The United States and Russia have signed a bilateral agreement to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, after many years of cooperative work to address this issue.

The signing took place last Friday in conjunction with the 26th annual Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) meeting hosted by the United States in Portland, Oregon, where delegations from the two countries discussed ocean and fisheries issues of mutual concern.

The agreement aims to improve coordination among the multiple government agencies in both countries that need to work together to address IUU fishing.

The State Department highlighted that in the US, the agreement has the strong support of the fishing industry based in the Pacific Northwest/Alaska region, as well as the environmental community.

In this regard, the Alaska crab industry, represented by Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC), has expressed its hope that this pact marks a new era of bilateral cooperation to stop illegal fishing.

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