A Key Food Source Collapsed Off West Africa’s Coast as Chinese Ships Ground the Species Into Fishmeal

Source briefing · A concise briefing based on one linked source. It is intentionally shorter than a full FreedomWitness Evidence Engine analysis.

What the source reports

A Guinea-Bissau fisheries assessment obtained by OCCRP shows that the sardinella — an important food source — has been decimated in the years since two Chinese fishmeal-production vessels set up shop offshore.

After the industry was banned earlier this year, the floating factories moved south to Sierra Leone.

Evidence note: At this stage FreedomWitness is presenting what this source reports. This briefing does not independently prove every underlying claim and should be read together with the original material.

Source & verification

Primary source: OCCRP · August 18, 2026

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