According to a new report, African countries are drained of more than 10 billion US dollarsannually, as a result of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Countries in South America and Southeast Asia are also affected. In most cases, the fishing is carried out by large commercial fishing companies, where the ownership of the fishing boats is hidden through layers of tax haven companies, as well as ship registration in so-called flags of convenience. This activity not only robs the states of much-needed tax revenue, but also contributes to overfishing which destroys fish stocks and affects communities who depend on traditional coastal fishing.

In this episode, we talk to the main author of the report "Fishy Networks", Alfonso Daniels from the Financial Transparency Coalition. He explains the economic, human and environmental consequences of illegal fishing taking place on an industrial scale.

This episode is presented in collaboration with TaxCapDev – a research dissemination collaboration coordinated by the Chr. Michelsen Institute, NUPI and Tax Justice Norway.

The episode was recorded on November 15.

Presenters: Peter Ringstad and Ingrid Hjertaker

Audio production and music: Kristoffer Lislegaard

Episode notes:

The report can be downloaded here: https://financialtransparency.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/FTC-fishy-Network-OCT-2022-Final.pdf

Financial Transparency Coalition website: https://financialtransparency.org/