New Investigation Exposes the Human and Environmental Costs of Turning Fish into Feed

Today, The Outlaw Ocean Project released “Food for Feed,” a comprehensive investigation into the global fishmeal supply chain. Over several years, the team mapped more than 1,400 fish reduction plants across 64 countries and documented crimes and issues taking place across the fishmeal supply chain including forced labor, preventable workplace deaths, pollution, fishing violations, and other human and environmental impacts.

As the investigation launched, Oceana’s Chief Scientist Dr. Katie Matthews released the following statement:

“This investigation is remarkable in both scale and depth. It exposes what happens when wild fish are treated as an industrial input rather than food for people. What’s clear from this reporting is that carnivorous aquaculture, like salmon farming, is not feeding the world — it’s depleting it.

As the aquaculture industry expands, so does its dependence on fishmeal and especially fish oil. Grinding up pounds of one fish to make one pound of another is not sustainable or equitable. These so-called reduction factories divert nutritious, local food from communities while pumping out wastewater and stench.

Yet the people who bear the costs of the fish farming industry most often have the least say in driving change. Small-scale fishers and coastal communities should have priority access to the fish in their own waters and a meaningful seat at the table when decisions affecting their food security and livelihoods are made.

Aquaculture can be part of a sustainable food future, but not at the expense of people and ecosystems. Reform must begin with a simple principle: recognizing fish are food, not feed.”

Launching alongside the investigation is Bait to Plate, an interactive tool from The Outlaw Ocean Project that allows the public to trace some seafood and other at-sea products from ships and processing plants all the way to household brands and grocers. The tool also shows where some crimes have intersected with seafood supply chains.

In response, Oceana’s Vice President for the United States Beth Lowell released the following statement:

“The more we can lift the veil on the complex seafood supply chain, the more we can shine the light on the areas of most risk. More traceability and transparency mean more accountability.

The path your seafood dinner follows from the boat or farm to the dinner plate has historically been opaque, making it difficult to know where our seafood comes from and whether it was caught legally and responsibly. That lack of transparency allows illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing to thrive, and undermines honest fishers, harms our oceans, and threatens global food security.

Oceana will continue to campaign for increased fisheries transparency and traceability of seafood supply chains from net to plate – to ensure that seafood sold is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced, and honestly labeled.”

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Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Our mission is to rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies that stop overfishing, protect habitats and threatened species, curb oil and plastic pollution, and increase transparency at sea. With more than 350 victories, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results – for the oceans, for coastal communities, and for the planet. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy, climate-smart seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Join us at Oceana.org.