Headed and Gutted: illegal cod fishing in the Barents Sea

An increasing amount of cod from the Barents Sea has been delivered directly to EU harbors over the last few years. It now appears that a significant proportion of this fish may be the result of illegal and unregistered over-fishing, and involve interests as diverse as the Russian fish mafia and Western capital. Corruption, exploitation of poor fish workers, indifferent fish companies that only seek cheap fish, and a lack of coherent sanction and control measures from both Russia and the governments of EU Member States all seem to play a role. Such fishing is illegal, and represents a significant environmental, economic and social problem all over the world.

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