Per Sandberg
Norwegian Minister of Fisheries
“Transnational organized fisheries crime threatens the world’s fisheries and impedes the sustainable use of the oceans. Criminals don’t respect borders and therefore we need cross-border cooperation. International cooperation against fisheries crime has already produced results, and I hope this year’s FishCRIME Symposium will foster greater action at the international level.”
Per Sandberg
Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia
“We need to acknowledge that fisheries crime is a transnational organized crime. Transnational organized fisheries crime has been destroying our ocean, mocking sovereignty, and even abusing human as well as the ocean’s rights for decades. The campaign to acknowledge transnational organized fisheries crime is important to support countries to fight against this criminal phenomenon. I hope the International FishCRIME Symposium this year will lead to broader acknowledgement of transnational organized fisheries crime; by countries and by the United Nations.”
Dagfinn Høybråten
General Secretary for Nordic Council of Ministers
“Our vision for the Nordic region is: “together we are stronger”. I believe that this is not only a Nordic goal but also a global goal when working against fisheries crime. The Nordic challenges is also part of the global challenges and international cooperation between continents and regions are essential. The Nordic Council of Ministers supports two projects against fisheries crime on intelligence sharing and research and my message is that the Nordic region is ready to cooperate.”
Kofi Annan
Chair of the Africa Progress Panel
“We need to acknowledge that fisheries crime is a transnational organized crime. Transnational organized fisheries crime has been destroying our ocean, mocking sovereignty, and even abusing human as well as the ocean’s rights for decades. The campaign to acknowledge transnational organized fisheries crime is important to support countries to fight against this criminal phenomenon. I hope the International FishCRIME Symposium this year will lead to broader acknowledgement of transnational organized fisheries crime; by countries and by the United Nations.”
Yury Fedotov
Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime
“Fisheries crime has a devastating impact on food security, livelihoods, the environment and sustainable development. A global effort to effectively combat the criminal syndicates perpetrating this crime is needed. UNODC is committed to playing its role by working with Member States, as well as other intergovernmental organizations and civil society, to respond to the associated crimes along the fisheries value chain. I hope this year’s FishCRIME Symposium will be another important step towards securing the livelihoods of millions of people around the world and the health of our oceans.”
Jürgen Stock
Secretary General of INTERPOL
“Fisheries crime undermines the sustainability of marine resources and threatens food security as well as the economic, social and political stability of coastal states. It is also often linked to other forms of serious transnational crime including corruption, money laundering, fraud, human and drugs trafficking. The last decade has seen increased involvement of transnational and organized criminal networks in fisheries crime, a trend highlighted by INTERPOL and its partners. International cooperation and coordination is necessary, since it is impossible for any one country or agency to tackle fisheries crime alone.”
