Make piracy history toolkit

Background - 20 March, 2014

Pirate fishers operate at sea, but they make their profit on land. Not everyone has a boat to challenge them at sea, but everyone has a voice to stop them on land. This toolkit will give you information about known pirates. Ask your shops and restaurants to make sure they aren’t buying and serving stolen goods.

If your shop or restaurants can’t tell you where a fish was caught, how and by whom – don’t buy it. Making piracy history can only happen on land and together we can shut down the markets for stolen fish.

Why do we need to worry about pirate fishing?

Pirate fishing is big business. These pirates are destroying local fishing industries and stealing fish from the waters of poorer nations and sell their catch to richer nations. A disregard for fisheries law all too often goes hand in hand with a disregard for the environment and for human rights. There is a good chance that we are eating stolen fish. We need to make piracy history.

How do I know if it's a pirate?

Here you will find the definition of pirate fishing – illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).

Named and Shamed

Greenpeace and some official bodies already have blacklists of known pirates. They are publicly available and you can find out more about the pirate blacklists here.

Are their pirates in your ports?

Does your local retailer buy from pirates?

Any responsible retailer should have a policy not to trade in stolen goods – and that includes seafood. Get them to check their suppliers against the company names and vessels here

If you think you have found a pirate