PERPIGNAN.- The Carmignac Photojournalism Award announced that Nicole Tung has been selected as the laureate of its 15th edition, dedicated to Southeast Asia and the human and environmental rights violations linked to illegal fishing and overfishing.

Nicole was officially announced as the laureate, and her work unveiled at the Visa pour l’image festival on Thursday, September 4, 2025.

Her report was carried out over a nine-month period with the support of Fondation Carmignac. It examines the complex dynamics of industrial fishing in the region and its consequences for marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

Through field reporting in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, Tung documents a highly opaque industry in which access is often limited—especially at sea, where operations remain largely hidden from public scrutiny. Her report explores issues such as the rollback of fishing regulations, the impact on local fishers by geopolitical pressures, and the working conditions of migrant laborers at sea.

In Thailand, she examines how reforms introduced after reports in 2015 on sea slavery led to improved labor conditions—but are now at risk of being rolled back as government ties to the fishing industry grow stronger. In the Philippines, she focused on the region's escalating geopolitical tensions, documenting how the growing dominance of Chinese maritime forces has made fishing zones increasingly inaccessible, leading to significant loss of income and livelihoods for local communities. Her investigation into the tuna trade highlights the difficulties of tracing global seafood supply chains—from small coastal canneries to sushi markets in Japan and beyond—underscoring the lack of transparency.

In Indonesia, Nicole reported testimonies of extreme labor abuse at sea—including recruitment through debt bondage, withheld wages, and reports of violence aboard foreign-owned vessels. She also looked into the shark trade, where meat is sold locally while fins and bones are exported, mostly to China and Hong Kong for use in cosmetics and traditional medicine.

Her work also touches on the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas, alternative livelihoods through tourism, and the impact of global seafood supply chains. Southeast Asia plays a central role in global fisheries, accounting for more than half of the world’s fish production. Yet the region is also among the most affected by illegal fishing, environmental degradation, and widespread labor exploitation—forces that threaten the future of both marine ecosystems and the coastal communities that depend on them.

Nicole Tung is a freelance photojournalist, born in Hong Kong. She graduated from New York University in 2009, and freelances for international publications and NGOs, primarily covering the Middle East region.

She has covered the conflicts in Libya and Syria extensively from 2011, focusing on the plight of civilians, the lives of Native American war veterans in the U.S.,the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and the aftermath of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Her work often explores those most affected by conflict and the consequences of war. Ms. Tung has documented the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022 for publications including Harper's Magazine, The Washington Post and The New York Times, and the aftermath of devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in 2023. Her work has been exhibited at various festivals worldwide and has received multiple awards for her work. In 2025, Nicole was part of The New York Times’ team who were named Pulitzer finalists for Breaking News Photography, and is also the recipient of the Philip Jones Griffiths Award. She is based in Istanbul.