SDG #14 is to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Within SDG #14 are 10 targets, of which we here focus on Target 14.6:
By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
Target 14.6 has one indicator:
Indicator 14.6.1: Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
The primary treaty governing international fisheries and maritime matters is the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Supplementing this, focused on fisheries management, is the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. Several other agreements are also overseen by the Food and Agriculture Organization. These include guidelines by which the country of the flag under which a vessel sails bears some responsibility. International agreements exist to enforce illegal catches at ports. This requires each country to check and surveil vessels bearing their country’s flag and others. This helps control such practices to counter organised evasion of such laws, which can take advantage of the high seas. The FAO also has a code of conduct for responsible fisheries.
For the measure of implementation of these international instruments, 5 is the highest score and 1 the lowest. The world has scored 4 as of 2022, up from 3 in 2018. Many countries don’t have data for this measure, including the US, several South American countries, and most of the Middle East and Africa. Countries with scores of 1 as of 2022 include Congo, Kuwait, and Bosnia, which only has a 20-kilometre coastline.
