American Samoa is active in an international effort to clamp down on IUU which is Illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing.
The NOAA office of Law Enforcement is now enforcing locally a regulation on IUU fishing which allows ports to inspect vessles, confiscate IUU catch and fine fishing vessels that are found to violate international fishing conventions. This includes not keeping accurate records of their catch, or fishing in a country’s exclusive economic zone without a license.
Such violators go on the list of IUU vessels which are red flagged and are banned from entry into port.
Murray Bauer of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, says working with the US Coast Guard, Department of Marine Resources, Marine Patrol and Port Administration they are now boarding vessels entering port, both US and foreign vessels, to check for evidence of IUU fishing.
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