Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/066f2d60-b4c8-44ab-8986-6e550259d089 In one video taken on the high seas of the south Atlantic last July, a seal was lured with squid, harpooned and then struck with a steel pipe until its skull cracked and blood gushed across its silvery coat. EJF said the seal was just one of an unknown number of protected species slaughtered by the Chinese fleet that also included false killer whales, whale sharks, dolphins and turtles. One Indonesian fisherman described the boat he toiled on as a “devil vessel”.