Saving Seafood

Multiple labor activists send letter to MSC demanding action on labor abuse in seafood industry

February 12, 2025 — A group of labor activist organizations have sent an open letter to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) pushing the seafood certifier to do more to combat forced labor incidents.

The letter was sent by the Seafood Working Group (SWG), a coalition of labor rights groups comprising Global Labor Justice, International Transport Workers’ Federation, Humanity United, Freedom Fund, and Greenpeace US. The letter said the MSC needs to do more to combat “rampant labor abuse” in the seafood industry, and criticized the MSC’s stance on the ecolabel not offering assurances that there is no forced or child labor within its fisheries.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Taiwanese fishing groups complain NGOs are ignoring industry efforts, endangering future progress

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

 

Seafood Working Group critiques FISH Standard for Crew

April 21, 2021 — The Seafood Working Group (SWG) released a statement on Tuesday, 20 April, urging seafood retailers and buyers to regard the Fairness, Integrity, Safety, and Health (FISH) Standard for Crew warily in terms of its effectiveness as a “mechanism for the identification of labor abuse on fishing vessels in seafood supply chains.”

The statement, signed by 28 organizations comprising SWG, states that the FISH standard possesses “significant weaknesses in design, application, and monitoring” and “will not provide buyers with credible assurances that the fishers who produce their seafood are treated fairly or have safe and decent conditions of work.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source