European fishing companies are circumventing their own government's quota commitments by reflagging vessels under African and Middle Eastern nations, allowing them to capture a third of the Indian Ocean's tropical tuna catch despite pledges to reduce overfishing, according to a report released Thursday by the Blue Marine Foundation and Kroll.
The practice has enabled European-owned fleets to expand to more than 50 purse seine ships and supply vessels, undermining the European Union's stated commitments to cutting back on tuna catches at a time when yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks are still rebounding from severe overfishing. The companies have registered ships under the flags of the Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania and Oman to gain access to greater catch limits than EU regulations would permit.
Regulatory Evasion Through Foreign Registration
The report, shared with The Associated Press in advance of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission's annual meeting in the Maldives, reveals how private business decisions by European firms are effectively nullifying public policy commitments made by EU authorities. The commission brings together the EU and 28 countries with a stake in the tuna fishery.
Jess Rattle, head of investigations at the London-based environmental charity Blue Marine Foundation, said the research aimed to determine true ownership of vessels operating under coastal state quotas. "We wanted to understand who really owned these vessels. Were they owned by the coastal states whose quota they were now using, or in fact, were they owned by the EU?" Rattle said European companies have long fished under the Seychelles flag, but that registering under the flags of Oman and Kenya is new.
Benedict Hamilton, a managing director at Kroll, noted the implications for European regulatory authority: "Europe's opportunity to help stop overfishing is greater than first appears."
Industry Defense and Economic Claims
Europeche Tuna Group, representing the European tuna industry, defended the arrangements as reflecting long-term investment and strong local partnerships. Spokesperson Anne-France Mattlet said the European industry benefits regional economies by paying taxes and fishing license fees, investing in local infrastructure, and unloading tuna and other fish in their ports and canneries. Mattlet confirmed the report's findings that Europeche has more than 50 purse seine and supply ships operating throughout the Indian Ocean, including with non-EU flags.
Maciej Berestecki, a spokesperson for the European Commission, distanced EU authorities from the practice, stating that reflagging is "a private business decision not influenced by public authorities" and that the EU does not defend or represent the interests of vessels flagged to other countries. Berestecki said: "The EU has done, and keeps doing, its utmost to promote and respect catch limits."
Long-Standing Dominance and Recent Tensions
Spanish and French tuna companies first introduced purse seine ships to the Indian Ocean four decades ago, which allowed them to quickly increase their yearly catch. The ships get their name from their giant nets that encircle the tuna and close like a drawstring purse. These massive vessels can hold as much as 4 million pounds of fish at a time.
The EU has occasionally clashed with coastal nations seeking greater control over fishing practices in their regional waters. Five years ago, with yellowfin tuna stocks in sharp decline, the Maldives accused the EU of not putting forth a serious proposal to lower tuna quotas at a contentious meeting of the tuna commission. Three years ago, the EU objected to a proposal from Indonesia for a closure on purse seine fishing gear that passed with the support of 15 other countries.
In recent years, the tuna commission has implemented new management measures to rebuild vulnerable yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks, which are beginning to show signs of recovering. The EU agreed to reduce the yellowfin tuna catch for EU-flagged vessels by 21%. Those new limits may be pushing European fishing companies to look to other countries' quotas to maintain their catch, said Glen Holmes, senior officer with Pew Charitable Trusts.
Transparency Concerns and the 'Real EU Fleet'
Holmes and colleagues from Pew, Global Fishing Watch and other environmental groups are advocating for greater ownership transparency among fishing fleets in the Indian Ocean. Shipowners have long registered vessels under the flags of foreign countries, much to the dismay of transparency advocates, who say the practice limits oversight of those ships.
Certain flags have become known as 'flags of convenience,' offering companies low fees and lenient attitudes toward fishing or trade rules. Some countries may simply have fewer resources to enforce the laws of the sea. A report this year by the environmental group Oceana found European companies routinely register fishing vessels under the flags of foreign nations, including some countries the EU has accused of "turning a blind eye to illegal fishing activities."
Vanya Vulperhorst, Oceana's illegal fishing campaign director for Europe, said improved data collection would help the EU better enforce its own laws, which prevent any European individual from benefiting financially from illegal fishing practices. "What we found last year is that the real European fleet, if you add the non-EU flagged vessels, doubles," Vulperhorst said.
Why This Matters:
This pattern of regulatory circumvention through flag-switching demonstrates how private business decisions can undermine public commitments to resource conservation and international agreements. When European companies maintain effective control over vessels while shifting their legal registration to access foreign quotas, they expand their market share beyond what their home governments have agreed to limit. The practice raises fundamental questions about the enforceability of international fishing agreements and whether coastal nations with fewer regulatory resources are being used as vehicles for quota expansion by sophisticated European firms. For consumers and policymakers concerned about sustainable fisheries, the revelation that the actual European-controlled fleet may be double the officially flagged size suggests current regulatory frameworks lack the transparency needed for effective oversight. The issue tests whether market-based quota systems can function when ownership remains opaque and vessels can shift legal identities to access additional resources.