# The hidden cost of farmed seafood > Fishmeal production that feeds farmed salmon and shrimp exported to South Africa drives overfishing, forced labour, pollution and food insecurity in poorer countries. - Title: The hidden cost of farmed seafood · Daily Maverick | Shortify - Summary: Fishmeal production that feeds farmed salmon and shrimp exported to South Africa drives overfishing, forced labour, pollution and food insecurity in poorer… - Keywords: fishmeal, aquaculture, farmed seafood, overfishing, food insecurity, labour abuses, pollution, south africa, the outlaw ocean project, supply chains, news, politics - Source: Daily Maverick — https://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-09-the-price-paid-beyond-the-plate-the-huge-costs-of-farmed-seafood - Author: Ian Urbina - Published: 2026-10-09T17:05:38+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: fishmeal, aquaculture, farmed seafood, overfishing, food insecurity, labour abuses, pollution, south africa, the outlaw ocean project, supply chains, news, politics ## South Africa opens fishmeal plant In January 2026, fisheries minister Willie Aucamp attended the ribbon cutting of a new Pioneer Fishing factory in Saint Helena Bay to process fishmeal from herring. ## South Africa exports millions in fishmeal South Africa exported eighty five million dollars worth of fishmeal in twenty twenty five, mostly to fish farms in Denmark, Spain, Greece, China and Germany. ## Farmed fish eat wild fish The most popular farmed seafood, including salmon, shrimp, trout, sea bass and sea bream, are fed wild fish. A farmed salmon at some farms eats more than six times its weight in wild-caught fish. ## Investigation maps global fishmeal industry The Outlaw Ocean Project, a Washington DC news organisation, conducted a four-year investigation mapping roughly the entire global fishmeal industry, including more than fourteen hundred factories across sixty four countries. ## Hidden costs of fishmeal production The investigation found the feed industry carries hidden costs including loss of artisanal fishing jobs, chronic chemical exposure, worker deaths, violent protests from factory stench, and geopolitical tensions over scarce protein sources. ## Food insecurity in Gambia and Mauritania In Gambia and Mauritania, the investigation documented how the industry drives food insecurity as fish that once sustained local communities are increasingly diverted into fishmeal factories for export. ## Forced labour in Russia and China In remote islands in Russia's far east and in China's Xinjiang region, the reporting detailed the use of forced labour on ships, at farms and in factories processing fishmeal. ## Civil unrest over pollution and wages From twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four, workers across Peru's industrial fishing sector staged protests over wages and unpaid overtime. ## Senegal's deadly migration crisis In Senegal, fishmeal has put local fishers out of work, so increasingly they are selling or repurposing their boats to flee to Europe, taking the roughly fifteen hundred kilometre sea journey to Spain's Canary Islands… ## A fisher's desperate escape Cheikhou Omar, a twenty one year old fisher, was rescued after the fishing boat he took trying to get to Spain capsized, killing thirty. > We're fishermen, but there's no fish left here, so we left. ## Geopolitical tensions over fishing The investigation revealed the fishmeal industry contributes to geopolitical tensions.In twenty twenty one, Turkish trawlers fishing illegally in the Aegean Sea tried to ram a Greek research vessel. ## Morocco's illegal Western Sahara fishing Since the mid nineteen seventies, Morocco has militarily occupied Western Sahara, a presence deemed illegal by more than ten EU Court of Justice rulings and various UN resolutions. ## Ceasefire collapse over fishmeal trade A violent clash over trucks carrying fish and fishmeal out of Western Sahara led to the collapse of a twenty nine year ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front in twenty twenty. ## Unsustainable fishing practices The investigation assessed more than twenty four hundred ships tied to fishmeal production operating in waters of at least thirty countries. ## Destructive fishing methods Most ships in the fishmeal fleet are purse seiners or trawlers deploying vast nets to capture dense schools of fish. ## Worker deaths in Indian factories In India, the investigation found explosions, fires and worker asphyxiations at factories producing fishmeal that supplies the country's shrimp farms. ## South Africa imports farmed seafood Roughly half of the seafood eaten in South Africa in twenty twenty one was imported. ## Chinese aquaculture and forced relocation In twenty twenty five, South Africa imported more than thirty million dollars worth of seafood from China, which is rapidly expanding its aquaculture industry. ## Tibetan resistance to relocation The Chinese government used coercive tactics to relocate Tibetans, including repeated home visits, threats of criminal prosecution and warnings that utilities could be cut off. ## Key takeaway A four-year investigation by The Outlaw Ocean Project found that fishmeal production feeding farmed seafood consumed in South Africa causes overfishing, labour abuses, pollution and food insecurity in poorer countries where it is harvested and processed.