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Looting the Pacific

Looting the Pacific

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Jack mackerel, or 'jurel' -- a silvery fish which once thronged the South Pacific -- was one of the world's last great fisheries, and a staple of the global food chain. But unnoticed by the rest of the world, jack mackerel stocks have crashed, declining by 90 percent in two decades as a result of rampant industrial overfishing.

An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) showed that a global convention which was intended to save jack mackerel stocks led instead to a disastrous 'race to fish', as faraway nations like Russia, China, Norway, the Netherlands and other EU countries competed with Pacific states to establish fishing quotas. Looting the Pacific reports exclusively on the secrets of the global fishing industry's last frontier and the fate of the jack mackerel.

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