ICCF-UK, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), and Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) hosted a roundtable on species at risk and rising crimes in the fisheries sector: confronting threats on land and sea.
On June 9, 2025, ICCF-UK and partners Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) hosted a roundtable on species at risk and rising crimes in the fisheries sector: confronting threats on land and sea at Hôtel Le Royal in Nice, France. Chaired by Hon. Barry Gardiner, U.K Member of Parliament and Co-Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group for Nature and International Conservation, the discussion had four primary objectives:
- Increase awareness of policymakers and other relevant stakeholders on crimes in the fisheries sector, IUU fishing and the trafficking of marine species and why this topic is highly relevant to conserve and sustainably use the ocean
- Encourage policymakers to elevate these issues on the multilateral agenda
- Advocate for incorporating a criminal law approach into ocean conservation strategies to address these crimes in a holistic manner
- Provide actionable solutions and best practices on how to effectively address such crimes as part of the overall efforts to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.
Other opening remarks included the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) approach on addressing crimes in the fisheries sector, WJC’s perspectives on trafficking of vulnerable marine species, and EJF’s strategies and investigative work on crimes on the high seas. Chair Hon. Barry Gardiner then opened the floor to discussion and inputs of participants based on best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from on-ground experiences combating these crimes.

Hon. Guibion Ferdinand, Saint Lucia Member of Parliament, addresses roundtable participants.
Policymakers Hon. Dr. Roz Savage, U.K Member of Parliament, Hon. Anna Gelderd, U.K. Member of Parliament, Hon. Dr. Rokhim Dahuri, Indonesia Member of Parliament, Hon. Guibion Ferdinand, Saint Lucia Member of Parliament, and Hon. Roderick St. Clair, Grenada Member of Parliament, were able to share experiences with maritime crimes in their countries and pose questions to the experts in the room. These expert stakeholders included representatives from UNODC, EJF, WJC, IUCN Global Ocean Team, and others.