This assumption of unlimited abundance shaped maritime law, global trade, and coastal economies in the same way. But nowadays, that historical error has come back to haunt us. Illegal fishing, previously regarded as a regulatory inconvenience, has become a silent climate-change catalyst and a neglected driver of human migration.
The origins of the issue can be traced back to the growth of industrial fishing after World War II. The development of sonar, refrigeration, and deep-sea trawling enabled the fleets to sail farther and longer than ever. Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) subsequently sought to bring order through Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), it was not very effective, especially for developing states on the coastlines. It was into this vacuum that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing began, which is currently estimated to account for up to 20% of the world’s catch and costs coastal economies billions of dollars annually. However, the real price of illegal fishing has ceased to be an economic matter. It has become climactic.
