NOAA Fisheries Trains African and Southeast Asian Partners to Combat Illegal Fishing Practices

NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement deploys teams worldwide to train our global counterparts to protect their fishery resources. These trainings help them spot and stop illegal fish products before they reach the United States.

Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing in Africa

Instructors from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement and NOAA General Counsel traveled to Gaborone, Botswana in January. They led a Fisheries Enforcement and Prosecution course with the International Law Enforcement Academy . This course brought together 37 fisheries law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and other relevant officials from Botswana, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Seychelles, and Mauritius. The course provides partner nations' legal and enforcement personnel with a foundational understanding of the tools needed to effectively monitor, enforce, and prosecute marine fisheries violations.

We have conducted several regional counter-IUU fishing trainings in Botswana and Thailand through an agreement with the Department of State. Each training is tailored towards the IUU fishing issues and enforcement authorities of that region.

During the January 2026 training in Botswana, container inspections were a key aspect of the curriculum. Participants learned proper inspection techniques, how to open the container, and how to review shipping documents. Similarly, during the Thailand course in September 2025, we used a fishing vessel to conduct a mock vessel boarding and inspection. Hands-on experiences reinforce the skills learned during the course, and provide participants with an opportunity to interact with and learn from one another. These real-world exercises are some of the most valuable sessions for both the participants and instructors, and the most remembered. Throughout the week, we teach several key concepts:

• The basics of IUU fishing
• Legal tools to combat IUU fishing
• International cooperation
• Technical skills surrounding vessel and container inspections
• Using open source maritime surveillance tools
• Building a case package

Participants share knowledge about their country's legal frameworks and challenges they face regarding IUU fishing. During these often lively conversations, neighboring countries work together to solve some of their challenges. This enables them to bring back best practices to their home governments about how to better enforce and prosecute fisheries violations.

While working through an exercise about identifying a fisheries violation and the evidence needed to support it, one team realized their legal framework surrounding dynamite fishing required a high burden of evidence to prosecute. That team planned to recommend strengthening and clarifying their local legislation to ensure potential IUU fishing activities are prosecuted. As one of our General Counsel instructors put it, "Every training we do reinforces the idea that fighting IUU fishing requires a team approach that involves detection, documentation, and prosecution. "

Not only do these exchanges assist participants, they help our officers and agents back home. "Beyond the course instruction, one of the most valuable outcomes was the opportunity to build relationships with enforcement counterparts in the region," said an enforcement officer and instructor. "Those connections make it easier to share information and collaborate on investigations that often cross international boundaries."

A special agent and instructor shared similar sentiments saying, "I gained a new perspective on marine law enforcement operations on the African continent and now feel better equipped to do my job more effectively. Contacts made through these courses allow U.S. investigators to establish local contacts internationally that can assist with investigations."

Global Training Through International Law Enforcement Academy

IUU fishing is a global problem that threatens economic growth and security, food security, and ocean ecosystems around the world. It undermines sustainable fisheries and the law-abiding fishers and communities that depend on them. At its foundation, combatting IUU fishing requires:

• Coastal and flag states have processes and frameworks in place to manage the fish stocks they harvest sustainably
• Countries and administrations have policies, laws, and regulations for the responsible conservation and management of fisheries resources
• Nations have the capacity to monitor and enforce those measures

We provide training and technical assistance to global partners, especially major exporters of seafood to the United States. These trainings help develop their fisheries enforcement capacity to detect and interdict IUU fish and fish products to prevent them from entering the global market. Our partnership with ILEA provides us with the ability to conduct trainings on a regional scale, allowing us to train multiple countries during each event.

As of January 2026, we have conducted this course six times in Bangkok, Thailand and Gaborone, Botswana under our interagency agreement. We have trained more than 214 individuals from 19 countries including:

• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Philippines
• Malaysia
• Cambodia
• Singapore
• Indonesia
• Vietnam
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Botswana
• Brunei
• Nigeria
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone

We plan to conduct additional training this year in Botswana and Thailand.