Pirate Fish on Your Plate - International MCS Network

Ship to Shore – Tracking illegally-caught fish from West Africa into the European market
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A: <strong>Fish</strong> are caught by foreign flagged vessels off the West African coast.
Many of these vessels do not have a licence to fish in the area.
Many use nets with a mesh size much smaller than that allowed. ©EJF
B: Bycatch aboard the CNFC 24. A large proportion of the catch is
bycatch, which is lost to the marine ecosystem and the local fishermen
who rely on it. ©Greenpeace/Gleizes
C: Many vessels have extremely unsanitary handling and storage
facilities, despite supposedly meeting strict EU hygiene standards. ©EJF
D: IUU vessels often enter into the 12-mile zone reserved for
artisanal fishermen. ©EJF
E: Shrimp is a main target for illegal fisheries. Tropical
shrimp trawl fisheries are the most unselective and wasteful
fisheries in the world, with the highest discard rate of any fishery,
and bycatch to shrimp ratios averaging 10:1. ©EJF
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F: Many vessels deliberately hide name and identification numbers ©Greenpeace/Gleizes
G&H: Unlicenced vessels often try to pass themselves off as licenced vessels owned by
the same company - in this case the top vessel, the Lian Run 24, did have a licence to fish
off Guinea. The bottom vessel was first observed as the Lian Run 13. A few days later the
13 had been rubbed out, and Lian Run 24 painted on the bridge. ©EJF
I: Once on board illegal vessels will often package fish under a legal boat’s name. Legal
vessels supply illegal vessels with boxes stamped with the vessels name, at sea and away
from scrutiny. ©EJF
This is the first stage in a laundering process that extends right to the
end market.
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