BLUE Investigations

 The Blue Investigations unit exposes and tackles harmful practices affecting our oceans 

Distant-water fleets turning off their tracking devices…  

Blue Investigations has collected data on the misuse of the automatic identification system (AIS) by French and Spanish-owned fishing vessels on the high seas, where some have gone more than three months without an AIS transmission. A landmark paper published in 2023 by Blue Marine Senior Legal Counsel Priyal Bunwaree highlighted the illegality of this behaviour, and Blue Investigations filed several legal complaints at EU and national level. 

… and the culpability of firms that insure them  

The paper also found that the role insurers must play in curbing this activity is ‘non-discretionary’. The worst-offending vessels are insured in London, leading Blue Marine to submit a formal complaint to the regulators of the UK insurance industry. It argued that insurers enable such vessels by providing cover, and thereby put seafarers’ lives at risk. The story was covered by the Guardian, and we will continue to call the insurance industry to account. 

Human rights abuses in the Western Pacific 

Blue Marine and several partners called for a full and independent investigation into deaths and human rights abuses in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). This follows the suspected murder of Eritara Aatii, the eighth fisheries observer known to have died or gone missing in the region since 2009. Blue Marine will continue to push for transparency in the investigation and reporting of these shocking cases. 

Overfishing yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean 

As well as the high seas, these valuable fish migrate across the jurisdictions of many countries, and their conservation requires international co-operation. However, many of the organisations responsible for these stocks are ineffective, leading to unlawful overfishing. Blue Investigations has been exposing mismanagement by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. 

Lifting the lid on cans  

In 2023, we conducted a six-month examination of canned tuna sourcing in UK supermarkets. Our report found that only one top-ten supermarket – Marks & Spencer – could prove that none of its tuna is caught in the Indian Ocean using fish-aggregating devices (FADs). FADs are trackable rafts with long tails that drift for months gathering tuna. Millions of the tuna are juveniles, while the devices also trap sharks and turtles, and are lost or discarded in their thousands, polluting and damaging habitats. We continue to pressure UK retailers to stop selling tuna caught with FADs. 

Deep sea mining 

Since 2020, Blue Investigations has been looking into deep sea mining. The deep ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet, making up 95 per cent of all habitable space. With less than one per cent of it explored, it is estimated that two-thirds of its species have yet to be discovered. It also fuels fisheries that feed billions. There is no place on Earth that we know less about, yet this reservoir of biodiversity is at risk of being irreparably damaged by deep sea mining. 

Tuna fishing: Alex Hofford / Greenpeace    

Deep-sea creatures: Alexander Semenov