When the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 956 was apprehended in June 2019, it seemed like a victory in Ghana’s long war on illegal fishing. The industrial trawler had been caught fishing for sardinella, a widely consumed species reserved for small-scale fishers. Authorities issued a US $1-million fine to the vessel’s apparent owner, the Ghana-based Gyinam Fisheries & Sons Limited. But the company refused to pay, the vessel continued to fish, and, less than a year later, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 956was detained again for the same crime. Hefty fines can be effective deterrents to illegal fishing; but in the case of the