Inside the Global Fishing Industry: Rose George’s Exposé Reveals a $200 Billion Crisis

The fishing industry faces an unprecedented convergence of over‑exploitation, climate stress and illegal activity, all while global demand hits record levels. In her 2025 book Every Last Fish, journalist Rose George travels from Norwegian trawlers to West African fish markets, embedding with crews and aquaculture farms to map the hidden costs of a $200 bn sector ↑ $200 bn. She confronts the grim reality that over 30% of major fish stocks are depleted ↓ 30%, a figure echoed by recent Reuters analyses.

Fishing Industry Under Siege

George’s narrative intertwines scientific insight on fish cognition with stark accounts of modern slavery on board vessels. A former vegetarian, she admits the shift from wild catch to farmed fish “feels like moving from hunter‑gatherers to industrial farmers,” a transition she says is often ignored by consumers still reeling from the pandemic.

“You can’t police the sea; it’s too big,” George tells Live Science.

Across continents, she finds a common thread: pride tempered by danger. Small‑boat fishers in England and Senegal share stories of sinking vessels, tangled winches and quotas that force them to harvest juvenile fish, eroding future stocks. In Senegal, foreign trawlers siphon off sardines, leaving local markets empty. Meanwhile, in the UK, a scandal involving Ghanaian crew members on a scallop boat exposed how trans‑shipment visas trap workers at sea, turning the industry into a law‑less enclave. George also highlights hopeful pockets: marine protected areas in the Pacific where fish populations rebound within years, and the new Global Ocean Treaty that allows rapid designation of high‑seas sanctuaries, even if they cover only a fraction of total catches. She credits activists like Lillian Bilocca, whose 1968 campaign forced safety reforms after three trawlers sank, as a blueprint for future advocacy. While the outlook remains bleak, George argues that “the ocean can recover quickly when given a chance,” urging policymakers to replace endless quotas with transparent data and real‑time monitoring. The book, shortlisted for the 2026 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, serves as both a warning and a call to action for anyone who eats fish.

Intel provided by: Dr. Silas Mercer

Biotech & Longevity Editor