Blue Crime Dialogue Forum 0.1

The Blue Crime Dialogue Forum facilitates knowledge-sharing between researchers in academia and policy makers and practitioners in government agencies in Norway about the prevention of fisheries crime.

prosjekt

About/Aims

Background

Norway has taken a leading role on the prevention of fisheries crime internationally and has ambitious goals to address fisheries crime also nationally. But what is known about fisheries crime and how to prevent it?

Through a series of tutorials and seminars over the course of 2022, NMBU, in collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, will bring researchers from multiple disciplines and policy makers and practitioners from various government agencies together to discuss what we know and what remains unknown about the prevention of fisheries crime, what our ambitions in this field should be, and how research can assist in reaching these goals.

Although fisheries crime plagues the oceans, states find it difficult to act upon the illegal activities. As a result, criminals engaging in fisheries crimes are often met with little resistance from law enforcement, while at the same time achieving high profits.

To combat fisheries crime, Norway has initiated a number of initiatives and strategies, including the Copenhagen Declaration on Transnational Organized Crime in the Global Fishing Industry and the Blue Justice Initiative. The Blue Justice Initiative has allowed Norway to help countries across the world address fisheries crime through the use of an international partnership that promotes a blue economy free from fisheries crime.

The project Blue Crime Dialogue Forum 0.1 is a collaboration between the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries and NMBU and aims to be part of the ministry's ongoing dialogue with stakeholders on preventive measures towards fisheries crime. Although actions are being taken by Norway to combat fisheries crime, the proposed project aims to not only look into the efforts of the public sector, but also scientific expertise in academia, and explore the synergies created by interaction between practitioners and researchers.

Objective

The project has three overarching objectives through interaction and learning.

The first objective is to map what is known and what remains unknown about fisheries crime and fisheries crime prevention.

The second objective is to explore the ambitions Norway should have in the effort to promote blue justice.

The third objective is to develop a road map for future research in the area of fisheries crime prevention and that can assist Norway reach its ambitions in this field.

More about the project

The project analyses both the practical and theoretical problems identified by the practitioners in public sector and the researchers in academia alike; drawing on knowledge exchange in seminars to discover the most efficient ways to combat fisheries crime.

Moreover, the project will focus on promoting the sustainable development goals by discussing strategies that can address the following goals: Goal 1 - To End Poverty; Goal 8 - Decent work and Economic Growth; Goal 12 - Responsible Production; Goal 14 - Promote the Sustainable Use of The Oceans; and perhaps most important, Goal 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

This Blue Crime Dialogue Forum consists of two seminars and eight tutorials in which the three project objectives will be explored. The seminars will seek to bring together experts and practitioners from the public sector and academia with a focus on fisheries crime, law of the sea, and the environment. In the eight tutorials invited researchers will be invited to present research findings and provide advice to members of the public sector in their efforts to address fisheries crime. Notes will be taken from each session by NMBU in order to produce a short joint report detailing the findings from the experts in accordance with the established objectives.

The academic expert and NMBU project lead is professor Stig Jarle Hansen who has conducted extensive research on maritime crime. Professor Hansen is an expert that has previously worked with the US state department, NATO, the Norwegian Royal Navy, The UNODC, The Horn Institute, and The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). He has given related presentations across the world and has worked with the Danish private actor Risk Intelligence to create maritime risk assessments, while also appearing on CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, Chinese Channel 4 (CCTV4), and other global media outlets as an expert commenter on related issues. He is now leading the international relations program at the Norwegian University of Life Science.

The project lead at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries is policy director Eve de Coning. De Coning is currently seconded to Økokrim to assist the Norwegian police build knowledge and situational awareness on fisheries crime. She has previously been seconded to National Central Bureau (NCB) Oslo at the National Crime Investigative Services – Norway (Kripos) for four years while holding leadership positions in the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group. She has led multilateral operations and exercises and otherwise worked on topics relating to fisheries crime and fisheries crime prevention with INTERPOL in Lyon, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). De Coning is the author of several academic articles, book chapters and reports on fisheries crime, human trafficking in fisheries and fisheries crime law enforcement and prevention.

News/Findings

Reviews

Researchers

Participating NMBU researchers

Stig Jarle Hansen

Professor

stig.hansen@nmbu.no

The academic expert is Professor Stig Jarle Hansen who has conducted extensive research on maritime crime since 2006. Professor Stig Jarle Hansen has previously worked with the US state department, NATO, the Norwegian Royal Navy, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, The Horn Institute, and The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). Hansen has given related presentations across the world and has worked with the Danish private actor Risk Intelligence to create maritime risk assessments, while also appearing on CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, Chinese Channel 4 (CCTV4), and other global media outlets as an expert commenter on related issues. Professor Hansen is currently heading the international relations program at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Mats Sagevik Nordås

Executive Officer

mats.sagevik.nordas@nmbu.no

The research assistant at NMBU is Mats Sagevik Nordås, a master student at NMBU studying International Relations. Nordås has a previous bachelor’s degree in international Environment and Development studies from NMBU and have field experience from Tanzania and Zanzibar focusing on the interactions between the international community and local fishing villages in the region. Nordås current field of study is security, conflict, and development, with specific focus on piracy and post-conflict police reform.

Ian Bryceson

Professor

ian.bryceson@nmbu.no

Ian Bryceson is Professor Emeritus at Noragric, the Department of International Environment and Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His research is focused thematically on marine and coastal ecology, coastal fisheries and aquaculture, resilience, vulnerability and people's struggles for their rights. His geographical focus is mainly on the Indian Ocean, particularly the eastern coast of Africa, southern and south-eastern Asia. He is currently engaged in three research projects (i) in Tanzania on rights and governance aspects of small-scale coastal fisheries, (ii) in coastal Tanzania/Mozambique on gas extraction as either a resource blessing or curse, and (iii) in Indonesia on sustainable marine aquaculture development. Among several international commitments, Ian is a founding member and programme committee member of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association and council member of the Nordic Africa Institute.

Annette Alstadsæter

Professor

annette.alstadsater@nmbu.no

Annette Alstadsæter er professor i skatteøkonomi ved NMBU, leder av Skatteforsk og forsker på spørsmål rundt skattetilpasning, skatteparadiser og ulikhet. Hun er spaltist i DN og medlem av Sveriges Finanspolitiske Råd.

External participants

Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries:

Eve De Coning

The policy expert is Eve de Coning, policy director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. De Coning is currently seconded to Økokrim to assist the Norwegian police build knowledge and situational awareness on fisheries crime. She has previously been seconded to National Central Bureau (NCB) Oslo at the National Crime Investigative Services – Norway (Kripos) for four years while holding leadership positions in the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group. She has led multilateral operations and exercises and otherwise worked on topics relating to fisheries crime and fisheries crime prevention with INTERPOL in Lyon, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). De Coning is the author of several academic articles, book chapters and reports on fisheries crime, human trafficking in fisheries and fisheries crime law enforcement and prevention.

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Eve De Coning

External partners:

Christian Bueger

Christian Bueger is Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen and honorary professor at the University of Seychelles. He is also one of the directors of SafeSeas. In his research he focusses on maritime security and ocean governance. In his over 100 articles he has addressed issues such as Somali piracy, blue crime, maritime security strategies, maritime domain awareness, and capacity building with a focus on the Western Indian Ocean. He is currently directing three research projects on maritime security in Ghana, on subsea data cable protection and on ocean infrastructures. He has worked as a consultant for the International Maritime Organization, the Indian Ocean Commission, the Global Maritime Crime Programme of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime among others. Further information is available at http://bueger.info

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Christian Bueger

What do you think is the most imporant lesson from your field to prevent fisheries crime?

Illegal fishing is a multi-faceted problem that escapes easy policy responses. It is neither exclusively an environmental or economic problem, nor should it be seen as a security issue alone. Addressing it requires to overcome fragmentation and integrate maritime security, blue economy, ocean health and blue justice considerations in a pragmatic way.

Jacob Kringen

Jacob Kringen er utredningsleder i Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap (DSB) der han blant annet har ansvaret for FoU-arbeid og relatert kontakt mot relevante forskningsmiljøer. Han holder også bistillinger ved Universitetet i Stavanger og Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge. Kringen har arbeidserfaring fra statsforvaltningen, der han har jobbet med generell forvaltningspolitikk og har også erfaring fra ulike offentlige regulerings- og tilsynsorganer, særlig innen helse-, miljø- og sikkerhet. Av bakgrunn er Kringen utdannet sosialantropolog fra Universitetet i Oslo og han har en doktorgrad fra samme sted om sikkerhetsreguleringen i petroleumssektoren. Han har et bredt faglig nettverk inn mot relevante fagmiljøer (nasjonalt og internasjonalt) innen risikoregulering og har deltatt i ulike forsknings- og publiseringsaktiviteter.

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Jacob Kringen

Hvilken innsikt fra ditt fagfelt tenker du at er viktig for arbeidet med å forebygge fiskerikriminalitet?

Mine hovedinteresser er knyttet til reguleringsregimenes "nedstrømsside" (som implementering og etterlevelse) og institusjonelle struktur (som forvaltning og "governance"). Et gitt reguleringsbilde vil påvirkes av hele målgruppebildet, og de såkalte «bad apples» får ofte mye oppmerksomhet. I min forskning har jeg i ulike sammenhenger sett på påtalemyndighetenes oppfølging av industrielle ulykker og i denne forbindelse har jeg sett nærmere på forholdet mellom individuelt og kollektivt ansvar (virksomhetsansvar).

Stig Strandli Gezelius

Stig Strandli Gezelius er professor ved Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge. Han har gjennom det meste av karrieren arbeidet med spørsmål knyttet til lovlydighet, lovhåndhevelse og regulering, og med et særlig fokus på fiskeri og andre primærnæringer. Gezelius’ forskningsinteresser omfatter problemstillinger knyttet til motivasjoner for lovlydighet og lovbrudd, dannelse av lovlydighets- og motstandskulturer, effekter av lovhåndhevelse (herunder virkemiddelbruk og legitimitet), samt lokalsamfunnenes betydning i ressurskontrollen.

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Stig Strandli Gezelius

Hvilken innsikt fra ditt fagfelt tenker du at er viktig for arbeidet med å forebygge fiskerikriminalitet?

Av særlig interesse for forebygging av fiskerikriminalitet er nok studiene av lokalsamfunnenes reaksjoner på lovverk og håndhevelse. Disse studiene viser viktigheten av at offentlig myndighet utøves i takt med sivile moralnormer. Disse moralnormene er til dels kulturavhengige, og effektiv styring krever at myndighetene kjenner kulturen i samfunnet de griper inn i. I min forskning har jeg erfart at norsk lovlydighetskultur har særtrekk som er verdt å ta vare på, men som kan undergraves når lovhåndhevelsen utøves på måter som mangler moralsk legitimitet i lokalsamfunnene. Likeledes har jeg sett at lokalsamfunnene har sin egen moralske gradering av lovbrudd, og at reaksjonene på regelverk og håndhevelse vil variere i henhold til disse. Det kan ha stor verdi for en lovhåndhever å kjenne disse moralske graderingene før virkemidler tas i bruk. Slik kjennskap kan avgjøre om lovhåndhevelsen skaper samarbeidsvilje eller koordinert motstand.

Geir Hønneland

Geir Hønneland er generalsekretær i Den norske Helsingforskomité og tidligere forsker og direktør ved Fridtjof Nansens Institutt. Han har en dr.polit. i statsvitenskap (med avhandling om regeloverholdelse i fiskeriene Barentshavet) og en LL.M. i havrett (med avhandling om privat fiskerisertifisering i polare havområder). Han har skrevet en rekke bøker om internasjonal politikk i nordområdene, norsk-russiske relasjoner og russisk identitet, bl.a. Blue Governance in the Arctic and Antarctic: Private Fisheries Certification and the Law of the Sea (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), International politics in the Arctic: Contested borders, natural resources and Russian foreign policy (Bloomsbury, 2017), Russia and the Arctic: Environment, Identity and Foreign Policy (I.B. Tauris, 2016), Making Fishery Agreements Work: Post-Agreement Bargaining in the Barents Sea (Edward Elgar, 2013) og Borderland Russians: Identity, Narrative and International Relations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). I 2019-2020 arbeidet han som prosjektleder i Lloyd’s Register, med ansvar for MSC-sertifisering i Russland og Nord-Europa. Han har siden 2009 fungert som uavhengig ekspert i MSC-sertifiseringer for ulike sertifiseringsbyråer.

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Geir Hønneland

Hvilken innsikt fra ditt fagfelt tenker du at er viktig for arbeidet med å forebygge fiskerikriminalitet?

Det er to hovedtrender i den samfunnsvitenskapelige litteraturen om regeloverholdelse på både individ- og statsnivå, én som framhever at overholdelse enten er uavhengig av myndighetsutøvelse (first-order compliance) eller kommer av trusler om sanksjoner (coercive compliance mechanisms), og én som hevder at overholdelse i alle fall delvis er et resultat av reglenes og myndighetenes legitimitet og kommunikasjon (discursive compliance mechanisms). I Barentshavet er både tvangsmessige og kommunikasjons-/legitimitets overholdelsesmekanismer framtredende. I Fiskevernsonen rundt Svalbard har Kystvakten i stor grad vært hensatt til kommunikasjon og å appellere til fiskerireglenes legitimitet ettersom det i praksis (om ikke offisielt) gjennom flere tiår har blitt ført en lempelig håndhevelse. Det er en trend i enkelte land å framheve kommunikasjonsaspektet i kontrollvirksomhet, hvor inspektøren opptrer mer som en «konsulent» som gir veiledning om regeloverholdelse, enn en «politi» som kun er ute etter å avdekke lovbrudd.

Jon Petter Rui

Jon Petter Rui er professor ved Det juridiske fakultet, Universitetet i Bergen, og professor II ved Det juridiske fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet. Tidligere arbeidet som advokatfullmektig/advokat og konstituert lagdommer ved Gulating og Hålogaland lagmannsrett.

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Jon Petter Rui

Hvilken innsikt fra ditt fagfelt tenker du at er viktig for arbeidet med å forebygge fiskerikriminalitet?

I min forskning er en målsetning å bidra til et helhetlig fokus ved forebygging, avdekking og reaksjoner mot fiskerikriminalitet. Jeg har fokusert på behovet for å ta i betraktning både effektivitet og proporsjonalitet ved tolking av reguleringslovgivningen på området.

Nandor Knust

Nandor Knust is associate professor of law at the Arctic University of Norway. Before moving to Tromsø to become part of an interdisciplinary project on the use of new technologies to combat fishery crimes - he was heading the international criminal law section of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. Beside his academic career he gained extensive practical experience at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and due to his work in a plurality of (post-) conflict societies. A key focus of his research is on legal reactions in times of emergency, the informalization of law and new challenges to the legal system, such as international, transnational, and cyber criminality.

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Nandor Knust

What do you think is the most imporant lesson from your field to prevent fisheries crime?

Fishery crimes differ immensely from other forms of criminality based on their different modus operandi and their operational closeness due their specific surrounding and people involved. Therefore, this interdisciplinary research project focuses on the integration of key players into a holistic multi-level approach to control this anomic behaviour by the use of an interlinked network of different actors within a public-private-partnership on fishery crimes.

Cyber Security Group, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Dag Johansen

Dag Johansen is a full professor at the Department of Computer Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway. He is addressing fundamental distributed system problems fostering a principled approach to the design and development of robust and efficient distributed systems. He is exploring inter-disciplinary research problems in disparate domains as clinical medicine, elite athlete performance development, and sustainable commercial fisheries. Johansen has been involved in several start-up companies, and he has been visiting professor four sabbatical periods at Cornell University, USA. Johansen is an elect member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences.

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Dag Johansen

Hvilken innsikt fra deres fagfelt tenker du at er viktig for arbeidet med å forebygge fiskerikriminalitet?

Digitale teknologiske løsninger fremstår som et potensielt vesentlig tiltak i forbindelse med overvåking og kontroll av kommersielt fiske. Vår forskningsgruppe utvikler for tiden digitale prototyper med mulig fremtidig anvendelse i dette domenet, der grunnleggende personvernhensyn må balanseres mot effektiv og presis avdekking, rapportering og bevissikring av ulovlig aktivitet.

Håvard D. Johansen

Håvard D. Johansen holds a PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Tromsø, Norway. His background includes secure group membership protocols, decentralized access control, block-chain fundamentals, and multimedia processing. Johansen is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His current research is on information-flow control methods for enforcing security, privacy, and regulatory compliance in data-driven AI systems.

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Håvard D. Johansen

Michael A. Riegler

Michael A. Riegler received his PhD degree from the University of Oslo, in 2017. He is currently working as chief research scientist at SimulaMet and as associate professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. His research interests include machine learning, video analysis and understanding, image processing, image retrieval, crowd sourcing, social computing, and applications of artificial intelligence in medicine. Riegler is a member of the Young Academy of Norway.

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Michael A. Riegler

United Nations Department of Peace Operations

Kym Taylor

Kym Taylor joined the United Nations in 2005. She has held several different positions within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, now Department of Peace Operations, including in the Africa Division in the Office of Operations, the Under Secretary-General’s Office, and the Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training. She has also worked for the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Sudan and in the special political mission in Libya. She is currently the Chief of the Evaluations Team in the Department of Peace Operations.

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Kym Taylor

What do you think is the most imporant lesson from your field to prevent fisheries crime?

The comprehensive planning and performance assessment system for UN peacekeeping operations is an example of how an institution can utilise a monitoring system to help it to assess the effects its actions may be having on a complex social system, and in so doing, help the institution to continuously adapt its actions in response to how the system is responding to its actions, or to other dynamics in the system.

David Wickland

David is currently an Information Systems Officer with the Department of Peace Operations. Originally an electrical engineer specializing in optics and semiconductors, he moved towards more data centered work, particularly in a development context, working on evaluations related projects in Lesotho, Rwanda and Ethiopia. In 2020, David joined the CPAS team to support the further development of the platform as it continues to be mainstreamed throughout UN peacekeeping.

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David Wickland

Cedric De Coning

Cedric de Coning is a research professor with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and a senior advisor for the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD). His research focus is on strengthening the resilience and sustainability of social-ecological systems under pressure from climate change, conflict and other stressors. He has served in advisory capacities for the AU and UN, including on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board for the Peacebuilding Fund and as advisor to the head of the AU’s Peace Support Operations Division.

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Cedric De Coning