October 10, 2025 — Environmental nonprofit Greenpeace has alleged that the U.S. government is too lenient on cracking down on trafficking, especially as it relates to major seafood supplying nations.
The organization made the claim in response to the U.S. government’s ranking of Taiwan and Indonesia in its yearly Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the most recent edition of which included Taiwan achieving a Tier 1 ranking for the 16th time and Indonesia achieving a Tier 2 ranking.
March 19, 2025 — A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for millions of dollars in damages to a giant pipeline company in relation to protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly a decade ago.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners sued Greenpeace for $300 million in 2019, accusing the environmental group of masterminding the protests, spreading misinformation and causing the company financial loss through damaged property and lost revenues.
After a three-week trial, the 9-person jury took two days to return their verdict.
The result is a huge blow to the 50-year-old environmental organization, which previously said that the case could bankrupt its US operations, and experts say it could have chilling implications for free speech.
“I think this is one of the worst First Amendment decisions in American history,” said Marty Garbus, a civil rights lawyer who has been monitoring the trial. “The decision is beyond comprehension.”
Other experts have criticized the lawsuit as an egregious SLAPP lawsuit — a strategic lawsuit against public participation that seeks to silence critics by burying them in exorbitant legal costs.
“The verdict is a loss for Greenpeace, but more so for the First Amendment right to speak out, and thus for all Americans,” said James Wheaton, founder and senior counsel for the First Amendment Project. “If huge corporations can do this to one they can do it to everyone.”
April 28, 2022 — Taiwanese fishing representatives have issued a joint statement to protest the treatment they have received from non-governmental organizations including the Seafood Working Group and Greenpeace.
The Taiwan Deepsea Tuna Longline Boatowners and Exporters Association, Taiwan Squid Fishery Association, Taiwan Tuna Purse Seiners Association, Taiwan Tuna Longline Association, and Distant Fisheries Youth Association said the industry’s continuing efforts on labor are “simply ignored” by the campaign groups.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 24, 2022 — The WTO has rescheduled its 12th Ministerial Conference for the week of 13 June, 2022, with a deal to limit fishery subsidies a key item on the agenda.
It comes as China has upped its subsidies to the country’s biggest state-owned tuna fishing firms while Greenpeace has sounded the alarm at the increased threat to marine biodiversity from growing distant-water fleets.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
October 12, 2021 — Governments in West Africa should halt the manufacturing of aquafeed and animal feed that uses fish fit for human consumption, according to environmental activist nonprofit Greenpeace.
On Thursday, 7 October, the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior intercepted the Key Sund, a tanker transporting fish oil from West Africa, via the English Channel. In a statement, Greenpeace said the action was taken to bring attention to the alarming rate of growth of West Africa’s fishmeal and fish oil industry, which the organization said is primarily operated by Asian and European companies and which is jeopardizing the region’s food security – and the sustainability of its coastal fishing communities.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
June 3, 2021 — Greenpeace Southeast Asia is claiming that 20 Indonesian manning agencies and 26 fishing firms from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nauru are allegedly involved in forced labor practices against Indonesian migrant fishers.
The allegations were presented by the organization in a report released 31 May, “Forced Labour at Sea: The Case of Indonesian Migrant Fishers,” released in partnership with Indonesian migrant workers union Serikat Buruh Migran Indonesia (SBMI).
April 2, 2021 — Taiwan’s fisheries regulator has answered NGO claims of forced labor in its fishing fleet through a statement issued to SeafoodSource.
Noting the attention NGOs have brought to the abuse of foreign workers aboard Taiwanese fishing vessels, the Taiwan Fisheries Agency said in its statement it has “endeavored to improve the protection of the rights and benefits of the crew members through institutional guarantees.”
October 1, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its 2020 “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor,” and has included Taiwan for the first time for its issues related to forced labor in the fishing industry.
The inclusion comes after 19 NGOs and businesses urged the DOL to include the nation on its list after discoveries of forced labor on fishing vessels in Southeast Asia. A damning Greenpeace report accused 13 foreign distant-water fishing vessels of using forced labor.
April 3, 2020 — Greenpeace East Asia is accusing Bumble Bee’s parent company, Taiwan-based Fong Chun Formosa (FCF), of forced labor and environmentally harmful practices aboard at least two vessels linked to the company.
FCF is among the top three tuna traders in the world, and acquired Bumble Bee in January after the American seafood company filed for bankruptcy. The two companies have a long history: Prior to the acquisition, FCF had been supplying Bumble Bee with 95 percent of its albacore and more than 70 percent of its light meat tuna, according to Greenpeace’s examination of court filings.
March 30, 2020 — Greenpeace East Asia is accusing Bumble Bee’s parent company, Taiwan-based Fong Chun Formosa (FCF), of forced labor and environmentally harmful practices aboard at least two vessels linked to the company.
FCF is among the top three tuna traders in the world, and acquired Bumble Bee in January after the American seafood company filed for bankruptcy. The two companies have a long history: Prior to the acquisition, FCF had been supplying Bumble Bee with 95 percent of its albacore and more than 70 percent of its light meat tuna, according to Greenpeace’s examination of court filings.