The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation published in April 2024 a report titled "Tide of Injustice: Exploitation and Illegal Fishing on Chinese Vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocean."
China's distant-water fleet (DWF) is by far the world's largest. This report maps the presence and activities of the Chinese DWF in the Southwest Indian Ocean, which includes the exclusive economic zones of the coastal states Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. Illegal fishing and human rights abuses were found to be commonplace on Chinese vessels throughout the region.
Chinese vessels were linked to 86 unique cases (relating to 177 suspected or confirmed offences) of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing or human rights abuses within the Southwest Indian Ocean region between 2017 and 2023.
