Environmental Justice Foundation

🚨 Abuse is not the exception - it is the norm on board the global squid fleet.

Over the last five years, we have interviewed more than 430 fishers who had worked across 249 squid vessels in the Northwest Indian Ocean, the Southeast Pacific, and the Southwest Atlantic.

Testimony after testimony, from fishery to fishery, the fishers revealed a system of injustice at sea. They reported horrific conditions, including daily violence, debt bo***ge, and withheld or never-paid wages.

At least 25 deaths were confirmed, every one of them on a Chinese-flagged vessel.

These unregulated fisheries have left crew exposed to serious human rights abuses while the perpetrators are not held accountable. Transparency and the end to ineffective regulation are the key to putting a stop to this.

Tomorrow, the Our Ocean Conference begins in Mombasa, Kenya - a moment for world leaders to work together to usher in a more ethical, sustainable future for the ocean. EJF staff will be on the ground, working to push for greater fisheries transparency to end the scourge of illegal fishing and human rights abuses at sea.

Learn more about this investigation on our landing page in the comments ⬇️

💙 Today is !

The ocean is the blue, beating heart of our planet. It is the reason humans can survive - yet, we are putting it under immense pressure.

We are nothing without the ocean. It regulates our climate, feeds billions, employs millions, and performs an array of critical services.

However, destructive human activities are disrupting this balance. It is the responsibility of governments across to globe to put an end to the scourge of illegal fishing, plastic pollution, and climate breakdown which have jeopardised the sea.

However, there is reason to hope for a sustainable future. The UN High Seas Treaty has recently entered into force - a win for multilateral action and the first international treaty for the protection of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

At EJF, we are also taking action to protect marine wildlife and document and expose environmental crimes, alongside ocean defenders in coastal communities. Transparency is the key to exposing the exploitation that is driving its decline.

To ensure this treaty and efforts of all ocean defenders are not in vain, governments need to take further action to restore and protect ocean ecosystems. Next week’s Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa is a golden opportunity to transform ocean governance and commit to greater transparency.

🚨 Out of sight, out of control - a system that enables serious illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing revealed 🦑

After five years of investigations and more than 430 interviews with fishers, we uncovered a disturbing picture of the world’s three major squid fisheries.

Shark finning, the capture of vulnerable marine animals, and overfishing - this is how the global squid fleet operates when no one is watching.

These unregulated fisheries have enabled not only the proliferation of IUU fishing but also shocking human rights abuses.

These fleets supply the EU, US, China, Japan and South Korea, putting consumers at risk of buying tainted squid products and making governments and retailers complicit.

It’s time to bring the global squid industry into the spotlight.

We are demanding that governments close the governance gap, more effectively regulate the high seas, and implement the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.

🔗 For more information, you can find the landing page in the comments.

🐟 À l'occasion de la journée internationale de lutte contre la pêche INN, les ministres appellent à un renforcement des mesures en faveur de la transparence en mer 🚨

Des décennies d'enquêtes menées par l'EJF ont révélé que la pêche illicite, non déclarée et non réglementée (INN) a poussé nos océans au bord du gouffre et favorisé des violations des droits humains. Ces crimes sont restés longtemps invisibles et impunis.

Il est temps d’instaurer une plus grande transparence : nous devons savoir qui pêche quoi, où, quand et comment, et qui en tire profit, afin de mettre fin à ces abus.

Hon Emelia Arthur, ministre ghanéenne de la Pêche et de l’Aquaculture, et Madame Catherine Chabaud, ministre déléguée française chargée de la Mer et de la Pêche, nous ont expliqué en quoi la transparence est essentielle pour progresser vers un océan sûr et durable.

La conférence « Our Ocean » qui se tiendra ce mois-ci au Kenya offre aux pays une occasion en or de prendre des engagements concrets en faveur d’une plus grande transparence. Ensemble, nous pouvons ouvrir la voie à un avenir plus durable et plus éthique pour notre océan commun.

🐟 On , ministers call on countries for greater action on transparency at sea 🚨

Decades of EJF investigations have revealed that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has pushed our ocean to the brink and enabled human rights abuses. These crimes have long gone unseen and unpunished.

It’s time for greater transparency now: We must know who is catching what, where, when and how, and who benefits, to bring these abuses out of the shadows.

The Honourable Emelia Arthur, Ghana’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Madame Catherine Chabaud, France’s Minister Delegate for the Sea and Fishery, spoke to us about how transparency is key to making progress for a safe, sustainable ocean.

The upcoming Our Ocean Conference in Kenya this month provides a golden opportunity for countries to make concrete commitments to greater transparency. Together, we can usher in a more sustainable and ethical future for our shared ocean.

Hon Emelia Arthur

🚨 New investigation exposes a global squid industry built on secrecy and exploitation 🦑

Widespread illegal fishing, environmental destruction, and shocking human rights abuses. This is the dark reality of the major fisheries that supply 60% of the world’s squid.

After five years of investigation and over 430 interviews with fishers who worked on board 249 distant-water fishing vessels, we have uncovered that severe abuse has become the norm across the squid fisheries in the Northwest Indian Ocean, Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic.

Our film and report, the most comprehensive ever published, expose how systematic failures of governance on the high seas have allowed violence, repeated deaths at sea, shark finning, and the capture of vulnerable marine species to flourish unchecked.

The absence of transparency and effective regulation has also allowed squid caught with these abuses to enter global markets - putting consumers, retailers and governments at risk of being complicit.

However, we know the path forward. By combining strong enforcement, international cooperation, and fully implementing the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, governments can bring these fisheries under effective management and ensure that the rights of fishers and the health of our ocean are protected.

Find the film and report in the comments below 👇