The report, ‘Criminal Catches: How to Stop the Supply of Illegal Seafood to the UK’, reveals that post-Brexit, critical checks on imported seafood have plummeted, leaving the UK government ‘effectively blind’ to whether fish sold in shops and restaurants is tainted by slavery, forced labour or environmental destruction.
“In recent years, the UK has entirely lost control of its seafood imports,” said Steve Trent, chief executive and founder of EJF.
“The lack of oversight leaves us all completely in the dark about the sustainability and ethical quality of the seafood allowed into the country.”
The UK receives roughly 58,000 tonnes of seafood annually from China despite documented abuses on vessels linked to major Chinese companies. Since 2012, only four Chinese consignments have been refused. Russian imports were neither verified nor rejected between 2021 and 2023, the report adds.
More than a quarter of UK seafood imports now come from countries flagged by the EU with ‘yellow card’ warnings for failing to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
“We know that British consumers don’t want to eat seafood caught by labour that is forced, bonded or held in slavery,” said Trent. “The UK has the power, opportunity and responsibility to drive powerful change.”
The report urges the UK government to urgently digitalise its catch certification system, restore monitoring capacity lost post-Brexit, and adopt transparency measures outlined in the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.
