Report: EU Firms Take 1/3 Indian Ocean Tuna via Non-EU Flags

A report released this week by the Blue Marine Foundation and investigations firm Kroll has revealed that European companies have captured one-third of the tropical tuna catch in the Indian Ocean. The finding stems attributes stems this stems dominance stems to stems the stems companies registering dozens of large purse seine vessels under flags of non-EU nations including Seychelles Mauritius Kenya Tanzania and Oman to access higher catch quotas.

These vessels which can hold up to 1.8 million kilograms of fish target skipjack yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks that remain under pressure despite recent signs of recovery from overfishing. By reflagging European-owned ships the fleet has grown to more than 50 purse seiners and supply vessels enabling continued high catches even as the European Union has committed to reductions. Jess Rattle head of investigations at the London-based Blue Marine Foundation noted that ownership is often hidden through layers of shell companies complicating oversight by regulators and observers.

The disclosure comes ahead of the annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission in the Maldives where the EU and 28 countries will discuss management of...