US and Spain increased imports of Chinese squid despite allegations — Mongabay
The United States and Spain continued to increase their purchases of frozen squid and cuttlefish from China in 2025, despite a series of investigations into alleged illegal fishing, environmental violations and abuses of workers on Chinese vessels. As Mongabay reports, the value of such imports reached about $196 million for the United States and $165 million for Spain.
According to Chinese customs data, shipments of frozen squid and cuttlefish to the United States increased from 19,400 tonnes worth $59 million in 2020 to 32,200 tonnes in 2025. Exports to Spain more than doubled over the same period, from 16,200 tonnes worth $64 million to 37,100 tonnes worth $165 million. In international trade statistics, squid and cuttlefish are counted together.
Human rights advocates’ data
In June 2026, the UK-based Environmental Justice Foundation published the results of a five-year investigation into vessels catching squid in the southeastern Pacific, southwestern Atlantic and northwestern Indian Ocean. The organization interviewed more than 350 Indonesian and 80 Filipino fishers who had worked on 249 vessels, mostly flying the Chinese flag.
EJF said it documented the deaths of 25 workers aboard 20 Chinese vessels between 2020 and 2025. According to the organization, the causes included accidents, malnutrition, including at least nine cases of beriberi, inadequately treated illnesses, suicides and one murder. Human rights advocates also reported signs of forced labor, passport confiscation, unpaid wages, and inadequate working and living conditions.
China’s Foreign Ministry previously stated that the country conducts ocean fishing in accordance with laws and regulations. In June 2026, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said there is no forced labor in China and called the use of this issue political manipulation.
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Growth of China’s fleet
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, China caught 1.1 million tonnes of squid in 2023, approximately one-third of the global volume. In the southern Pacific, the number of vessels catching jumbo flying squid increased from 302 in 2016 to 528 in 2023; 522 of them flew the Chinese flag.
In the northwestern Indian Ocean, EJF reported 361 vessels that operated there regularly in 2020–2025, most of them Chinese. Among 153 fishers interviewed, 93.5% said they had experienced or witnessed at least seven of 12 indicators of forced labor.
Regulatory gaps
Since 2008, the EU has operated a mechanism to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which allows the European Commission to restrict imports from offending countries. China has received neither a yellow nor a red card under this mechanism. The European Commission stressed that these rules do not cover labor standards.
An EU regulation banning goods made using forced labor is due to enter into force in December 2027. It may provide for measures against individual companies following investigations, but it is not aimed exclusively at the fishing industry.
