Port Activity Study Reveals Potential for Illegal Fish to Enter Markets

Data shows where implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement is most needed

Data Visualization September 24, 2020 Updated: December 18, 2025

Editor's note: The 2017 and 2020 datasets for the indicator “Percentage of Vessel Visits to High-Risk Port States” were updated on December 18th, 2025, to apply to all foreign vessel visits.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) catch continues to enter world markets, accounting for up to $23.5 billion worth of seafood each year. To combat this illicit activity, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) came into force in 2016 after it surpassed 25 ratifications. The treaty requires parties to place tighter controls on foreign-flagged vessels seeking to enter and use their ports to land or transship fish, and requires the use of similar controls for domestic vessels. As of the end of 2025, there are 85 Parties to the agreement, including 111 States (among them, the European Union and its members), representing 75% of the world’s coastal States and all the largest fishing fleets.

In 2019, the Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics published a study, commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, of the States with the most risk of illegally caught fish passing through their ports—and therefore where implementation of the PSMA would be most effective. By using data transmitted from fishing and fish carrier vessels, researchers identified the top 100 ports globally* by different activity criteria and ranked 140 port States by a series of risk factors. In 2023, researchers updated the analysis using 2020 data to begin tracking port trends over time. The new study, which was published in the journal Marine Policy, demonstrates that although the risk of illegal catch entering ports has declined slightly, more work—and therefore, better implementation of the PSMA—is needed.

And in 2024, the Journal of Ocean and Coastal Management published a third study, based on 2023 data, which showed that overall port risk has declined worldwide, suggesting that port controls are having a positive impact and that port use has returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

This interactive uses this data to show the location and number of port visits by fishing fleets and the risk factors at play, helping users learn where there is a greater potential for illegally caught fish to pass through port and on to buyers and consumers.

For ease of use, this interactive refers to jurisdictions of significant size as flag and port States.

By default, the interactive displays data from 2023. Use the toggles to view the 2017 and 2020 data.

* The 2017 data references 99 top ports because the original study duplicated data for Batsfjord and Batsfjorden.

2017 2020 2023

Port States

136: Port States that received foreign-flagged vessels within their ports

16%: Share of the top 25 riskiest port States that had ratified the PSMA at the time of this study

26: Number of port States that hosted the top 100 busiest ports in terms of foreign vessel traffic

Ports

7,093: Ports identified through the study

29%: Share of ports that received foreign-flagged vessels

55,387: Number of times vessels visited foreign ports

Flag States

2,092,418: Total visits into port by vessels of any flag

87%: Percentage of flag States whose vessels visited foreign ports

34: Number of flag States whose vessels conducted 85% of foreign-vessel visits into port

Top 100 Ports by Number of Foreign Vessel Visits, 2023 Blue ports are in countries party to the Port States Measures Agreement; gray ports are not. Size is in proportion to number of visits. Double tap to zoom in. Tap again to zoom out.