Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a direct threat to the sustainability of global tuna stocks. This modern day piracy threatens the capacity of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) to protect tuna fisheries by impacting the ability of scientists to assess the health of tuna stocks, jeopardizing the effectiveness of science-based management and conservation measures and blocking the ability of nations to monitor and enforce compliance.   

ISSF has committed to working towards eliminating illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing of the world's tuna stocks. In fact, IUU fishing was the first issue tackled by the ISSF Board of Directors in 2009. Since then we've advocated for change and called for direct action to stop this unsustainable practice.

Today, we're putting our partnership to work for RFMOs by urging industry to refrain from transactions with vessels listed as IUU. ISSF has also set a standard for traceability that ensures companies working with us have the ability to trace tuna from capture to plate.

Each RFMO publishes a list of vessels determined to have involvement in IUU fishing. Click on the links below to access those lists.

IATTC IUU Vessel List

ICCAT IUU Vessel List

IOTC IUU Vessel List

WCPFC IUU Vessel List

(RELATED: traceability, data, Tuna Science Report, Participants)