An investigation by the NGO Environmental Justice Foundation reveals unsustainable exploitation of squid stocks and near-slavery conditions on board ships.
October 2020, crew members storing the squid catch. Surplus squid are sometimes thrown back into the water dead. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
The figure is staggering: China is responsible for 50 to 70% of the squid caught in the high seas. Thanks to a rapidly growing fleet (+830% in the Arabian Sea between 2015 and 2019), Beijing now controls 92% of the high seas fishing effort using light attraction, a mass phenomenon observed by satellite.
« This is no longer fishing, it is a state accumulation strategy , » denounces a report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), an Anglo-Saxon non-governmental organization whose mission is to protect nature and the rights of the people who depend on it.
China doesn’t just catch squid; it processes it and sets global prices through its « Distant-Water Squid Price Index. » » China is the dominant force , » explains Dominic Thomson, a squid fisheries expert for the foundation and lead author of the report. » It controls every link in the chain, making any leverage for negotiation virtually impossible for Western buyers . »
Squid in all its forms—cuttlefish, calamari, and more—has become, in less than a generation, a global commodity worth $12.7 billion, with projections reaching $18.4 billion by 2035. The European Union is the leading export market. And demand is growing exponentially, at 3.8% per year. From seaside restaurants to European supermarket shelves, squid, often processed, is indeed everywhere. But behind this gastronomic success lies one of the darkest crises of maritime globalization.
Mile 201, the beginning of the deregulated zone
“The fundamental problem is geographical,” explains Dominic Thomson. “Nearly 60% of the world’s supply comes from unregulated areas, such as the Northwest Indian Ocean or the Southwest Atlantic .” In these legal vacuums, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are either absent or paralyzed by bureaucratic inertia. “In the Southeast Pacific, the relevant organization hasn’t adopted any concrete measures in ten years . ”
It is in these areas that the tragedy of « Mile 201 » unfolds, just beyond the 200 nautical mile limit of the exclusive economic zones (approximately 370km). There, vessels practice transshipment at sea almost systematically, with 97% of cases reported by fishermen interviewed by the NGO.
The vessels, equipped with lures and purse seines (large purse seines), as well as thousands of lights, attract cephalopods for months on end. « The catches are so large that the decks of the boats overflow; they sometimes have to throw hundreds of kilos of dead squid back into the sea, » describes Amélie Giardini, co-author of the report. Then, factory ships receive the catch directly from the water, refuel the boats, and allow the crews to remain at sea, sometimes for up to two years without returning to port. « This transshipment system is designed to launder illegal products and perpetuate abuses, offshore, when no one is looking, » denounces Dominic Thomson.
An ecological disaster on an industrial scale
The EJF investigation, based on testimonies from 431 Indonesian and Filipino fishermen between 2020 and 2025, reveals atrocious practices. In the Indian Ocean, 62% of vessels practice « shark finning »: the fins of sharks, often while they are still alive, are cut off before their carcasses are thrown back into the water. « The sharks suffer agonizingly before they die , » emphasizes Amélie Giardini.
Whale sharks, an endangered and poorly protected species, are captured and butchered on site.ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
Megafauna are paying a heavy price. Dolphins, turtles, whale sharks, and manta rays are caught accidentally, but in massive numbers. « We used dolphin meat as bait to attract squid , » recounts a Filipino fisherman quoted in the report. In the northwest Indian Ocean, purse seiners are also reportedly catching between 10 and 25 tons of tuna per day without any authorization, a « ghost » fishery completely absent from official statistics, even though this type of fishing is regulated.
Dolphins caught accidentally are used as bait.ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
Upon reading this report, Philippe Cury, emeritus research director at the IRD, a specialist in fishing and marine biodiversity issues, does not hide his concern: « We are doing anything, anywhere, anyhow. It is a wild exploitation that will inevitably end in a collapse of stocks . «
There are 300 species of squid in the world, of which about thirty are fished and sold. Nearly 2 million tons are harvested worldwide each year, ranging in size from 2 cm to 8 meters long. The impact of this overfishing on the biomass is difficult to assess, as no statistics exist. « It’s a very fluctuating biomass, which can experience rapid drops followed by rapid increases, like off the coast of Chile , » explains Jesús Urios Culiañez, a policy specialist for the foundation.
This is confirmed by Alain Le Sann, a Frenchman from the Fishing and Development collective, to whom we also submitted the report. » The EJF highlights the role of overfishing of these cephalopods’ predators in their potential overpopulation. We could add ocean warming to this, as these are animals with very short life cycles adapted to warm waters . « As evidence, the historian, who is deeply involved in ocean issues, points to the proliferation of octopus in Breton and English waters in recent years.
Slavery at the end of the line
On a human level, the report is damning. For 92% of the fishermen interviewed who work or have worked on Chinese vessels, the indicators of forced labor defined by the International Labour Organization are the norm, not the exception: “lies about the real recruiters, poverty wages—often unpaid—confiscation of passports, debts incurred with mafia-like recruitment agencies ,” lists Amélie Giardini, co-author of the report. The trap closes on vulnerable migrants, whose rights are violated.
The account of the atrocities is a catalog of horror: beatings with iron bars, torture, crews trampled underfoot. « We were treated like pigs , » testifies a Filipino survivor. The EJF has identified at least 25 deaths on 20 different ships, all flying the Chinese flag. Among them, nine are believed to be due to beriberi, a disease caused by a severe vitamin B1 deficiency, a sign of extreme nutritional neglect. This disease hadn’t been seen at sea since the 19th century… « The captain told him to wait for death , » reports a witness about a sick fisherman. « Some, in despair, cut off from the world and their families for one to two years, chose suicide by throwing themselves overboard , » reports Amélie Giardini, who emphasizes the support work provided to survivors by the EJF and local partner NGOs, such as the Pejuang Suara Pelaut association in Java, Indonesia.
The illusion of transparency
Faced with this bleak picture, consumer information in Europe, the world’s leading importer, is failing. A study conducted in Brussels and Milan revealed that 49% of squid products provide no useful information about the species or the place of capture. Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs), intended to guarantee sustainability, are also failing. In the Southwest Atlantic, 41% of Taiwanese vessels registered in an FIP have been implicated in destructive practices or labor abuses.
“Opacity is the last bastion of this sector ,” analyzes Amélie Giardini. For experts, the solution lies in strong political will: the adoption of the Global Charter for Transparency in Fisheries, a ban on transshipment at sea, and a strict limit on the duration of fishing trips to twelve months. China has indeed imposed a moratorium on its vessels in the Southeast Pacific and the Southwest Atlantic, but no strong action has been taken against these shadow fleets with their opaque financing.
Officially, the Chinese deep-sea fishing fleet is said to consist of 2,700 vessels. According to a 2020 study by the independent Overseas Development Institute, this figure is actually five to six times higher, including vessels flying flags of convenience and those not registered with the International Maritime Organization. » This shadowy fleet, fishing at night and in secret, is depleting the resources of other fishermen. The vessels have to go further and further out to sea, consuming more fuel, with an increased impact on the climate , » insists Dominic Thomson.
« Who will dare to confront China? »
The NGO is calling on the European Union to take responsibility. » While we wait for treaties to be implemented, import controls could have a rapid impact , » Amélie Giardini hopes. » But these controls and sanctions only work on weak states like Cameroon, Sri Lanka, or Vietnam , » counters Alain le Sann. « Who will dare to do the same against China? » he asks.
The report’s co-author also envisions the potential role of the European Union. « The 2024 European legislation aimed at banning products made with forced labor on the EU market could be extended to seafood , » she suggests. Currently, the agencies responsible for combating IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing have no mandate regarding human rights. Will this report, the most comprehensive since the Outlaw Ocean Project journalists’ investigations in 2023, be able to shift the status quo?
source : le point
