13/12/2025
You are unlikely to see a more eloquent expression of how corporate greed is undermining the foundations of life than witnessing the 40 odd trawlers fishing off our starboard beam this Saturday morning. Clustered in an area 15NM by 15NM, they are dominated by controversial behemoths like the Afrika and Frank Bonitace. Trawlers with a length of over 100m, they catch fish with such efficiency that competing owner operators, running 30m vessels, have no means to compete. Aside from the removal of fish stock the habitat destruction caused by these oversized nets prevents recovery of stocks, leading to a year on year depletion of biomass.
Then you can grapple with the skewed practices that allows corporate controlled vessels like the Boniface dominate quota allocations. She currently controls 23% of UK fishing quotas, which still doesn’t prevent her skipper from pursuing and being fined for illegal fishing practices.
