Environmental Justice Foundation calls for action on human trafficking in Taiwan’s fishing industry

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has urged the Taiwanese government, and international seafood firms and governments to help eliminate illegal practices and worker abuse in the nation’s fishing industry.

The EJF is calling for these parties to cooperate to bring about greater transparency and traceability in Taiwan’s fisheries and seafood supply chains.

EJF director Steve Trent said that the rapid decay of the Taiwanese fishing industry is a result of illegal fishing facilitated by human trafficking and rights abuses.

Taiwanese marine exports are valued at around $475m to Japan, $150m to the US, and $17m to EU countries, making the country an important seafood supplier worldwide. However Taiwan also suffers from illegal and unreported fishing, which costs the global economy between $10bn and $23.5bn annually.

These figures are amplified by the prevalence of criminal activities, human rights abuses and people trafficking.

The exact number of reported migrant workers in the Taiwanese fishing industry varies depending on the source. The US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2014 estimated up to 160,000 migrant workers are employed in Taiwan’s Distant Water Fleet (DWF).  Statistics from Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency and Ministry of Labour recorded there were 26,000 migrant workers in the DWF in 2016, while in the same year international environmental agency Greenpeace identified 1.6 million foreign workers across the whole industry.

The EJF’s report highlights instances of slave workers from Indonesia and the Philippines who live on vessels for minimal or no pay. They often suffer from a lack of adequate living conditions, threats and physical abuse. DWF vessels often do not return to port for months or years at a time with catches being transferred at sea, resulting in little to no oversight of working conditions.

EJF deputy director Max Schmid commented: “Just as there are due diligence systems in place to make sure there is proper hygiene in the supply chain, seafood companies need to be looking at the legality of the seafood they’re buying and the working conditions on the vessels or fish farms that they’re buying from. Introducing transparency and traceability to the system is an important first step to eradicate illegal fishing and human trafficking.”

He added that the prohibition of unmonitored transfers of catches at sea and encouraged the establishment of maximum trip lengths and called on Taiwanese fishing firms to use the available technology to improve the transparency of working conditions.

“Taiwanese authorities must empower a single, well-resourced and properly trained agency responsible for protecting migrant crew from human trafficking, and all workers should be protected in line with key International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions,” Trent said.

“All vessels with a Taiwan flag have sophisticated tracking technology. Technologically they’re perfectly able to extend these to protect workers’ rights.”

The foundation recommended the publication of a single list of all vessels in the fishing industry, as well as their authorisations, ownership, and details of their crew to make it easier for the Taiwanese government to identify malpractices.

The US TIP report for 2017 provided recommendations for Taiwan to combat the situation, including increasing efforts to prosecute traffickers, more stringent punishments, and enact legislation to address gaps in basic labour protections for migrant workers. Another suggestion is to coordinate with neighbouring countries and international organisations in order to identify and protect victims while increasing public awareness of trafficking worldwide.

In January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report highlighting similar human rights abuses in Thailand’s fishing industry.