Publication - August 20, 2006
An increasing amount of cod from the Barents Sea has been delivered directly to EU harbors over the last few years. It now appears that a significant proportion of this fish may be the result of illegal and unregistered over-fishing, and involve interests as diverse as the Russian fish mafia and Western capital. Corruption, exploitation of poor fish workers, indifferent fish companies that only seek cheap fish, and a lack of coherent sanction and control measures from both Russia and the governments of EU Member States all seem to play a role. Such fishing is illegal, and represents a significant environmental, economic and social problem all over the world.