Key findings

• EJF investigations involving interviews with 77Indonesian and four Filipino fishers who hadworked on 60 Chinese-flagged DWF squid fishingvessels between 2020 and 2025 operating in the SEP reveal shocking levels of destructive fishingpractices and human rights violations.
• 60% of vessels allegedly engaged in the finning ofsharks and disposal of bodies, and 33% of vessels inthe intentional capture of marine mammals such asseals, false killer whales and dolphins.
• Neither China nor the SPRFMO have suitableregulations to deter these extremely destructivepractices, demonstrating that the SEP jumbo squid fishing ground (FAO Fishing Area 87) isseverely under-regulated in terms of its widerecosystem impacts.
• According to estimated fishing effort calculationsfor all DWF vessels, the combined fishing hours inthe SEP are about 3.25 times higher than those ofthe SWA fishing ground. The number of Chinese vessels increased by 100% between 2014 and 2024.
• Investigation findings reinforce growing concerns that the SEP is facing escalating pressure from destructive fishing practices with recent population assessments of jumbo squid indicating early signsof population decline.
• Fishers also reported frequent human rights abuses onboard, including physical abuse, abusiveworking and living conditions, debt bondage, andwithholding of wages. Almost half of the fishers EJF spoke to reported either experiencing or witnessingphysical abuse while they were on board.
• A worrying prevalence for the unloading of deadcrew from DWF vessels into Latin American ports warrants action by port states. At least 41deceased crew were unloaded from Chinese vessels between 2013 and 2023, painting a grim picture ofnegligence, lack of accountability and the dangersof working onboard Chinese-flagged squid vessels.
• EJF’s analysis of Global Fishing Watch port entriesfor 163 Chinese-flagged squid vessels utilising Chilean ports in 2025 found nine vessels that werelinked to its investigations into fisheries and/orhuman rights abuses.
• 80% of vessels suspected of being involved infisheries or human rights abuses analysed in this study trans-shipped their catches at-sea to reefersdestined for Zhoushan port, China, which hasconsolidated its status as the global squid hub. Atsea trans-shipment can facilitate the laundering ofillegally caught squid with legal catches.
• Vessels linked to China National Fisheries Corporation (CNFC) were implicated in some ofthe worst fisheries and labour abuses. This majorstate-run enterprise operates the largest fleet in the jumbo squid fishery along with one of the largestsquid processing plants in Zhoushan.
• Trade data shows that CNFC exported 23,384 tonnesof squid to the global market between 2020 and 2025. At least 29% of these exports went to the US,24.6% to the EU and 15% to the UK.
• Data deficiencies in global catch and tradereporting systems prevent truly substantive market state trade analysis. It is not possible todisaggregate jumbo squid trade links from China to other markets meaning it is difficult to trulycalculate the risk of EU or US exposure to IUUfishing and/or human rights abuses in the SEPjumbo squid fishery.
• At least nine proposals were submitted to SPRFMO ahead of their annual meeting in February - March 2026.10 These included measures intendedto improve the management of the jumbo squid fishery as well as monitoring, control andsurveillance mechanisms. Their comprehensive enactment by SPRFMO Member States would marka significant step forward for the regulation of the jumbo squid.