Illegal and unreported fishing contributes to overexploitation of fish stocks and is a hindrance to the recovery of fish populations and ecosystems. This study is the first to undertake a world-wide analysis of illegal and unreported fishing. Reviewing the situation in 54 countries and on the high seas, we estimate that lower and upper estimates of the total value of current illegal and unreported fishing losses worldwide are between $10 bn and $23.5 bn annually, representing between 11 and 26 million tonnes. Our data are of sufficient resolution to detect regional differences in the level and trend of illegal fishing over the last 20 years, and we can report a significant correlation between governance and the level of illegal fishing. Developing countries are most at risk from illegal fishing, with total estimated catches in West Africa being 40% higher than reported catches. Such levels of exploitation severely hamper the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. Although there have been some successes in reducing the level of illegal fishing in some areas, these developments are relatively recent and follow growing international focus on the problem. This paper provides the baseline against which successful action to curb illegal fishing can be judged.

The performance of 33 countries was evaluated for ecosystem-based management (EBM) of fisheries in three fields (principles, criteria and implementation) using quantitative ordination including uncertainty. No country rated overall as 'good', only four countries were 'adequate', while over half received 'fail' grades. A few developing countries performed better than many developed nations. Two case studies test the method. In Indonesia, Raja Ampat and Papua, rated similar to the national evaluation, but better performance might follow successful implementation of a planned EBM initiative. A workshop in Australia rated regional fisheries managed by New South Wales 20% lower for EBM than federally managed fisheries.

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Over half of the countries (58%), mainly developing nations, had fail grades for compliance with the Codes reference points; a chronically poor performance on a basic prerequisite for effective fisheries management. Just under half had 'passable', and these were mainly developed nations. It was surprising that some developed countries do not appear to take the use of limit reference points as seriously as one might expect, but disconcertingly, over half of the countries (55%) seem to exhibit no awareness of the critical importance of limit reference points. This situation needs to be urgently addressed.

Sharks never stop growing and neither does the Asian demand for sharkfin soup. Ecuador is one nation of many that feeds the demand for fins, and fishers there catch more than 40 different shark species. But shark catches have been considerably underreported worldwide. Until the 2005 update of fisheries data, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) did not report elasmobranches for Ecuador, indicating that the Ecuadorian government did not report on these species. This study reconstructs Ecuador's mainland shark landings from the bottom up from 1979 to 2004. Over this period, shark landings for the Ecuadorian mainland were an estimated 7000 tonnes per year, or nearly half a million sharks. Reconstructed shark landings were about 3.6 times greater than those retroactively reported by FAO from 1991 to 2004. The discrepancies in data require immediate implementation of the measures Ecuadorian law mandates: eliminating targeted shark captures, finning and transshipments, as well as adoption of measures to minimise incidental capture. Most of all, a serious shark landings monitoring system and effective chain of custody standards are needed.