Using multiple data sources, researchers gain new understanding of vessel reflagging and potential unauthorized activity.
The Issue
Every commercial fishing vessel is registered to and flies the flag of a particular State, but it’s not necessarily the State that it originates from. There’s a whole nexus of actors involved in international fishing whereby a vessel can be flagged to one country, its owner(s) reside in another, while operations are carried out in a third nation’s waters. To make matters even more confusing, vessel owners can change a ship’s country of registration—a practice known as reflagging.
Story by Global Fishing Watch
