Correspondence
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the press team at Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, parent company of Starboard Seafood.
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. Trade data shows that Starboard Seafood (Ontario) Inc. was the consignee for multiple shipments of tuna from Shandong Zhonglu between 2018 and 2022.
While we understand that you might not be aware of the above, does Starboard Seafood have any comment in response to the information contained in this email?
Please let us know by close of business on July 19, 2024, noting that all interactions remain on record."