All articles tagged with #illegal fishing
The Maryland Natural Resources Police reported numerous enforcement actions from September to November 2025, including arrests and citations for illegal hunting, fishing, and wildlife violations such as spotlighting, hunting out of season, illegal baiting, oyster overharvesting, and firearm violations, highlighting ongoing efforts to enforce natural resource laws.
A large, unregulated foreign fishing fleet, mainly from China, is overfishing squid off the coast of Argentina, causing ecological damage, risking species collapse, and involving human rights abuses, with calls for international regulation and transparency to prevent environmental and social disaster.
Great white sharks in the Mediterranean are critically endangered due to illegal fishing and are being sold in North African markets, with over 40 sharks killed in 2025 alone. Despite international protections, enforcement is weak, and the ecosystem is heavily degraded, raising concerns about the species' potential extinction unless urgent conservation efforts are made.
The US Coast Guard and Kiribati police conducted patrols against illegal fishing in Kiribati's exclusive economic zone, boarding two Chinese fishing boats with no reported issues, marking the first time Kiribati police officers have participated as "ship riders" with the US Coast Guard in almost a decade.
Brazilian authorities have seized 28.7 metric tonnes of illegally obtained shark fins, representing the death of some 10,000 sharks of two different species, the blue shark and the shortfin mako shark, which entered Brazil's national list of endangered species last month. The consignment is the world's largest confiscation of its kind at the origin. Shark fishing is illegal in Brazil, but the boats were using permits to catch other fish species.
Indigenous people in the Javari Valley of the Brazilian Amazon are defending their land and resources against illegal fishing, poaching, logging, and drug trafficking. The "Warriors of the Forest," armed with traditional weapons, patrol the Javari River by motorboat to deter intruders. They work with the EVU, a commando unit attached to the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley, to monitor and collect evidence of illegal activities. With the absence of government forces, the Indigenous groups fear for their safety and the future of their land, especially with recent bills passed by Brazil's Congress cutting the powers of environment and Indigenous affairs ministries and curbing the protection of Indigenous lands.
The endangered vaquita porpoises are holding on in their only habitat in the Gulf of California, with experts estimating they saw from 10 to 13 of the tiny, shy, elusive porpoises during nearly two weeks of sailing in the gulf last month. Illegal gillnets have trapped and killed vaquitas for decades, and the population has declined from nearly 600 vaquitas in 1997. The Mexican government has made some efforts to stop the net fishing, but the fishermen still appear to have the upper hand, entering the protected area to fish on a daily basis and even sabotaging monitoring efforts.
The world's most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita porpoise, is holding on in its only habitat in Mexico's Gulf of California, according to a recent research expedition report. Experts sighted 10 to 13 of the elusive porpoises, including one or two calves, raising hopes for their survival. However, illegal gillnets continue to trap and kill vaquitas, and fishermen have been sabotaging monitoring efforts. The Mexican government has made some efforts to stop net fishing, but enforcement has been uneven and faces violent opposition from local fishermen. Urgent conservation efforts are needed to save the vaquita from extinction.
The vaquita, the world's most endangered animal, has been spotted on camera in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California. The survey team recorded 10 to 13 individuals, including one or two calves, during their 17-day count. While the result is roughly the same as the last major count in 2021, conservationists warn that the vaquita is still at risk of extinction due to illegal fishing and a lack of enforcement from authorities. Mexican authorities have sunk concrete blocks covered in metal hooks to decrease gill netting, raising hope for the species' survival.
Brazilian police have named Ruben Villar, also known as “Colombia,” as the alleged mastermind of the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who were shot dead while returning from a reporting trip in the Amazon. Fisherman Janio Freitas de Souza has also been named as a suspect. Both men have been imprisoned since July 2022 and are awaiting trial. The deaths of Phillips and Pereira have drawn global attention to the perils often faced by journalists and environmental activists in Brazil.
One year after the killing of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in Brazil's Amazon, tensions remain high in the Javari Valley, the world's largest Indigenous reserve and home to isolated tribes. Illegal fishing, particularly for the prized pirarucu, is a major issue, with poachers becoming increasingly violent and financed by criminal organizations. Despite the arrest of the accused killers and a change in government, security remains a top concern for Indigenous leaders, who say protecting the area requires political will and resources.
Illegal fishing mafias are threatening the lives of those who promote sustainable fishing programs in the Brazilian Amazon. Highly organized gangs of poachers with suspected ties to international drug trafficking groups prey on endangered Amazon species such as the pirarucu. The rampant and highly lucrative illegal trade in fish and wildlife plagues Brazil’s isolated and lawless tri-border with Colombia and Peru. Sustainable fishing engineer José Maria Batista Damasceno has dedicated his life to convincing small riverside communities that sustainable fishing programs will benefit them more than the quick, short-term profits offered by the illegal fishing mafias that pillage the region’s rivers and Indigenous lands.
Mexican officials and Sea Shepherd are launching a search expedition to locate the few remaining vaquita marina, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, in the Gulf of California. The elusive porpoises are threatened by illegal gillnet fishing, which also impedes population calculations. The expedition will use binoculars, sighting devices, and acoustic monitors to try to pinpoint the location of the vaquitas. The last sighting expedition in 2021 yielded probable sightings of between 5 and 13 vaquitas, a decline from the previous survey in 2019.
Peru's new port regulation requiring foreign fishing boats to use a vessel monitoring system to combat illegal fishing by Chinese squid vessels has driven the world's largest overseas fishing fleet deeper into the shadows, increasing the risk of forced labor, according to new research. Instead of increasing oversight, the new Peruvian regulations appear to have driven Chinese ships away from the country's ports and kept crews made up of impoverished Filipinos and Indonesians at sea for longer periods, exposing them to abuse. Only three of the 671 Chinese vessels authorized to fish in the eastern Pacific have installed the equipment.
The US military has conducted its first-ever maritime exercises with West African forces under its Flintlock program to enhance the skills of the region's troops. The training aimed to help coastal nations cope with maritime threats such as piracy and illegal fishing, which has become a significant issue in the region. The Gulf of Guinea has become a global piracy hotspot, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing has sapped an estimated $9.4 billion per year through illicit financial flows.