Report | June 17, 2026
Hidden owners, hidden crimes: why beneficial ownership transparency matters for fisheries enforcement
Fisheries are central to the socio-economic stability of coastal communities, supporting livelihoods, food security, and cultural heritage worldwide. These benefits, however, are undermined by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) describes as “one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems”. Beyond depleting marine resources, IUU fishing distorts markets, disadvantages legal fishers, and weakens sustainable seafood supply chains. It is also frequently linked to wider criminal activity, including tax fraud, money laundering, labor rights abuses, human trafficking, and the smuggling of drugs, arms, and wildlife products.
Key to combating IUU fishing is to identify the ‘beneficial owner’ of a fishing vessel: the individuals who ultimately own, control, and profit from fishing activities. Determining the beneficial owner is essential for effective deterrence and enforcement, but limited transparency in the global fisheries sector makes this very challenging.
Beneficial owners can hide their involvement by registering (“flagging”) vessels in countries unrelated to their residence or nationality, or by using complex corporate structures to evade scrutiny and sanctions. Opaque arrangements – such as shell companies, layered ownership, joint ventures, and frequent changes in vessel names and flags – enable beneficial owners to obscure their identities. This deliberate concealment distances them from liability and hinders both national and international enforcement efforts. Without visibility over beneficial ownership, authorities struggle to impose effective penalties, disrupt organized networks, or deter repeat offending.
This is where beneficial ownership transparency becomes critical. Beneficial ownership transparency refers to the identification and disclosure of the natural persons who ultimately own, control, or benefit from legal entities (such as companies) and legal arrangements (such as trusts). It is already used in other sectors to address a range of illicit activities, including money laundering, corruption, tax evasion, and the financing of organized crime, and is increasingly recognized as a key transparency tool for tackling IUU fishing.
