Fishing Vessels Spend Years at Sea Without Oversight, New Oceana Analysis Finds
June 25 2024 - 9:42AM
A new Oceana analysis released today found that fishing* vessels
are venturing further to remote locations and staying out at sea
longer in search of valuable catch, like tuna or squid. Oceana’s
investigation found nearly 3,000 fishing vessels spent over six
months at sea during 2023, with some vessels avoiding port for more
than two years. Lengthy fishing voyages can be a risk indicator of
seafood sourced from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU)
fishing activity or forced labor.
Findings during the
analysis period of November 30, 2022, to February 1, 2024,
include:
- More than 2,700 fishing vessels spent over 180 days at sea and
conducted nearly 2,800 voyages.
- China had the most fishing vessels engaged in long voyages
(1,502 total), followed by Taiwan (285), Japan (106), South Korea
(103), and Canada (96).
- Nearly 23% of fishing vessels (617 total) remained at sea for
more than one year. More than 120 vessels spent longer than two
years at sea.
- The longest voyage lasted almost 1,100 days, which is more than
three years. Another vessel had a 730-day voyage that circled the
entire globe.
- Approximately 1,500 Chinese-flagged vessels traveled an average
of nearly 350 days without visiting a port.
- One squid fishing boat (also called a “squid jigger”) flagged
to China spent 758 days at sea between port visits, never coming
closer than 150 nautical miles to shore. Approximately 40% of all
squid jiggers had a voyage lasting longer than one
year.
- 3,800 potential transshipment events occurred on 726 voyages
during the analysis period. Transshipment occurs when a fishing
vessel links with a large, refrigerated cargo ship to unload its
catch before the vessel is refueled and resupplied. Crew members
can also be exchanged during transshipment events, extending the
amount of time they remain working at sea.
“Extensive time at sea keeps vessels away from scrutiny and
increases the risk of illicit conduct on the high seas,” said
Oceana Campaign Director Dr. Max Valentine. “Without port visits,
these vessels can avoid oversight for sometimes years at a time. We
cannot have accountability at sea without transparency at sea. Most
U.S. seafood that is in our stores, restaurants, and schools is
imported, which means American consumers are at risk of purchasing
products which could have been caught illegally or by using forced
labor from these long voyages. Countries around the world must
adopt policies to increase transparency at sea to mitigate risks to
our oceans and those who depend on them.”
Oceana analyzed vessel activity using Automatic Identification
System (AIS) data from Global Fishing Watch (GFW),** an independent
nonprofit founded by Oceana in partnership with SkyTruth and
Google. AIS devices transmit information such as a vessel’s name,
flag state, and location.
Oceana calls on
governments like the United States to adopt policies that enhance
transparency at sea. These include mandating AIS usage on all
fishing vessels, requiring key data elements – such as a vessel’s
time at sea – to be part of catch documentation for imported
seafood, and strengthening the regulation of transshipment
events.
Learn more about Oceana’s
work to increase transparency on our oceans here.
*Any and all references
to “fishing” should be understood in the context of Global Fishing
Watch’s fishing detection algorithm, which is a best effort to
determine “apparent fishing effort” based on vessel speed and
direction data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
collected via satellites and terrestrial receivers. As AIS data
varies in completeness, accuracy and quality, and the fishing
detection algorithm is a statistical estimate of apparent fishing
activity, therefore it is possible that some fishing effort is not
identified and conversely, that some fishing effort identified is
not fishing. For these reasons, GFW qualifies all designations of
vessel fishing effort, including synonyms of the term “fishing
effort,” such as “fishing” or “fishing activity,” as “apparent,”
rather than certain. Any/all GFW information about “apparent
fishing effort” should be considered an estimate and must be relied
upon solely at your own risk. GFW is taking steps to make sure
fishing effort designations are as accurate as
possible.
**Global Fishing Watch, a
provider of open data for use in this release, is an international
nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance
through increased transparency of human activity at sea. The views
and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors,
which are not connected with or sponsored, endorsed, or granted
official status by Global Fishing Watch. By creating and publicly
sharing map visualizations, data and analysis tools, Global Fishing
Watch aims to enable scientific research and transform the way our
ocean is managed. Global Fishing Watch’s public data was used in
the production of this publication.
Oceana is the largest
international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean
conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans
by winning science-based policies in countries that control
one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 300
victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and
plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like
turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering
results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a
healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the
oceans and help feed the world. Visit Oceana.org to learn
more.
Cory Gunkel
Oceana
cgunkel@oceana.org