Donate NowWe are outfishing our oceans. Our collective appetite for seafood outstrips supply. As a result, we overfish more and more to meet that demand, reaching deeper into the breeding stocks of fish. Several commercial species are on the brink of extinction. A fragile network of treaties is meant to protect the most vulnerable fishing stocks, but stateless illegal fishing fleets pillage the ocean at will. The chase to stop the FV STS-50, one of the most notorious vessels on the water in 2018, illustrates the challenges investigators, scientists and governments face when trying to preserve life in the modern world's oceans.
August 21, 2020 | Smithsonian Magazine
The Hunt for the Modern-Day Pirates Who Steal Millions of Tons of Fish From the Seas
These criminal actors threaten fragile species, forcing an international coalition to track them down.