Limited distribution: Fishrot Files (25.8 GB)

As legal cases go to trial in Namibia in the fall, we are announcing a fuller version of the dataset published by Wikileaks, documenting the corruption of an Icelandic fishing multinational

Fishing Trawler Wreck, Swakopmund, Namibia by Steve Glasgow licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Approximately 75,000 files and emails leaked from Samherji, exposing corruption in the fishing industry in a scandal extending from Iceland to Namibia, Norway and beyond. Since 2019, the Fishrot Files have kicked off a series of investigations and trials that are continuing into 2023, such as the trial of former Namibian fisheries minister Bernhardt Esau. Esau recently testified at his bail application in the Windhoek High Court.

The emails, reports, documents, presentations and photos date from between 2010 and 2016 and expose Samherji's use of bribery and false promises to control the fishing industry, with company operations in Angola, Canada, the Faroe Islands, France, Iceland, Germany, Namibia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the U.K. The dataset is more than twice the size of the first Fishrot release from WikiLeaks.

This copy of the files was provided directly by the source, whistleblower Jóhannes Stefánsson, the former Director of Operations of Namibia for Samherji. Access to this expanded dataset is restricted at his request due to PII in the new data. Because the dataset is only available in our limited distribution section, it is more complete than what was published by WikiLeaks.

The Fishrot Files page on the Wikileaks website currently leads to a 502 error page. In 2019, they wrote that “Fishrot Files - Part 3 will be released soon with the addition to the searchable database.” The promised Part 3 was never delivered. Today’s DDoSecrets release continues where Wikileaks left off. The Fishrot Files are now available in our seachable database Hunter, which is available to access by researchers and journalists.

Researchers or journalists with a publication history who wish to access our limited distribution data, can get in touch and open a request. Please use an official email if possible, when making requests.

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