newsletter_2020_04_30_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_940652e1f4-4dee30bfe2-77237718&mc_cid=4dee30bfe2&mc_eid=b698d4520b">https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-paper-highlights-spread-of-organized-crime-from-global-fisheries/?utm_source=Mongabay+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4dee30bfe2-Newsletter_2020_04_30_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_940652e1f4-4dee30bfe2-77237718&mc_cid=4dee30bfe2&mc_eid=b698d4520b</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">JAKARTA — A new paper calls for greater coordination
by governments around the world to tackle the persistent problem of organized
crime in the fisheries industry impacting the wider economy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The “blue paper” </span><span style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><a href="https://www.oceanpanel.org/blue-papers/organised-crime-associated-fisheries" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:rgb(69,170,232);text-decoration-line:none">published</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> Aug. 18 by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, an
initiative by 14 world leaders, highlights the extent of crimes associated with
global fisheries beyond illegal fishing, including fraud, money laundering,
corruption, and drug and human trafficking. They occur worldwide throughout the
entire fisheries value chain: onshore, at sea, in coastal regions, and online,
it says.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The paper says these crimes are profit-driven
while </span><span style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/9/eaaz3801" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:rgb(69,170,232);text-decoration-line:none">depriving states of national revenue</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">, threatening the livelihoods of coastal communities and </span><span style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1144274/icode/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:rgb(69,170,232);text-decoration-line:none">endangering</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> marine ecosystems around the world. The authors add that the
perpetrators behind organized crime in the fisheries industry are companies
with complex operational activities in many countries. Some of these crimes are
corporate in nature, as in the laundering of criminal proceeds through offshore
financial centers where ownership can’t be traced.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><img border="0" width="462" height="330" alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/11/03132049/illegal-fishing-boat-462x330.jpg"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">A Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel suspected of being
used for illegal fishing activity, is pictured prior to being boarded </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">by law enforcement officers. Image by Shawn
Eggert/U.S. Coast Guard (Public domain).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">A pressing issue that the paper highlights is the poor
understanding of the true scale of organized crime in global fisheries, given
that no statistical data are publicly available to give an accurate estimate.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“The nature of organized crime is that it is
clandestine, making it more difficult to gather accurate empirical data,” Emma
Witbooi, lead author of the report and director of South Africa-based
PescaDOLUS International Fisheries Crime Research Network, told Mongabay in an
email.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">Witbooi, who is also a research associate at Nelson
Mandela University in South Africa, said the empirical studies and data that
existed on illegality in fisheries were focused almost entirely on illegal
fishing itself, and not the broad range of associated criminal activities
throughout the fisheries value chain. She said this was due to the prevalence
of traditionally only viewing illegality in the fisheries industry in the
context of violations of fisheries management regulations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“Fisheries agencies, however, do not have the mandate
or the skills and resources to deal with organized crime in the sector,”
Witbooi said. “This requires a shared understanding of the problem to
effectively cooperate on law enforcement cross-border investigations, ensuring
the most appropriate agencies are involved (i.e. not just fisheries but tax,
labor, police, etc.) and to ensure suitable skills and resources are employed.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">Opaque regulatory frameworks also perpetuate lack of
transparency around financial transactions associated with the fishing industry
and beneficial ownership of fishing companies and vessels, subsequently making
inquiries even more difficult, Witbooi said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“Fisheries crime is also frequently not given priority
at national level as cases are notoriously difficult to successfully prosecute
leading to a likely gross underestimation (at data level) of the extent of such
cases,” she said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“And cases that make it to court frequently focus on
fisheries infractions (as they are the easiest to prove) rather than other
crimes along the value chain so examining case records will not necessarily
give an accurate indication of the number of cases involving organized crime in
fisheries.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The poor monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS)
capabilities of many coastal states makes it even more challenging to gain an
accurate picture of the extent of illegality in the fisheries industry, said
Kamal Deen-Ali, the paper’s co-lead author and executive director of the
Ghana-based Centre for Maritime Law and Security Africa.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“[A]longside the fact that they usually take advantage
of the loophole in the system such as inadequate MCS capability, one clear
thing is that for the networks to be effective in executing these crimes, there
are complicit law enforcement agents who take a bribe in exchange for looking
the other way,” Deen-Ali said in an email to Mongabay.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“In a nutshell, turning the tide on these crimes
requires more than instituting laws and cooperation between countries and
agencies, it requires active intelligence gathering and importantly improving
the welfare of coastal communities many of whom are already vulnerable to the
impact of depleting fisheries,” he added.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><img border="0" width="768" height="512" alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/02163127/Fishing_check_140402-N-ZZ999-550-768x512.jpg"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">U.S. Coast Guard officers and a Ghanaian Navy sailor
inspect a fishing vessel suspected of being used in illegal fishing. Image by
Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng/U.S. Navy (Public domain).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The authors say in their paper that coastal states
with rich marine biodiversity but with the least resources to prevent and
combat transnational organized fisheries crimes are highly likely to be the
victims of these transnational organized crimes, or TOC.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“TOC in fisheries will occur in countries that lack
law enforcement and with a high level of corruption among enforcement officials
and bureaucrats,” Mas Achmad Santosa, co-lead author of the paper and chief
executive of the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, told Mongabay in an email.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The marine advocacy NGO Oceana, which was not involved
in writing the blue paper, welcomed its recommendations for policymakers. It
called on countries to mandate fishing fleets be equipped with and use publicly
accessible tracking technologies, and publish data of vessel monitoring
systems, fishing vessel authorizations, and information on the real owners of
fishing vessels.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">Oceana also urged governments to ban their citizens
from engaging in or supporting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing anywhere in the world.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">“The governments of the world should work together to
ensure that all seafood is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced and
honestly labeled to protect the oceans and the people who depend upon them,”
Beth Lowell, Oceana’s deputy vice president for U.S. campaigns, said in a
statement.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><br></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"><img border="0" width="768" height="512" alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/02155717/Boutwell-560x420-768x512.jpg"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">The fishing vessel El Soberano, carrying illegal
drugs, was interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Boutwell in November
2011. Image by U.S. Coast Guard (Public domain).</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)">//////////////////////////////</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(41,43,44)"> </span></p>

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