SEOUL, October 18 (Yonhap) – Around 100 South Korean and Swedish maritime officials and experts will gather this week for a forum to explore ways to curb illegal fishing, the South Korean Ministry of the Sea said on Monday.

During the four-day forum, which begins on Tuesday, government officials and major international organizations, such as the International Maritime Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, and maritime experts will discuss ways to better implement international agreements on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to cooperate between related entities against such threats.

The forum was organized jointly by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and World Maritime University in Sweden in accordance with the memorandum of understanding between the two sides, which was signed in June with the aim of increasing their cooperation in dealing with illegal fishing, according to the ministry.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the biggest threats to marine ecosystems due to its strong ability to undermine national and regional efforts to manage fisheries sustainably, as well as efforts to conserve marine biodiversity, experts said. .