Murky Waters

Deep-sea bottom trawling is one of the most damaging forms of fishing practised today. However, identification of European vessels and companies involved in this high seas destruction is difficult, due to poor governance and the lack of transparency in the industry. Greenpeace has managed to collect information from direct observation of vessels engaged in high seas bottom trawl fishing in the waters of the North Atlantic during 2004-05. This report presents some of the available data, exposing management and ownership links to Europe for 18 vessels in more detail.