Blue Investigations exposes and tackles harmful practices affecting our oceans. We have done extensive work exposing ‘dark’ fishing fleets, publishing results in 2024 that showed Spanish and French tuna vessels turning off satellite tracking for long periods. This was often in areas where the highest levels of tuna catch have been reported, and in apparent contravention of EU, national and international laws. Blue Investigations has filed multiple legal complaints.
We raised this – and the use of harmful fish aggregating devices (FADs) – in our objections to the certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) of two of the world’s largest tuna fisheries. Despite our proof of illegality and disregard for conservation measures, the MSC went ahead with both certifications, further highlighting the need for the reform of seafood eco-labels. We also raised these issues with the insurers of the vessels, and will continue to work with the London insurance industry to ensure that they revoke the cover given to vessels that go dark.
Blue Investigations has revealed that the destruction of biodiversity in UK waters is being permitted for the benefit of a tiny number of wealthy people. Within the quota system, the most valuable fishing opportunities are now concentrated in the hands of a few companies, leaving stocks overfished and thousands of small-scale fishers with scraps.
In 2023, we looked in detail at canned tuna sourcing in UK supermarkets. Only one top-ten supermarket – Marks & Spencer – could prove that none of its tuna is caught in the Indian Ocean using FADs. We continue to pressure UK retailers to stop selling tuna caught this way.
With several partners, we have called for a full investigation into deaths and human rights abuses in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). This follows the suspected murder of Eritara Aatii, the eighth fisheries observer known to have died or gone missing in the region since 2009.
Since 2020, Blue Investigations has been looking into potentially destructive deep-sea mining. The deep ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet, making up 95 per cent of all habitable space. With less than one per cent of it explored, it is estimated that two-thirds of its species have yet to be discovered. It also fuels fisheries that feed billions.
Learn more about Blue Investigations through these reports: The UK’s Tuna Blindspot and Fishing Outside the Lines.
