• 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.

• Objectives

  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.

Researchers from NMBU

External participants

• Mats Sagevik Nordås
• Eve De Coning
• Christian Bueger
• Jacob Kringen
•  Stig Strandli Gezelius
• Geir Hønneland
• Jon Petter Rui
• Nandor Knust
• Dag Johansen
• Håvard D. Johansen
• Michael A. Riegler
• Kym Taylor
• David Wickland
• Cedric De Coning