How Pirate Fishing Happens?

A: Fish 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

F: Many vessels deliberately hide name and identification numbers © Greenpeace/Gleizes

G & H: Unlicensed vessels often try to pass themselves off as licensed 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.

I & J: Pirate fishing vessels illegally transship their catches to refrigerated reefers. These ships ply back and forth between Las Palmas and the coast of Guinea, taking pirate fish in one direction and bringing fuel and supplies in the other. In this way the IUU fishing vessels can stay at sea for long periods of time, sometimes for years. Both © EJF

K & L: CNFC 24 and Jui Yuan 812 illegally transshipping fish off the coast of Guinea. Fish from both these vessels have been found in the UK marketplace by EJF investigators. Both © Greenpeace/Gleizes

At this point the IUU fish go through the second stage of the laundering process, as legal and illegal catches are mixed together.

M: Las Palmas is perhaps the most notorious 'Port of Convenience' in the world. With only 5 inspectors for the whole port, many cargos of fish are never inspected. As well as serving as a 'soft' entry point for IUU caught fish, Las Palmas also provides all the logistics needed to maintain the IUU fishing fleets © EJF

N & O: Once the reefers reach Las Palmas, the IUU caught fish is unloaded at the facilities of large companies such as Spain's Frigoluz. Current EU regulations only require the captain of a vessel to sign a declaration stating that all fish on board has been caught legally. N: © EJF, O: © Greenpeace

The IUU fish is now laundered a third time, as catches from multiple vessels from both EU and third-party countries are mixed together. This fish is now on Spanish territory, however most of it is not 'imported' due to the port's status as a free economic zone.

P: Now completely laundered into the legitimate market, and almost impossible to trace, IUU fish is transported to be sold throughout Europe. Fish will end up in locations such as the UK's Billingsgate Market and sold on to an unsuspecting public, both victims of an EU regulatory and enforcement framework that is clearly failing to prevent IUU fish entering the Europe. © EJF

Q, R & S: Boxes of possible IUU fish in the UK marketplace. © EJF

T: Through a supply chain leading from IUU fishing vessels in West Africa via Las Palmas to our restaurants and homes, pirate fish is likely ending up on our plates. Clearly under current conditions consumer safety for the European public as well as the legality of the fish they eat is in no way guaranteed. It is clear that unless the international community act collectively to address the situation, the human suffering and environmental injustice created by IUU fishing will continue © EJF.