Developing Beneficial Ownership Transparency in the Fishing Industry
28 March 2023: The global commercial fishing industry generates sales worth $141 billion each year, with an annual production of over 90 million tonnes of seafood. But who benefits from this endeavor? Behind the four million commercial fishing vessels in the global fleet lies a complex onshore network of shell companies, frequently concealing the true beneficiaries of this industry.
The two case studies below were produced by TMT in support of C4ADS analysis of beneficial ownership transparency in the fishing industry for a new report called 'Sea Shells: Developing Beneficial Ownership Transparency in the Fishing Industry'.
They focus on two fishing fleets with operations in West Africa and ultimate beneficial ownership residing in a major distant water fishing nation. They highlight the need for UBO transparency and accompanying mechanisms in both flag and owner states to ensure that non-compliance can be linked back to a vessel’s ultimate beneficial owners and a vessel owner's full operational footprint and history of risk behaviour can be identified.
Beneficial owner case study: José Martí Peix
Beneficial owner case study: Soperka
Beneficial owner case study: José Martí Peix
José Martí Peix SA was a Spanish fishing company and seafood group, founded in 1982. Official and unofficial sources link the company, directly and indirectly, to more than thirty vessels, flagged in Spain, Portugal and a number of African countries, including Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Cameroon, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon. Download the full case study below.
Beneficial owner case study: Soperka
The Senegalese-registered company Soperka is involved in fishing and marketing of fishery products.1 The company’s fishing vessels have engaged in fishing operations in multiple EEZs as well as on the high seas. Download the full case study below.