A secret Chinese fleet is breaking UN sanctions by taking hundreds of millions of pounds of squid from waters off North Korea, enriching the Pyongyang government and driving its struggling fishermen to distant waters where many die.
Satellite photographs were used to analyse the activities of one of the world’s biggest “dark fleets” — vessels that do not broadcast their position or appear in public records. As well as enriching the operators of the Chinese boats, North Korea receives an estimated $120 million a year in licences, to the detriment of its own fishermen.
According to the study by Global Fishing Watch, at least 1,600 vessels have taken 160,000 tons of squid, estimated to be worth more than $440 million.
“It is the largest known
