Correspondence
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the contact address for Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries.
The email said: "We’re contacting you in light of our research on the practice of ‘flagging in’, whereby fishing vessels owned by companies in one country are flagged to another country in order to access that second country’s waters. We are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally.
Records indicate that Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries Co. Ltd. is the beneficial owner of several tuna fishing vessels flagged to Ghana and operated by companies registered in Ghana.
In light of the above, we have the following questions:
- Can you confirm that Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries Co. Ltd. is the beneficial owner of fishing vessels flagged to Ghana?
- Can you confirm if the Shandong Zhonglu vessels flagged to Ghana are operated by Laif Fisheries, Afko Fisheries, Africa Stars Fisheries and Yaw Addo Fisheries?
- Is Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries Co. Ltd. the beneficial owner of any fishing vessels flagged to countries other than China or Ghana?
Please let us know your answers by close of business on July 19, 2024, nothing that all interactions remain on record."