OSINT-y Goodness, №23 — Undercurrent News

The catchy tagline for Undercurrent News is, “Seafood business news from beneath the surface.” This is a niche industry publication founded in London in 2012 by journalists Tom Seaman and Eva Tallaksen.

See how the U looks like a fishing hook? Isn’t that clever?!

I found Undercurrent News a few years ago when I was working as a freelance researcher. My client wanted to know about labor & employment issues in certain countries, and Undercurrent News provided items of interest related to that — labor strikes, etc. After that client work ended, I periodically looked at Undercurrent News because as a voracious seafood consumer, I found it rather fascinating.

“Hey, George, the ocean called. They’re running out of shrimp.”

Let’s start with a tour of their website and details about their contents. Click each image to access that part of the website.

A fish’s favorite activity is to surf the net.

> The Home Tab includes news from a variety of geographic regions.

BRICS=Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa

> The Data Tab is, like it sounds, an area of the website with historical and current fish and seafood prices. Premium access is required for the more comprehensive information.

In-depth pricing information requires a subscription.

An example of the pricing data details of scallops.

> The Species Tab divides their news up by type of fish or seafood.

Pelagic fish include anchovies, sardines, swordfish, mackerel, and sharks.

An example of the type of news item you will see in the Species section. Check out the label the next time you buy shrimp, is it from Ecuador or India?

> The Companies Tab will give you insight on the companies and people who are players in this industry.

This could contain good OSINT information if you are researching a company or a person.

Sometimes you will see an article that does not require a subscription to read.

> The Downstream Tab contains a mix of information that is all related to the seafood and fishing industry.

Example of an article that is industry-adjacent.

> The Upstream Tab dives deep into more of the mechanics of the industry. This is a good area to spot new trends and technology being utilized.

A behind the scenes peek of how this industry works.

> The Events Tab is self-explanatory. It’s a nice collection of supplemental reading material and videos.

WYSIWYG

> The Jobs Tab doesn’t appear to have a lot of job listings, only 2 at the time I wrote this.

Some useful and interesting demographics information!

> The Reports Tab gives you the opportunity to purchase industry publications.

Some of the reports listed give you a free overview of what’s included in the paid publication.

> The Newsletters Tab gives you the opportunity to subscribe for free.

You don’t need a subscription to get newsletters from Undercurrent News, but some of the content may require a subscription to read.

Undercurrent News Subscription

Subscription Options

For the casual seafood and fisheries enthusiast, a subscription may not be necessary. But, if this is an area of research for you then a subscription will give you access to their full offerings.

Undercurrent News Social Media

Follow them on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/UndercurrentNews/

Request to join their LinkedIn Group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8440995/

Follow them on Twitter
@undercur

They have RSS feeds, for all articles or by category
https://www.undercurrentnews.com/feeds/

“Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo…RSS feed it.”

Summary

Personally, I think this is a fascinating publication. While it is very industry-specific, there are opportunities to reference Undercurrent News if you are investigating things like pricing, labor issues, environmental, and technology.

Oh my cod, I laugh so hard when someone cracks a seafood joke.