Saving Seafood

Can the net transform the world’s fishing industries?

November 30, 2015 — Local fishing communities in Indonesia are beset by a multitude of connected challenges, from illegal fishing to declining fish populations to their own personal safety in the country’s turbulent seas.

But a New York based telecoms company called Tone believes mobile network technology can solve these problems by getting fishermen in remote communities connected to the Internet through an initiative called mFish. Scaled up, they believe their model could address the problem of unsustainable and illegal fishing globally, as well as being applied in many other contexts.

“What we’re trying to do is bridge the digital divide,” says Tone’s Chief Marketing Officer Roald Van Wyk. “People assume technology equals connectivity, but a smartphone is no use if you can’t afford the data.” According to Tone, mobile broadband penetration in the developing world is still just 21%, indicating a huge untapped market which they’re hoping to help bring online.

Tone’s business model is to work with local partners to deliver a range of affordable data plans in countries where far fewer people are locked into long term contracts with mobile carriers – what’s known as ‘unbundling.’ The idea is that consumers get access to various content packages via channels on the Tone platform, some of which are co-branded with local companies to make them affordable. Tone will reinvest 20% of profits into social and environmental initiatives through its foundation.

Read the full story at The Guardian

 

More Than 2,000 Enslaved Fishermen Rescued in 6 Months

September 17, 2015 — AMBON, Indonesia (AP) — More than 2,000 fishermen have been rescued this year from brutal conditions at sea, liberated as a result of an Associated Press investigation into seafood brought to the U.S. from a slave island in eastern Indonesia.

Dozens of Burmese men in the bustling port town of Ambon were the latest to go home, some more than a decade after being trafficked onto Thai trawlers. Grabbing one another’s hands, the men walked together toward buses last week. As they pulled away for the airport, some of those still waiting their turn to go home cheered, throwing their arms in the air.

“I’m sure my parents think I’m dead,” said Tin Lin Tun, 25, who lost contact with his family after a broker lured him to Thailand five years ago. Instead of working in construction, as promised, he was sold onto a fishing boat and taken to Indonesia. “I’m their only son. They’re going to cry so hard when they see me.”

The reunion he envisions has played out hundreds of times since March, after the AP tracked fish — caught by men who were savagely beaten and caged — to the supply chains of some of America’s biggest food sellers, such as Wal-Mart, Sysco and Kroger, and popular brands of canned pet food like Fancy Feast, Meow Mix and Iams. It can turn up as calamari at fine restaurants, as imitation crab in a sushi roll or as packages of frozen snapper relabeled with store brands that land on our dinner tables. The U.S. companies have all said they strongly condemn labor abuse and are taking steps to prevent it.

In response, a multimillion-dollar Thai-Indonesian fishing business has been shut down, at least nine people have been arrested and two fishing cargo vessels have been seized. In the U.S., importers have demanded change, three class-action lawsuits are underway, new laws have been introduced and the Obama administration is pushing exporters to clean up their labor practices. The AP’s work was entered into the congressional record for a hearing, and is scheduled to be brought up for discussion again later this month.

The largest impact, by far, has been the rescue of some of the most desperate and isolated people in the world. More than 2,000 men from Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos have been identified or repatriated since the AP’s initial story ran, according to the International Organization for Migration and foreign ministries. The tally includes eight fishermen trafficked aboard a Thai cargo ship seized in neighboring Papua New Guinea.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times

 

Indonesia Navy Nabs Cargo Ship Loaded With Slave-Caught Fish

August 13, 2015 — JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A massive refrigerated cargo ship believed to be loaded with slave-caught fish was seized by Indonesia’s navy and brought to shore Thursday, after The Associated Press informed authorities it had entered the country’s waters.

The Thai-owned Silver Sea 2 was located late Wednesday and escorted about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to a naval base in Sabang on the Indonesian archipelago’s northwestern tip, said Col. Sujatmiko, the local naval chief.

The AP used a satellite beacon signal to trace its path from Papua New Guinea waters, where it was also being sought, into neighboring Indonesia. The navy then spent a week trying to catch it. The ship was close to leaving Indonesian waters by the time it was finally seized.

“I’m so overwhelmed with happiness,” said Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, adding it was difficult to find because the boat’s signal had a delay. “It was almost impossible, but we did it.”

The Silver Sea 2 is the same 2,285-ton vessel captured in a high-resolution satellite photo last month in Papua New Guinea showing its hold open and two fishing trawlers tethered to each side, loading fish. Analysts identified the smaller trawlers as among those that fled the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina earlier this year, crewed by enslaved men from poor Southeast Asian countries who are routinely beaten and forced to work nearly nonstop with little or no pay.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times 

Former Chicken of the Sea owners are latest foreign investors in US fishing

June 29, 2015 — Indonesian business family the Soetantyos are set to become the latest foreign investors in US fishing and seafood, with the acquisition of Icicle Seafoods.

The Soetantyos, whose former holding company PT Management Trust (Mantrust) owned US shelf stable seafood brand Chicken of the Sea until 1993, were reportedly also involved in the recent sales process of Bumble Bee Foods, sources told Undercurrent News.

Icicle’s impending sale to Indonesian investors the Soetantyos, in a deal expected to complete in August 2015, comes amid a high level of interest in the US fishing sector from foreigners. In April, Swiss-owned fund Bregal Partners’ closed a deal Virginia-based scallop fishing company Peabody Corp., after Undercurrent reported the talks in February.

On May 11, Undercurrent broke Oceana Group’s interest in a deal for Daybrook Fisheries, a US menhaden catching firm. On May 19, Oceana confirmed the $382.3 million deal.

Then, Canada’s Cooke family, who control Cooke Aquaculture, closed a deal for US-based scallop catcher Wanchese Fish Company on June 5. Undercurrent first reported Cooke’s interest in Wanchese, which also controls vessels in Argentina, in November 2014.

Also, Kjell Inge Rokke, the Norwegian billionaire, is also being linked to an investment return to the highly leveraged American Seafoods Group, which he created.

Then, in a revelation that surprised some, Undercurrent reported on June 17 that the Soetantyos were the frontrunner in the sale process of Icicle, after interest from other foreign seafood companies and investors, such as Thai Union Frozen Products, Cooke, Mitsubishi and Marine Harvest.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News