Saving Seafood

Dozens of countries just agreed to shut pirate fishermen out of their ports. Here’s why.

June 9, 2016 — Indonesia has a ruthless strategy for dealing with pirates: blow up their boats.

Over the past two years, the Indonesian Navy has seized more than 100 vessels flagged from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines — all accused of fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. Whenever this happens, authorities detain the crew, load the empty boat with explosives, and let it burn as a warning to others:

Except it doesn’t work. Or at least it’s not nearly enough. There are always more boats, more desperate fishermen looking for work. And the oceans are vast; it’s impossible to board every last pirate ship out there. Last year, New Zealand’s navy spent two weeks chasing illegal fishing vessels at sea before running out of fuel and giving up.

Worldwide, illegal fishing vessels now catch some 26 million tons of fish a year, worth $23.5 billion, or one-fifth of the entire world’s annual wild catch. It’s one of the biggest problems in marine policy. Experts say these catches undermine fishing limits that nations put in place to prevent fish stocks from getting depleted too rapidly and collapsing. Illegal fishing also undercuts the legal fishermen trying to earn a living. And many of these ships end up killing protected species, like sharks.

Read the full story at Vox

Hardships await fishermen lured to Indonesia

April 21, 2016 — “I would never recommend anyone to work at sea,” says a fisherman from Myanmar who lost four fingers in an accident while on a fishing trawler.

Despite a difficult life as a fisherman, Tunlin knew he had to be patient if he wanted to survive. “I couldn’t give up my life at sea,” said the 34-year-old who returned from Ambon Island in Indonesia last year.

Tunlin is among some 2,900 fishermen who have been rescued and repatriated by the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN). The operation, started in 2014, continues to help both Thais and migrants, mostly from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, stranded in Indonesia.

Recalling his life before Indonesia, Tunlin said he had worked at a shrimp-peeling shed from the age of 16 in Samut Sakhon province, home to a large Myanmar migrant community. But the meagre earnings –100 baht per day — hardly sufficed.

Read the full story at the Bangkok Post

How China’s fishermen are fighting a covert war in the South China Sea

April 13, 2016 — TANMEN, China — In the disputed waters of the South China Sea, fishermen are the wild card.

China is using its vast fishing fleet as the advance guard to press its expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, experts say. That is not only putting Beijing on a collision course with its Asian neighbors, but also introducing a degree of unpredictability that raises the risks of periodic crises.

In the past few weeks, tensions have flared with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam as Chinese fishermen, often backed up by coast guard vessels, have ventured far from their homeland and close to other nations’ coasts. They are just the latest conflicts in China’s long-running battle to expand its fishing grounds and simultaneously exert its maritime dominance.

See the full story at The Washington Post

Indonesia Sinks 23 Foreign Fishing Boats

April 5, 2016 — JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities on Tuesday blew up 23 foreign vessels that were captured for fishing illegally in the country’s waters.

The boats, 13 from Vietnam and 10 from Malaysia, were blown up simultaneously in seven ports from Tarakan in northern Kalimantan to Ranai on the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti witnessed the destruction, which was coordinated by the navy, coast guard and police, via live-streamed Internet video at her office in downtown Jakarta.

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

Jail terms sought for men trafficking fishermen in Indonesia

February 27, 2016 — TUAL, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 4 1/2 years for five Thais and three Indonesians accused of human trafficking in connection with slavery in the seafood industry.

The suspects were arrested in the remote island village of Benjina last May after the slavery was revealed by The Associated Press in a report two months earlier.

The victims — 13 fishermen from Myanmar who testified under protection of Indonesia’s Witness and Victim Protection Agency — told the court that they had been tortured, forced to work up to 24 hours a day and were not paid. They also said they were locked up in a prison-like cell in the fishing company’s compound.

In their sentencing demand, prosecutors on Friday sought 4 1/2-year sentences for Thai captain Youngyut Nitiwongchaeron and four countrymen — Boonsom Jaika, Surachai Maneephong, Hatsaphon Phaetjakreng and Somchit Korraneesuk — as well as Indonesian Hermanwir Martino.

They sought 3 1/2-year sentences for two other Indonesians, Yopi Hanorsian and Muklis Ohoitenan.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Gloucester Daily Times

American Samoan group to be part of US delegation to WCPFC fishery conference in Bali

December 2, 2015 — American Samoa is being represented at the 12th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission set for Dec. 3-8 in Bali, Indonesia and they will be part of the US government delegation. American Samoa and the other insular areas are considered US Participating Territories of the WCPFC.

Marine and Wildlife Department director Ruth Matagi-Tofiga told Samoa News last week that as Head of Fishery (HOF) for American Samoa, she is heading the territorial delegation, which includes Taulapapa Willie Sword, DMWR chief fishery biologist Dr. Domingo Ochavillo and Tri Marine International chief operating officer Joe Hamby.

Samoa News should point out that Matagi-Tofiga, Sword and Hamby are members of the American Samoa Fishery Task Force. Sword represents Pacific Energy on the task force, which also includes a representative of StarKist.

Additionally, Matagi-Tofiga and Sword also represent American Samoa on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, along with Port Administration director Taimalelagi Dr. Claire Poumele, who is also a member of the Fishery Task Force.

Samoa News understands that among the priorities for Matagi-Tofiga at the meeting in Bali is to improve American Samoa’s economy, improve relationships with other Pacific Island Parties (PIPs), and to build an identity for American Samoa that is distinct from the US as far as fishery management and the American Samoa economy are concerned.

Read the full story at Samoa News

 

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