Part 4 of the Wildlife crime – understanding risks, avenues for action learning series explores how corruption facilitates marine species trafficking.
1. At a glance
Key learning points
- Marine wildlife trafficking includes the illegal collection, transport and sale of a huge array of marine-dwelling wildlife.
- Quantifying the illegal trade in marine species as a whole is challenging due to the range of species involved and value in relation to weight and number in the trade.
- Illicit proceeds from the marine trade can be significant, attracting organised crime groups and criminals operating in legal companies and industries.
- Marine species are in demand globally for food, medicine, as jewellery, decorative objects, the pet trade, and for zoos and aquariums.
- Regulating and enforcing regulations to protect marine wildlife from trafficking face numerous challenges, including poor data, poor traceability, the involvement of serious organised crime networks and surging demand.
- Impacts of marine species trafficking include severe over-exploitation of marine species, destruction of habitats, disruption of ecosystems and consequences for communities dependent upon fishing for livelihoods and protein.
- A host of criminality pervades marine species supply chains. Key risks include smuggling, document fraud, tax evasion, bribery, money laundering, forced labour and other human rights abuses. The trade often converges with drug and human smuggling.
- Organised crime groups and legitimate individuals and businesses, sometimes in collusion, operate at every level of the supply chain, undermining efforts to trace, regulate or control the trade.
- Where parallel legal and illegal trades exist, products can be quickly laundered into the legal supply chain.