Up to a third of national delegations to key fishing governance meetings are fishing industry representatives, Greenpeace report finds

Unseen images from Greenpeace’s ship tour are available here showing at-risk sharks being caught, illustrating the need for stronger protection – as ‘RMFOs’ make a power grab on the Global Ocean Treaty

New York, USA, 2 April 2026 – Fishing industry representatives make up to a third of national delegations to key fishing management meetings, with one almost reaching 45% in 2021, a new Greenpeace International investigation reveals. This comes as the future of ocean protection came under attack from a power-grab by fishing industry vested interests at key UN ocean talks.

This news raises concerns of a “rigged system” where the vested interests of industrial fishing trump ocean protection measures, but this cannot be allowed to bleed into the application of the Ocean Treaty which came into force in January, campaigners say.

Lukas Meus, Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe ocean campaigner, said: “It’s outrageous to see just how deeply the fishing industry is embedded within the very organisations that are meant to regulate and manage fishing. At present, the foxes are guarding the henhouse – the system is rigged against ocean protection. 

“The fishing industry has been allowed to set the rules of the game for decades. Governments must now stop caving in to industry pressure and stop allowing vested interests to win out over ocean conservation. 

“We now have the historic opportunity with the Global Ocean Treaty to cordon off big areas of the ocean to allow it to recover – we can’t let the effects of decades of lobbying interfere with this. That’s why we’re calling for a time limit on the organisations that manage fishing to input to sanctuary proposals, this would prevent vested interests stalling ocean protection and tying it up in delays.”

Greenpeace is calling for urgent measures to be put in place ahead of the first Ocean COP in January 2027 to ensure it isn’t tainted by industry lobbying:

• Impose a maximum 120 day time limit for the review of sanctuary proposals to prevent Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and fishing industry interests, from stalling the process. RMFOs have always protected the interests of the fishing industry, overseen the decimation of biodiversity and destruction of entire ecosystems, and must not be allowed to tie up ocean protection in delays. 
• Rigorous monitoring of participation, with specific focus on national delegation composition and associated scientific advisory processes. This is necessary to identify and mitigate the “embedding” of commercial actors.
• Implement mandatory disclosure of all delegation affiliations, including a clear register of “technical advisors”. Transparency must extend to all observer participation and advisory committee roles to ensure that scientific recommendations remain independent from corporate influence.

Governments have committed to protecting 30% of the ocean in the next four years, a target that scientists say is the absolute minimum required for the ocean to bounce back from decades of destruction. Making sure that the process of creating sanctuaries isn’t tied up in delays will be vital to this progress.

ENDS

Notes to editors

[1] Link to report: Corporate Influence on High Seas Fisheries Management

[2] Greenpeace International press release: Governments must curb corporate interference in the Global Ocean Treaty at key talks 

[3] Recent unseen images from the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise can be found in the Greenpeace Media Library here. Greenpeace crew witnessed what the result of years of poor RFMO management looks like in the Convergence Zone, an area hotly tipped to be among the first MPA proposals under the Treaty. There are not sufficient safeguards that protect endangered sharks under current rules.  

• The report focused on eight major organisations governing high seas fisheries and their meetings over the last 5 years: The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). 
• Fishing industry representatives include delegates whose primary affiliation is with fleet operators, vessel owner groups, distant-water fishing corporations, seafood processors, tuna companies, national fishing associations, producer organisations, trade bodies, or gear suppliers. 
• The shadowy organisations that govern fishing on the high seas, called Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), are mainly made up of government representatives with vested interests in commercial fishing. The research focused on eight of these organisations’ key global meetings over the last five years and found that industry makes up on average 28–29% of total delegations. While some commissions cluster around 23–27% and others reach up to 30–35%, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission even hit 44.2% in 2021.
• By participating inside governments’ delegation structures and technical committees, RMFOs have unbridled access to negotiations and processes that actively shape conservation outcomes. Industry-aligned delegations regularly deploy tactics to delay and narrow conservation measures that could restrict the agenda of the fishing industry. It is in the best interest of the fishing industry that RFMOs retain their power over the high seas’ RMFOs routinely push narratives to undermine the need for high seas sanctuaries that would cordon off areas of the ocean from the fishing industry’s destructive activity.
• The report highlights a particularly egregious example with the EU at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT): 35–39% of the EU delegation consisted of fishing industry representatives each year. The EU consistently had the highest number of industry representatives of any participant at these meetings, and in all five years assessed, the number of industry representatives exceeded the entire delegation size of any individual non-EU country, meaning that industry outweighed any government representatives. 
• Across the dataset, the delegations embedding the highest numbers of industry-affiliated delegates are consistently major fishing powers. The EU most frequently contributes the largest number of industry representatives across multiple RFMOs, particularly ICCAT, IOTC and NAFO.
  
  Contacts:

Florri Burton, Global Media Lead, Oceans Are Life, Greenpeace Nordic +447896523839, [email protected] Greenpeace International Press Desk: +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]