Ocean sustainability, anti-IUU policies, and the criminalization of small-scale fishers

International concerns over maritime crimes have increased over the past two decades, with multinational efforts seeking to curb illegal fishing, piracy, drug trafficking, and slavery at sea. Many of these crimes have transnational and cross-sectoral dimensions contrasting with the limited regulatory reach and enforcement capacity of local authorities. The result is often a criminalization of small-scale fishing communities that fail to address more systemic and industrial-scale IUU. This paper seeks to bring conceptual clarity and systematic evidence on the development of anti-IUU legislation and enforcement practices in areas where small-scale fishing has been deemed to be associated with other criminal activities such as drug trafficking. Drawing from Latin American cases, the paper provides an account of the development of fisheries regulations, enforcement practices, and assessment of their impacts on small-scale fishing including associated patterns of criminalization of small-scale fishers. The paper then discusses policy implications to better understand the effects of anti-IUU strategies in aggravating or reducing harmful fishing practice and the criminalization of small-scale fishing communities, with the aim of contributing to foster greater sustainability and social justice within the fishing industry.