It is estimated that illegal and unregulated fishing costs the global economy around US$23 billion a year. Additionally it steals from smaller-scale fishers by taking the fish in near-shore waters and undermining the ecosystem on which the fish depend. Although many decry effective law enforcement, this is critical as without protecting the resource from illegal harvesting we cannot enable sustainability and as a result, many coastal communities that have few other viable alternatives other than harvesting from the sea will be left destitute.

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