ISIS Is Running Fish Farms in the Desert to Generate Cash

ISIS has been trending as the worst thing on Earth for a couple of years now. In that time, as various countries' armed forces have been trying to bomb them to oblivion, the militant group has been able to drag the fight out, thanks in part to a massive oil business that's generated upwards of $2.9 billion per year. But of late, as ISIS has been retreating and abandoning valuable oil fields, it's been forced to find new ways to scrounge up dough, including car dealerships and fishing.

No, your average jihadi isn't sitting on a dock with a fishing rod and a bobber, hoping for something to bite in the deserts of Iraq and Syria. But Reuters reports that ISIS is now in control of fish farms in hundreds of lakes north of Baghdad, according to Iraqi judicial authorities. The fish farms are generating millions of dollars per month, officials say.

Reuters doesn't specify what types of fish ISIS is selling, but ISIS fighters probably aren't sitting down to a salmon dinner every evening. ISIS took over some of the farms when farmers fled, and others have agreed to work for ISIS. ISIS is also taxing agricultural land, and levying 10 percent on poultry.

"After the armed forces took control of several oil fields Daesh [ISIS] was using to finance its operations, the organization devised non-traditional ways of paying its fighters and financing its activities," the report said.

The report was based in part on information obtained from captured ISIS fighters. It notes that the group didn't just turn to fish farming out of nowhere—Al Qaeda had used fish farms to raise money as early as 2007. Some of the money generated goes to paying ISIS fighters' salaries, which include bonuses for having up to four children as well as special payments like the one fighters received after ISIS captured Mosul.

As for the car dealerships, those whips don't come with a CARFAX. Cars have gone on to live strange second lives with ISIS, like when a Texas plumber's work pickup ended up in an ISIS propaganda footage with his business's name and phone number still clearly plastered on the side of the car. It had had some "modifications," though, such as camo netting and an enormous cannon turret bolted to the bed.

Used car salesmen get a bad rap, but ISIS car salesman are arguably worse. You probably wouldn't want to buy fish from an ISIS member in the middle of the desert, either.