European Companies Take Third of Indian Ocean Tropical Tuna Catch

European companies have taken a third of the Indian Ocean's tropical tuna catch by registering vessels under the flags of several coastal nations, according to a report released Thursday. The European fishing fleet has operated a fleet of purse seiners in the Indian Ocean for decades.

These vessels can hold as much as 4 million pounds (1.8 million kilograms) of fish at a time and target skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna. The report, produced by the Blue Marine Foundation and Kroll, found that the European-owned fleet has expanded to more than 50 purse seine ships and supply vessels by reflagging under the flags of the Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania and Oman.

This practice has allowed the fleet to increase its catch of tropical tuna despite the European Union's commitments to cutting back. The report was shared with The Associated Press in advance of an annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission in the Maldives.

The meeting brings together the EU and 28 countries with a stake in the tuna fishery.

Reflagging vessels to foreign countries is common in the fishing industry and is not illegal. The approach makes it difficult for observers and regulators to gauge the impact of European companies on the fishery. Parent company ownership is often obscured via layers of shell companies and foreign registries.

The report found that while European companies have long fished under the Seychelles flag, registering under the flags of Oman and Kenya is a more recent development. A spokesperson for the European tuna industry said the industry's relationship with coastal nations reflects long-term investment in the region and strong local partnerships.

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.