Illegal fishing captures up to 15% of global marine wild catch, analysis finds

Industrial-scale illegal fishing continues to undermine ocean sustainability, coastal livelihoods and global seafood markets—despite decades of regulation and recent advances in surveillance technology, according to new University of British Columbia (UBC) research. “Illegal fishing is not a fringe activity, but a systemic feature of the global seafood economy, enabled by weak governance, harmful subsidies, opaque corporate structures and complex international supply chains,” said lead author Dr. Philippe Le Billon, professor at UBC’s Department of Geography and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. The study, “Casting light on the workings of illegal fishing markets,” was published in Proceedings of the…