Saving Seafood

Albertsons adds seafood traceability monitoring

March 8, 2018 — Albertsons Companies, which operates more than 2,300 grocery stores in the United States, has selected Trace Register to trace its seafood products.

Trace Register’s TR+ Analytics with CMCA (continuous monitoring continuous auditing) will enable Albertsons Companies to meet sustainability specifications in the seafood supply chain on every shipment, according to Albertsons.

“Trace Register’s leading-edge monitoring and analytics will help track the movement of our products from the oceans or farm all the way to our U.S. distribution centers so we can verify that our requirements for sustainable, responsible sourcing are met,” said Anthony Snow, director of seafood for Albertsons Companies.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Slavery risk warning over UK’s scallop fisheries

Register singles out industry with retailers told to check suppliers are clear of any link to bonded labour

February 2, 2018 — Marine conservation campaigners have warned there is a critical risk that slaves are being used on British scallop fishing boats, and urged retailers to be on their guard.

A new slavery risk register published in the US on Thursday has singled out the UK’s queen and giant scallops fisheries as the most at risk of modern slavery after a Guardian investigation found allegations of bonded labour in the industry.

Nine African and Asian crew were taken off a pair of British scallop trawlers in Portsmouth in December as suspected victims of modern slavery, and two skippers, one from Scotland and the second from Merseyside, were detained by police.

The register, compiled by Monterey Bay Aquarium – one of the most prominent conservation campaigns in the US – the anti-slavery group Liberty Asia and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, also cites other alleged cases of suspected slavery involving migrant labour in Scotland and southern England in 2017, 2014 and 2012.

Read the full story at the Guardian

 

Rights Abuses Still ‘Widespread’ In Thailand’s Fishing Industry, Report Says

January 23, 2018 — Forced labor, human trafficking and other rights abuses are “widespread” in the Thai fishing industry, according to a new Human Rights Watch report that provides an update on a sector that has been cited for enabling slavery conditions.

In recent years, reports have emerged that detail forced labor and confinement on ships that make up Thailand’s large fishing fleet, where migrants from Thailand’s neighbors, such as Myanmar and Cambodia, are often victimized. Past reports have found prison-like conditions; the new report details how workers are often paid below the minimum wage, are not paid on time, and are held in debt.

Despite scrutiny from U.S. and European monitors and the Thai government’s public promises to clamp down, the abuses remain a big part of Thailand’s fishing industry, according to the report.

From Bangkok, Michael Sullivan reports for NPR’s Newscast unit:

“Under Thai law, migrant laborers are not entitled to Thai labor law protection. …

“The European Union has warned Thailand it could face a seafood export ban and the U.S. has placed Thailand on the Tier 2 Watch List in its latest trafficking in persons report.”

The 134-page report from Human Rights Watch is titled “Hidden Chains: Forced Labor and Rights Abuses in Thailand’s Fishing Industry. Compiled from interviews with 248 current and former fishers, it includes several quotes from workers.

“I didn’t know what was going on when I arrived,” trafficked Burmese worker Bang Rin said in March of 2016. “They just put me in a lockup, and it was only when the boat came in that I realized that was where I’d have to work. I went to do my pink card application on the 4th, and on the 5th I was out on the boat.”

The HRW says the research was conducted from 2015 to 2017, when its staff members visited all of Thailand’s major fishing ports.

Read the full story at New England Public Radio (NEPR)

 

Global Fishing Watch Partners With NOAA to End Illegal Fishing in Indonesia

January 17, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has entered into a partnership with the Global Fishing Watch to “improve understanding of the activity of fishing vessels in Indonesian waters.”

The two organizations looked at Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data from the Indonesian government and compared it to NOAA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer suite (VIIRS). According to a press release, they hoped to be able to use the data to “identify fishing vessels that are not picked up by other monitoring systems and to test and refine the use of VIIRS for identifying and distinguishing different types of fishing vessels.” What they found was that approximately 80% of VIIRS detections “could not be correlated to a vessel broadcasting VMS.”

The reason a vessel may not be broadcasting VMS is because they are under a 30 gross ton threshold, which was previously established by the Indonesian government. Or, a vessel could not be broadcasting VMS because they are fishing illegally.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to see the dark fleet,” Global Fishing Watch Research Program Director David Kroodsma said in a press release of vessels that don’t show up in VMS. “NOAA’s VIIRS data shows up vessels we can’t see by any other means and helps us to gain a more complete picture of fishing activity.”

The Global Fishing Watch will be using this new data to identify “dark vessels” that may be illegally fishing.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Report: Illegal Fishing Should be Major National Security Issue

November 17, 2017 — Illegal and unregulated fishing supports transnational crime, piracy, insurgency and terrorism and should be treated as a national security issue, a new report from the National Geographic Society and the Center for Strategic and International Studies says.

Although illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing provide pathways for a host of criminal activities, “it doesn’t have the consciousness of government imagination” not only in the United States but globally, John Hamre, CSIS chief executive officer said on Wednesday.

Active enforcement of exclusive economic zones and protected maritime areas is “largely the Wild West” in legal terms because one nation’s laws differ from another, said Gregory Poling, one of the report’s authors. Nations have not agreed-upon definitions of what is permitted even in protected maritime areas.

Transnational criminal networks become involved through the use of large fishing vessels staying at sea for a year or more, said Daniel Myers, of the National Geographic Pristine Seas project. In reality, “You have slave labor” working on these ships. Often a two-step “trans-shipping” system is used. In the first step, the smaller boats unload illegal catches onto a large mother ship. The mother ship, in turn, refuels and resupplies the smaller fishing vessels, allowing them to remain out from port for months and keep the crews working, often against their will.

Additionally, “you have illegal fishing boats used as cover for narco-trafficking,” Myers said. The stomachs of illegally-captured sharks or other fish are filled with cocaine. The results are profits from the illegal catch and the drug smuggling.

Read the full story at USNI News

Sheriff’s captain accused of helping Rafael smuggle cash

October 26, 2017 — BOSTON — A Massachusetts sheriff’s office captain has been indicted on charges he helped a fishing magnate known as The Codfather smuggle profits of an illegal fishing scheme to Portugal.

The U.S. attorney’s office for Massachusetts says Jamie Melo was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday on charges of bulk cash smuggling, structuring and conspiracy. The Bristol County sheriff’s office captain was arrested in August.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

NOAA’s Chris Oliver demands retraction of scientific paper alleging high levels of IUU fishing in Alaska

October 20, 2017 — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Chris Oliver has called for the retraction of a scientific paper that draws the conclusion that illegal and unreported seafood caught in the United States is entering the Japanese market.

The paper, “Estimates of illegal and unreported seafood imports to Japan,” was published in Marine Policy, a scientific journal covering ocean policy. The paper made estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of Alaska pollock, salmon, and crab being exported to Japanese markets comes from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In a letter to Marine Policy Editor-in-Chief Hance Smith, Oliver questioned the methodology of the study and asked for an immediate retraction.

“While NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service generally agrees with the value of catch documentation and traceability as one of many tools available to combat IUU fishing, it strongly objects to authors’ claims regarding U.S. seafood exports to Japan and doubts the validity of the methodology used to makes such estimates,” Oliver wrote. “The allegations made in the paper absent any transparency regarding the data and assumptions supporting them are irresponsible and call into question the authors’ conclusions. Without significantly more information and transparency regarding data sources and methodologies applied, the paper should be retracted in its entirety.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

NOAA defends U.S. Fisheries

October 17, 2017 — This week, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator, Chris Oliver, sent a letter to the editor of Marine Policy that does not mince words. In response to a new report on IUU fishing, Mr. Oliver asks the editor, “to publish a retraction, and to ensure future articles undergo adequate review to avoid publication of misleading information.”

The article in question, “Estimates of illegal and unreported seafood imports to Japan,” claims a portion of IUU seafood coming to Japan include salmon, crab, and Alaska pollock from the United States. However, these three species in particular are considered among the best managed and most closely monitored in the world. (Not to mention, they’re healthy).

A flawed methodology

Mr. Oliver calls the allegations absent of any transparency regarding the data sources and methodology used by the authors to come up with these claims. The letter goes into more detail about data and methodology concerns and then provides ample information about the robust management of U.S. Alaska pollock, salmon, and crab fisheries.

Read the full story at the National Fisheries Institute

Read the letter from Chris Oliver to Marine Policy at NOAA

Labor issues improving with increased scrutiny, according to Thai industry rep

October 16, 2017 — Thai seafood producers claim they’re working to meet stricter reporting requirements, which they say are helping to improve labor and food safety problems in the industry.

There has been a rise in reporting requirements due to the U.S. Congress’ Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, according to Panisuan Jamnamwej, chairman of the Committee on Fisheries and Related Industries at the Thai Chamber of Commerce. In addition, the introduction of QR code technology is increasing traceability and curbing abuses in Thailand’s seafood sector, according to Panisuan. Shrimp farmers are being encouraged to adapt the QR codes by being supplied with mobile data connections, he said, and wild-catch fishers are getting better at tracking their takes.

“Importers say you need to provide information such as the details of vessels and catches. Similarly on feed, if your fishmeal was caught at sea, you need the name of the ship, even if only one percent of the material came from that vessel,” Panisuan said.

In the past two years, Thailand’s fishing sector has faced sharp international criticism for its use of indentured Burmese laborers on some of its vessels, as documented by several NGOs. Thai industries have also run into trouble for their import of workers from neighboring Myanmar – the process itself is legal, but private recruiters have at times run afoul of the law. Burmese laborers made up the bulk of staff at several processing plants visited by SeafoodSource in Thailand recently.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Vatican official laments lack of fair trade label for commercial fishing

September 21, 2017 — VATICAN CITY — An upcoming world congress by the Catholic organization Apostleship of the Sea will focus on the plight of fishermen, who frequently face exploitation in carrying out their work, according to one Vatican official.

He lamented that no ‘Fair Trade’ certification exists for their product.

“We have to be educated,” Fr. Bruno Ciceri told CNA Sept. 20. “Frozen food here is cheap, but it’s because people are exploited, because there is forced labor, because there are trafficked people that work aboard these fishing vessels.”

Referring to the label given to products from developing countries that adhere to ethical standards of trading, he said, “We talk a lot about ‘Fair Trade.’ I don’t know the day when we will have ‘fair trade’ also in fishing. That will make a difference.”

Fr. Ciceri is a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He is also the Vatican delegate for the Apostleship of the Sea, which provides pastoral care for seafarers and their families.

Read the full story at the Catholic News Agency