Working to end illegal and destructive fishing practices and safeguard a future for an ocean full of life. Join Us or Donate
Global overfishing is one of the most pressing sustainability issues of our time.
0%
of all commercial fish stocks are fully exploited, overfished or have already collapsed.
0%
of the catch is bycatch and thrown back into the sea either dead, dying or seriously injured.
0t
of fish are captured illegally every minute
Who we are
FishAct is a conservation movement of volunteers from all over Europe, fighting for a future with healthy oceans full of life. Our voluntary fisheries observers go on undercover missions to document and exposeillegal and destructive fishing practices.
How we work
Citizen Inspector Network
We train volunteers as undercover fisheries observers to become actively involved in port inspections and market research.
Education and awareness
Our team is joining and organizing events all over Europe, to talk about the challenges the ocean faces and the work of FishAct.
Campaigns and policy work
To stop overfishing, we are working together with other organisations and meet politicians and stakeholders.
The problem
MODERN FISHERIES
OVERFISHING
ILLEGAL FISHING
MODERN FISHERIES
Industrial high-tech fleets are emptying our oceans.
Industrial fishing is a multinational, multibillion-dollar industry, which has been depleting fish populations worldwide for decades, driving many marine species towards extinction.
It is estimated that the fishing industry kills between 1 and 2.7 trillion fish from the wild every year. The reason why industrial fishing vessels can catch these huge amounts of fish is their size and their technical equipment.
OVERFISHING
Global overfishing one of the most pressing sustainability issues of our time.
Everywhere on this planet floating factories are emptying our oceans at an increasing rate. 90% of the global fish stocks are believed to be fully used or overfished, severely threatening the sustainability of the marine environment and the world’s largest food resource.
Despite this overexploitation of our seas, the EU is still the world’s primary importer of fish. Today, each person eats on average 19.2 kg of fish a year, that’s almost twice as much as what we ate 50 years ago. Our oceans simply cannot withstand this level of exploitation.
ILLEGAL FISHING
(image source: U.S. Coast Guard)
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a serious threat to marine ecosystems and legitimate fishermen.
It is estimated that between 20 and 50% of all seafood worldwide is either illegally caught, mislabeled, never reported, or from a fishery without a management regime. This translates into 800 kilos of illegal fish extracted from the ocean every second, a staggering quantity!
Low priority given to IUU fishing by enforcements is an enticing factor for associated activities, because it’s low risk, but high return. Far from constituting a harmless lack of compliance with regulations, IUU fishing destroys marine ecosystems, threatens food security, harms legitimate fishers and damages the economy and state governance.
FishAct in action:
Fighting illegal fishing in the Mediterranean
Watch our latest documentary about our undercover investigation on Sicily and learn what our activists are doing in the field and what keeps them positive and motivated.
A team of FishAct volunteers has conducted research into shallow water bottom trawling in Tunisia. The results show how widespread the illegal and highly destructive fishing method ‘Kiss’ trawling is and indications for the abuse of subsidies for this illegal practice were found. The crucial importance of this ecosystem for the Mediterranean as a whole is not the only way Europe is involved.
FishAct volunteers have just come back from Tunisia where they spent 11 days investigating illegal bottom trawling in the Gulf of Gabes (so called ‘Kiss
The European eel is threatened with extinction. The population has completely collapsed within a few decades despite the advice by scientists to stop fishing their
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