Illegal Fishing Is a Global Security Threat
It can fuel food shortages, arms trafficking, and even terrorism. It’s also very big business.
Fish aren’t the only victims.
Photographer: Gatha Ginting/AFP/Getty Images
As China, Russia and the U.S. ramp up their naval deployments, there’s no shortage of conflicts waiting to happen in the world's oceans. Yet the most immediate cause for concern is something more mundane than great-power rivalries. Pay closer attention to fish.
Seafood is the main source of protein for 3 billion people worldwide, and the industry employs more than 55 million workers. But with 90 percent of fish stocks now fully depleted or overfished and the world’s reefs dying, fleets are increasingly operating illegally in other countries' exclusive waters and in areas of the high seas protected by international agreements. Experts believe at least 20 percent of the global harvest comes from this “illegal, unreported and unregulated” fishing, which brings in an estimated $15.5 billion to $36 billion a year.