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Last year the New York Times began publishing The Outlaw Ocean, an ongoing investigation into what happens far from land. It revealed exploitation, crime, slavery and violence, and lifted the lid on a sometimes fatal lack of accountability at sea.
The two year, award-winning exposé was led by Ian Urbina, who visited the ITF to share his findings with an audience of representatives from concerned organisations.
He explained what drew him to the topic of the lawless seas: “Two thirds of the planet is water, a vast, beautiful space. Much of it is ungoverned. The sea is out of sight and out of mind; so rarely does it and the people who work on it get discussed.”
He catalogued a grim succession of murder, extortion, people trafficking, and corrupt manning agencies. Fishing, in particular “Is where the worst is going on,” Mr Urbina said. “I’ve been in some very non-democratic spaces but I’ve never seen the violence that I did in this industry.”
Conditions were so bad, he said, that he was committed to continuing his investigations and airing them in book form. But there is hope for change, he believes: “I think the situation is getting better because there are more eyes on it, particularly in the last 20 months thanks to the work of people like the Environmental Justice Foundation, The Guardian, the ITF, unions, and other folks.”
The ITF plans to cooperate with Ian Urbina to help share his findings to areas including Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Europe.
Introducing the briefing, ITF general secretary Steve Cotton said that Mr Urbina’s work had gone for the jugular of the subject and thrown much needed light on it.
He also thanked those who attended, including representatives of Apetito, Apostleship of the Sea, Environmental Justice Foundation, Ethical Trade Initiative, Freedom Fund, Greenpeace, ICMA, ISWAN, Marine Stewardship Council, MNWB, MUA, NAMMA, Nautilus International, Pew Trust, SRI and Waitrose.