Seafood theft like Illegal fishing or pirate fishing subverts catch limits, safety guidelines and gear restrictions thereby creating a million dollar underground industry that affects the livelihoods of responsible fishing companies. Mostly, this happens in countries or regions with poor fisheries laws or monitoring. Up to $23 billion of seafood seems to be stolen each year.

Seafood that is more likely to be stolen are,

• Shark
• Salmon (Russian Sockeye)
• Spiny Lobster
• Scallops
• Flounder

Illegal fishing ends up hurting people. It involves cruel and inhumane treatment of people that involves forced labour, child trafficking or in some cases death. Owners of pirate vessels spend as little as possible for their vessels in order to reduce the costs of any gear that gets confiscated when they are caught. These vessels gravely risk life of the workers on board.

There are groups like Oceana that work to stop pirate fishing. They do the below to ensure that the fishing industry is safe for all of us responsible owners and also protect precious marine life in the process.

• Full chain traceability of seafood
• Global information systems
• Trade flow analysis
• Cooperation between authorities