Chinadialogue posted on 3 October 2019 an investigative report titled "How Ghana's Weak Penalties Are Letting Trawlers off the Hook" by Mona Samari, West Africa Fisheries Journalism Training Project.
This investigation explores the secretive networks committing fishery offences in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Ostensible ownership of the vessels is local, but China is implicated as a beneficial owner of the vessels even though it is not the flag state.