The Guardian reported that Emmanuel Essien went missing in July 2019 aboard the Meng Xin 15, a trawler owned by Dalian Meng Xin Ocean Fisheries. Emmanuel Essien worked as a fishing observer in Ghana. His work was part of a government effort to regulate overfishing by foreign-owned trawlers, which has driven small pelagic fish, the staple diet of the coastal region, to the verge of collapse. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Dalian Meng Xin Ocean Fisheries to respond to these allegations, but the company could not be reached.