Provision of Staff for the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Tuna Investigation

The MMO IUU team has established that a number of businesses (including a number of multinational organisations) have all attempted to import (into the UK) canned tuna which has been identified as IUU fish in contravention of the Sea Fishing IUU Order 2009:

If it is ultimately decided to pursue a prosecution against any individual or business in this case MMO will need to provide evidence that they have been:

• conducting a business directly connected to IUU fishing.

This a strict liability offence meaning that an individual or business can be convicted even though they are genuinely ignorant of one or more factors that made their acts or omissions criminal. However they can rely on the defence of `due diligence` but significantly, to date, it would appear that there is plenty of evidence available to negate that defence.

A Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) has been appointed and he has established a major crime investigation standard similar to the model used by UK Police Forces, known as Operation Iroko.

The MMO has not previously undertaken such a high profile or politically sensitive case and consequently there is a lack of complex crime investigation experience and expertise within the organisation.

This specification is a continuation of the arrangements contained within the previous contracts between the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Redsnapper Group dated 4 April 2014 (Contract references 21071 and 22101). These contracts described an investigation strategy for Operation Iroko, an investigation into Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

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