European Companies Take Third of Indian Ocean Tropical Tuna Catch

The spokesperson added that the industry benefits the economy of regional countries by paying taxes and fishing license fees, investing in local infrastructure, and unloading tuna and other fish in their ports and canneries.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said the reflagging of fishing vessels is a private business decision not influenced by public authorities. The spokesperson added that the EU does not defend or represent the interests of vessels flagged to other countries.

“The EU has done, and keeps doing, its utmost to promote and respect catch limits,” the spokesperson said. Spanish and French tuna companies first introduced purse seine ships to the Indian Ocean in the 1980s. The EU has occasionally disagreed with coastal nations over fishing practices in the ocean.

Five years ago, the Maldives accused the EU of not putting forth a serious proposal to lower tuna quotas. In 2023, 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 Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has put in place new management measures to rebuild 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 percent.

Those new limits may be pushing European fishing companies to look to other countries’ quotas to maintain their catch, according to an officer with Pew Charitable Trusts.

Advocates from several environmental groups are calling for greater ownership transparency among fishing fleets in the Indian Ocean. One campaign director said collecting and publishing ownership data would help the EU better enforce its own laws, which prevent any European individual from benefiting financially from illegal fishing.

The director added that including non-EU flagged vessels would show the real scale of the European fleet.