Unravelling the thread: how illicit Ghanaian fish finds its way to Europe

Quantifying the precise quantity of illegally caught fish coming into the European Union market poses a major problem. Illicit fishing may be tough to detect, whereas unlawful catches are disguised as authorized ones. Though the EU is the biggest seafood market on the planet, importing greater than 60 % of its consumed seafood, one in six fish arriving within the Union will not be traceable.

Every year, Ghana witnesses the unlawful seize and commerce of roughly 100,000 tonnes of small pelagic fish, primarily comprising sardinella, mackerel, and anchovies. A considerable portion of this catch is destined for export, together with to the EU market. Whereas small pelagic fish play a significant function in Ghana’s fishing business – and thus its meals safety and nationwide economic system – their shares have plummeted by roughly 80 % over the previous 20 years. With out rapid motion, the shares’ full collapse is anticipated within the coming years.

A significant component on this sharp decline is the unlawful fishing carried out by industrial trawlers. Most vessels are owned by Chinese language companies “by opaque possession preparations.” Samuel-Richard Bogobley, an skilled at Hen Mpoano, a nonprofit advocating for built-in administration of coastal and marine ecosystems, explains that following Ghana’s ban on overseas trawlers, Chinese language fishing companies began utilizing Ghanaian corporations as fronts. They’d usually organize phoney hire-purchase offers for Chinese language-owned fishing vessels. Regardless of their unauthorised actions in Ghana, a few of these corporations possess EU export licences, legally permitting them to promote their merchandise on the European market.

Ghana boasts round 200,000 artisanal fishers and roughly 300 touchdown websites. Marine fisheries function a livelihood for round 2.7 million folks and contribute to the nation’s meals safety. Artisanal fishermen primarily goal small pelagic fish close to the shore and within the open ocean’s higher layers, accessible to their picket canoes.

Though the Ghanaian authorities has taken some steps to fight unlawful fishing, equivalent to launching an internet software to report it, it’s not ample to reverse the development. The EU might additionally contribute extra.

How did the fish shares decline a lot?

In 2002, Ghana established an Inshore Unique Zone for artisanal fishers, aiming to guard shares of small pelagic fish. Regardless of this, industrial vessels with licences for bottom-dwelling fish continued unlawful fishing. Since they can’t deliver again to the shore the captured small pelagic fish, the Chinese language-owned corporations promote it at sea to small artisanal fishers, who’re legally allowed to fish it and convey it to land. That is achieved by a observe known as saiko.

Bogobley defined that this permits the trawlers to deliver solely authorized catches alongside a restricted proportion of by-catches, together with the small pelagic fish, thus assembly the Ghanaian port authorities’ touchdown necessities. The observe of saiko has “developed into an business of its personal,” he says, during which each the trawlers and the artisanal fishermen are energetic contributors. The fish legally introduced again by each trawlers and artisanal fishermen then will get shipped to the European market. Seemingly the whole lot is so as.

Whereas the vast majority of the companies are Chinese language-owned, European boats and operators are additionally concerned in unlawful actions in Ghana. European fishing vessels are tough to hint, nevertheless, as a result of they’re typically re-flagged to non-EU international locations.

Vessel reflagging happens for 2 most important causes: to safe fishing quotas from different states by way of Regional Fisheries Administration Organisations (RFMOs) or to bypass fishing authorisation necessities within the waters of non-EU international locations the place sustainable fisheries agreements (SFPAs) exist. SFPAs are negotiated by the EU Fee. Nonetheless, if a vessel is re-flagged to a non-EU nation, an EU operator can arrange a personal settlement to proceed fishing in SFPA-covered waters.

An instance of re-flagging is the super-trawler Franziska, owned by the Dutch firm Willem Van der Zwan en Zonen, which has a subsidiary in Ghana. This trawler has

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