INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to identify pathways to sustainable fisheries management and marine
biodiversity conservation in the Indo-Pacific by offering a robust overview of the key drivers and impacts
of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the South China Sea (SCS). This quantitative and
qualitative risk assessment profiles the vulnerability of five countries that border the South China Sea—
Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—to IUU fishing.
The risk assessment process which derives the results detailed in this report adapts the Stimson
Center’s Climate and Ocean RiskVulnerability Initiative (CORVI) survey methods to assess the specific
economic, environmental, and governance risk factors that drive IUU fishing in the SCS and surrounding
region.The process began with 50 semi-structured interviews with expert key informants (KIs) and
extensive desk research to determine risk categories (economic, environmental, and governance) and
develop five indicators per category.Then an online risk survey was sent to KIs and other identified
government, academic researchers, fisheries industry members, NGO staff, and independent experts.
In the online survey,respondents select a country of focus and answer five questions about risk and
vulnerabilities for each of the fifteen indicators in the selected country. Questions assess current and
future perceptions of issues related to the indicator. Respondents are also asked to compare risk
across countries and across different seascapes.To learn more about who took the survey and how
respondent’s scores are weighted and calculated into mean scores per indicator and category, please see
the methods section at the end of this report.
