Saving Seafood

EJF: Declining fish stocks, demand for cheap seafood driving human rights abuses

June 5, 2019 — Establishing full transparency in fisheries is crucial to ending the “vicious cycle of abuse” faced by workers in the catching sector, a new report compiled by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) asserts.

The United Kingdom-based charity is also calling for the urgent ratification of international agreements designed to improve workers’ rights, vessel inspections, and enforcement.

According to EJF, there are direct links between declining fish stocks, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and serious human rights abuses in the catching sector. Its report, “Blood and water: human rights abuse in the global seafood industry,” also contends that the challenge is being further exacerbated by a growing demand for cheap seafood. These powerful economic forces have driven down profits in many fisheries and have led to the increased abuse of crews, said EJF.

The report documents cases of slavery, debt bondage, insufficient food and water, filthy living conditions, physical and sexual assault, and even murder aboard fishing vessels from 13 countries operating across three oceans. These included trafficked fishermen in the U.K. and Ireland, bonded labor in the United Arab Emirates fisheries, forced labor on U.S.-flagged vessels based in Hawaii, and workers tricked into working on Thai fishing boats by brokers and traffickers.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UK grocery chains join anti-slavery initiative

April 11, 2019 — Three major grocery chains in the United Kingdom are doing their part to help end illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing as well as slavery and human rights abuses.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Co-op are the first to sign the Environmental Justice Foundation’s Charter for Transparency, which was designed to help supermarkets ensure their seafood supply chains are free from illegal fishing and human rights abuses. The three chains account for more than half of all grocery sales in the U.K., EJF said in a press release.

One-third of fish stocks are being exploited at unsustainable levels, with a further 60 percent fished at maximally sustainable levels, EJF said in a new report. Human rights abuses and illegal practices that destroy ocean ecosystems “have plagued parts of the global seafood industry,” EJF said in its release.

“Out at sea and far from law enforcement, crew are vulnerable, and unscrupulous owners can act with impunity,” the organization said.

“Transparency in all aspects of fisheries is crucial to ensuring that the seafood we eat was caught legally, ethically and sustainably. Supermarkets are a vital link in the chain and can do much to demand change,” EJF said.

“Supermarkets have real power to help end illegal fishing and human rights abuse at sea,” EJF Executive Director Steve Trent. “They can do this by putting in place effective risk mitigation policies and processes across their entire supply chains, backed by independent verification.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CAMPAIGNERS AIM TO NET ILLEGAL FISHING VESSELS WITH NEW ONLINE DATABASE

July 30, 2015 — Efforts to crackdown on illegal fishing received a boost this week with the launch of a new transparency initiative designed to make it easier to identify vessels guilty of landing catches unlawfully.

Who Fishes Far, which has been developed by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana and WWF, features a database of more than 15,000 EU vessels which were authorised to fish outside of the EU between 2010 and 2014.

The information was compiled after a successful access-to-information request to the European Commission and users can search the website by vessel, flag state, year and type of agreement issued under the EU’s Fishing Authorising Regulation (FAR).

María José Cormax, fisheries campaign director of Oceana, said that greater transparency is crucial if the fishing industry is to deliver sustainable European fisheries.

Read the full story at BusinessGreen