• Qui Tam
  • SEC
  • CFTC
  • FCPA
  • Whistleblower Resources
  • FAQS
Subscribe
Donate
No Result
View All Result
Whistleblower Network News
The Truth at Any Cost.
Qui Tam, Compliance and Anti-Corruption News.
SIGN THE PETITION FOR NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER DAY IN 2023
Whistleblower Network News
  • Qui Tam
  • SEC
  • CFTC
  • FCPA
  • Whistleblower Resources
  • FAQS
Subscribe
Donate
No Result
View All Result
Whistleblower Network News
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment & Climate

Against the Tide: Whistleblowers and Illegal Fishing

WNN StaffbyWNN Staff
June 6, 2017
in Environment & Climate, News, Wildlife Whistleblowers
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Against the Tide: Whistleblowers and Illegal Fishing
Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail

World Ocean Day (June 8th), is a global celebration of the vast, and largely unexplored, underwater world that makes up the majority of our planet. It’s also an annual opportunity to highlight the action needed to preserve the ocean’s extraordinary ecosystems, of which we still haven’t even scratched the surface of understanding.

In the spirit of World Oceans Day, the National Whistleblower Center’s (NWC) executive director, Stephen M. Kohn presented a webinar, “Using U.S. Whistleblower Laws to Fight Illegal Fishing and Marine Pollution and Fund MPAs” on June 6, to discuss the impact whistleblowers have in protecting our oceans from oil pollution, and how whistleblower reward laws can be successfully applied to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF).

Kohn’s presentation provided an overview of whistleblower laws and resources relevant to marine practitioners, as well as wildlife and marine pollution whistleblowers. The webinar was co-sponsored by the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by NatureServe and OpenChannels.org) and MEAM.

Support Whistleblower Network News

Watch the recorded webinar now.

Whistleblowing Works: How Whistleblowers Are Empowered to Combat Ocean Pollution

Rewards for whistleblowers—people who provide information about violations of the law to the appropriate authorities—have been extremely successful when effectively implemented. Whistleblower rewards incentivize insiders to report information, and support law enforcement’s ability to detect crime that they might not otherwise uncover.

According to the Ocean Project, the coordinators of World Ocean Day, two-thirds of ocean species are overfished. Approximately 90% of fish stocks of large predatory fish have already been decimated, as overfishing disproportionately targets the largest fish at the top of the food chain. The most recent example is the highly publicized extinction of the vaquita.

Illegal fishing is a major cause of our increasingly barren oceans, and similar to other types of wildlife crime, it is incredibly difficult for law enforcement to detect without the help of an insider. Thereby empowering and incentivizing potential whistleblowers offers a practical and proven solution. The proven effectiveness of reward laws is exemplified by U.S. enforcement of the MARPOL Protocol (MARPOL).

MARPOL, an international convention for eliminating oil pollution from ships, was signed by one hundred and thirty-six countries, including the United States in 1990. It covers 98% of the world’s shipping tonnage, and every signatory is required to enact domestic laws to implement the treaty and enforce compliance. In the United States, the legislation implementing MARPOL is known as the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), and the U.S. is the leading country in enforcement. Its success is due to whistleblower rewards– a powerful incentive for crew members witnessing ships polluting the ocean, to report violations confidentially and receive monetary rewards.

There have been over 70 whistleblower cases dealing with marine pollution under APPS in recent years – generally involving situation in which ships have illegally dumped oil somewhere in the world in violation of MARPOL. Some of these cases have resulted in rewards of more than US $1 million to the whistleblowers under APPS’s whistleblower reward provision—which allows informants to receive up to 50% of the collected proceeds from a successful prosecution.

The Department of Justice has readily acknowledged, “Information of this nature is otherwise difficult, if not virtually impossible to obtain [without help from the whistleblower] …The availability of the APPS award aptly reflects the realities of life at sea.”

The success of the reward provisions in APPS demonstrate the potential of a wildlife whistleblower program. Both APPS and the wildlife protection laws (such as the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act) target crimes that occur in clandestine spaces and often involve non-U.S. citizen whistleblowers.

Urge the Government to Take Action to Protect Marine Ecosystems

Overfishing and ocean pollution are devastating the ocean environment, threatening the primary food source and livelihood of millions of people. In addition to employing APPS, the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) is working to utilize whistleblower provisions in laws aimed at protecting marine wildlife, such as the Endangered Species Act, Lacey Act, and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act, to combat the catch, sale, and transport of protected species and fishing conducted in no-fishing areas. These laws contain underutilized reward provisions with great potential for improving detection and enforcement–but for the past 30 years they have not been implemented.

The NWC launched the Global Wildlife Whistleblower Program to raise awareness of whistleblower reward provisions and provide assistance—including a safe, worldwide reporting system—to wildlife whistleblowers. Join NWC’s call on the U.S. government to step up their efforts to protect our planet’s oceans and wildlife: Request that the responsible government agencies implement the U.S. wildlife protection law reward provisions by establishing a wildlife crime whistleblower program.

 

 

Previous Post

NWC Leads Opposition to Anti-Whistleblower Financial CHOICE Act

Next Post

Whistleblowers: Our Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking

WNN Staff

WNN Staff

Next Post
Whistleblowers: Our Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking

Whistleblowers: Our Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking

Please login to join discussion

Receive Daily Alerts

Subscribe to receive daily breaking news and legislative developments sent to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most Popular

Change the Culture, Make National Whistleblower Day Permanent

Tell President Biden to “Finish the Job” for Whistleblowers

Whistleblower Advocates See Parallels to Enron in Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

Whistleblower Jóhannes Stefánsson Plans to Testify at Fishrot Trial in Namibia

WNN Exclusive Interview with Social Security Whistleblowers Sarah Carver and Jennifer Griffith — Part 1

Whistleblower Raised Concerns of Rodents, Spiders in Kitchen of Childcare Facility, Then Fired; OSHA Rules They Were Retaliated Against

Whistleblower Poll

Whistleblower Poll
Whistleblower Poll

Exclusive Marist Poll: Overwhelming Public Support Among Likely Voters For Increased Whistleblower Protections

byGeoff Schweller
October 6, 2020

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

STAY INFORMED.
Subscribe to receive breaking whistleblower updates.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About Us

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Careers

Subscribe

  • Daily Mail
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • YouTube Channel

Contribute

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Reprint Guidelines

Your Experience

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Help

  • The Whistleblowers Handbook
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Advertise
Whistleblower Network News

Whistleblower Network News is an independent online newspaper providing our readers with up-to-date information on whistleblowing. Our goal is to be the best source of information on important qui tam, anti-corruption, compliance, and whistleblower law developments. 

Submit an Article

Copyright © 2021, Whistleblower Network News. All Rights Reserved.

This Newspaper/Web Site is made available by the publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this website, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Newspaper/Web Site publisher. The Newspaper/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

SIGN THE PETITION FOR NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER DAY IN 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Exclusives
  • Government
    • False Claims-Qui Tam
    • Federal Employees
    • Intelligence
  • Corporate
    • CFTC & Commodities
    • Dodd-Frank
    • IRS & Tax
    • SEC & Securities
  • Features
  • Legislation
  • International
    • Foreign Corruption
  • Rewards
  • Whistleblower of the Week
  • Environment & Climate
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Employment
    • Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers
    • Retaliation
    • OSHA
  • Media
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • National Whistleblower Day
  • Whistleblower Poll
  • Whistleblower Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Resources for Locating An Attorney
    • The New Whistleblowers Handbook
  • National Whistleblower Day ’23

Copyright © 2020, Whistleblower Network News. All Rights Reserved.

Become a Whistleblower Network News Subscriber

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Subscribe to WNN

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Subscribe to WNN

Add New Playlist

Go to mobile version