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Introduction: Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a serious environmental crime with severe economic, social, and security implications. Efforts to monitor IUU fishing could be enhanced by using patterns of at-sea transshipment of fish to detect illicit subgroups. Methods: Using data from Global Fishing Watch, this study investigates repeat transshipment events among vessels observed to operate in the U.N. FAO Area 81 during 2015-2021. Ship-to-ship transfer networks mapping potential encounters among 30 refrigerated cargo vessels (carriers) and 613 fishing vessels exhibit distinct communities that extend beyond this region. Results: Highly central, carriers associated with open registries (flags of convenience) and exhibiting high operational deficiencies form networks that shadow the activities of national fleets. Discussion: Observed between group linkages among vessels draw attention to these parallel trade currents embedding regional activity into the larger fishing industry, providing a focus for monitoring and conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birds are commonly entangled in long-line fisheries, and increases in long-line fishing activity have consistently caused declines in seabird populations. Environmental criminology would posit that the risk of such declines is greater in the case of illegal long-line fisheries, which are less likely to implement bycatch mitigation measures. To investigate this possibility we examined the overlap between data on illegal fishing and albatross at-sea occurrence ranges. Moderate correlations were found between mean exposure to illegal fishing and the Red List status of albatross species, but none were found between Red List status and total fishing pressure. A second analysis overlaid albatross at-sea occurrence ranges with long-lining data for the member countries of the Convention on Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna to compare the effect of exposure to legal and illegal hooks on Red List status. Lacking a better measure, Country A's hooks were used as a proxy for illegal hooks. Critically Endangered and Endangered species were 12 and 3.4 times more exposed to illegal hooks, respectively, than Near Threatened species, whereas there was no relationship between Red List status and exposure to legal hooks. Country-level analyses confirmed these findings, which provide evidence that illegal long-line fishing poses a particular threat to the survival of albatrosses. The findings suggest that the bird conservation lobby should work closely with fisheries authorities to tackle illegal fishing, and that research should identify the highest risk areas of overlap between illegal fishing and albatross at-sea ranges. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The CRAVED model has been used to understand theft variation in a whole host of hot products, including wildlife. Past research, however, has only applied the model at either the theft or illicit market stage to understand why particular products are stolen in high numbers. The CRAVED model has yet to be applied to thetraffickingstage of hot products smuggled between illicit markets and, therefore, its applicability at this particular stage remains unknown. Using secondary data from the Los Pozos wildlife market in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, this study applies the CRAVED model to explain why parrot species are trafficked between illicit markets in Bolivia. This research finds that species that are more “available” and less “valuable” are more likely to betraffickedbetween illicit markets, suggesting that variation at thetraffickingstage of the parrot trade can be explained by nearly the same CRAVED concepts as they do at the poaching stage. This study also finds that one-quarter of parrots in the Los Pozos market are trafficked to other cities, of which 99% are to the city of Cochabamba. These findings suggest that shutting down illicit markets and patrolling major roadways between cities can substantially reduce the illegal parrot trade. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]