Swedish Researchers Reveals the "Fish Taxi"-Owners
They are described as ‘fish taxis’, refrigerated vessels that act as mobile harbours for fishing boats. They allow fishing boats to stay out at sea for extremely long periods, and allow shady operators to ‘launder’ their catch.
Researchers have now identified who actually owns these vessels.
There are 569 refrigerated vessels used by the fishing industry, which sail the world’s oceans as an important player in the seafood industry. Fishing boats unload their catch to the refrigerated vessels, and can thus spend more time at sea.
– There are many things that happen at sea that we know very little about, says Frida Bengtsson, a researcher at Stockholm University, who, together with colleagues, has mapped the owners of the vessels.
Able to launder fish
On board refrigerated vessels, it is not uncommon for the catch to be mixed before being transported to one or more ports.
– This means that the traceability of the fish is poor, and that operators who have wanted to engage in illegal activities have been able to launder their fish in this way, says Bengtsson.
– In the past, it was possible to know where the vessel was flagged, but not much more. The survey has revealed the real owners of the transshipment vessels.
Relatively few
There are 324 operators, of which ten large ones account for almost a quarter of all transshipments globally. The fleet of ships, which is by and large no more shadowy than other maritime trade, is mainly controlled by owners in Russia, China and Greece.
– Many ships are registered as their own company, which may be a mailbox company in Panama, says Bengtsson and continues:
– But what we see is that behind them there is an owner who may be in Greece.
– Since the owners are relatively few – especially if you break down which part of the ocean they are active in – you can try to influence them to improve their operations. In this way, traceability can be improved and fishing can become more sustainable.
– We hope that what we have done here can make a positive contribution to this work, says Frida Bengtsson.
Researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and the University of British Columbia conducted the survey.
The largest number of refrigerated vessels used by the fishing industry are owned by Russians (196 vessels), followed by China (82) and Greece (48).
The study has been published in the scientific journal Science Advances, and the researchers have also built a database that includes the location of the refrigerated vessels.
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