October 3, 2022 — Taiwan and Thailand both feature prominently on the new edition of a U.S. Department of Labor report on child and forced labor, which identifies abuses in both countries’ seafood sectors.
Released 28 September, 2022, the “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor,” dinged Taiwan and Thailand for alleged use of forced labor in their fishing sectors, while Thailand also received mention for alleged use of child and forced labor in its shrimp-processing industry.
August 1, 2022 — Non-governmental organizations and fishing industry groups have had sharply differing reactions to the latest edition of the U.S. government’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP), which was published 19 July, 2022.
The latest edition of TIP, published annually the U.S. State Department, kept Taiwan at Tier One status while upgrading Thailand and Ireland to Tier Two, despite claims of labor abuse in the fishing industries of all three states. Those rankings dismayed some fisheries-focused NGOs, who said geopolitical considerations are blunting Washington’s ability to curb labor abuses in global fisheries.
April 18, 2022 — Thai Union Founder and Chairman Kraisorn Chansiri has resigned after receiving civil sanctions from Thailand’s Security and Exchange Commission for alleged insider trading.
In an 18 April, 2022, letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, where the company’s stock is traded, Thai Union said Chansiri and Thai Union Executive Director Chuan Tangchansiri will resign “in order to show their sincerity and prevent any negative impacts on the company.”
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
April 1, 2022 — Nine individuals, including the founder and chairman of Thai Union, have been issued civil sanctions by Thailand’s Security and Exchange Commission after an investigation revealed they engaged in insider trading of the company’s stock.
Bangkok, Thailand-based Thai Union was founded by Kraisorn Chansiri in 1977, and has grown to become one of the world’s largest seafood companies, with USD 4.2 billion (EUR 3.8 billion) and USD 200 million (EUR 181.2 million) in net profit in 2020. Its shares are traded publicly on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
February 25, 2022 — A group of campaigners is calling on the U.S. government to ensure U.S. companies do not import fishing nets made by Thai companies allegedly using forced prison labor.
An expose written by Thai journalist Nanchanok Wongsamuth, published in December 2021, profiled prisoners who said they and hundreds of other inmates were forced to make nets for less than Thailand’s minimum wage, and were often not paid at all. The prisoners also alleged beatings and torture if they refused to work.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
August 23, 2021 — China’s seafood importers could be looking at price rises due to port congestion and higher freight costs, according to a Siam Canadian executive.
Most Chinese processors are renegotiating their contracted prices due to rising costs for raw materials and freight, according to Landy Chow, the general manager of Bangkok, Thailand-based seafood trader Siam Canadian Group’s Guangzhou office.
May 4, 2021 — Thai Union has announced its participation in the Ocean Disclosure Project, a global initiative where seafood businesses publicly share details on the sourcing of their seafood.
In a statement, Thai Union said its involvement is part of its efforts to realize its global sustainability strategy, SeaChange, as well as traceability and transparency commitments in its business operations.
April 26, 2021 — About 100 miles off the coast of Thailand, three dozen Cambodian boys and men worked barefoot all day and into the night on the deck of a purse seiner fishing ship. Fifteen-foot swells climbed the sides of the vessel, clipping the crew below the knees. Ocean spray and fish innards made the floor skating-rink slippery.
Seesawing erratically from the rough seas and gale winds, the deck was an obstacle course of jagged tackle, spinning winches and tall stacks of 500-pound nets. Rain or shine, shifts ran 18 to 20 hours. At night, the crew cast their nets when the small silver fish they target — mostly jack mackerel and herring — were more reflective and easier to spot in darker waters.
This was a brutal place, one that I’ve spent the past several years exploring. Fishing boats on the South China Sea, especially in the Thai fleet, had for years been notorious for using so-called sea slaves, mostly migrants forced offshore by debt or duress.
Two-thirds of the planet is covered by water and much of that space is ungoverned. Human rights, labor and environmental crimes occur often and with impunity because the oceans are vast. What laws exist are difficult to enforce.
Arguably the most important factor, though, is that the global public is woefully unaware of what happens offshore. Reporting about and from this realm is rare. As a result, landlubbers have little idea of how reliant they are on the sea or the more than 50 million people who work out there.
April 1, 2021 — The Thailand Department of Labor Protection and Welfare is partnering with seafood industry groups on an effort to eliminate the use of forced labor in the sector.
On 29 March, the Thai government signed non-binding memoranda of understanding with several industry associations, under which the companies will make public their policies to combat forced and child labor, establish mechanisms to deal with complaints, and undergo audits on the quality and effectiveness of their labor standards.
March 3, 2021 — Thai Union has committed to full transparency in its international tuna supply chain by 2025.
The Bangkok, Thailand-based seafood company, which notched more than USD 4.1 billion (EUR 3.3 billion) in revenue in 2019, signed a partnership with The Nature Conservancy on Wednesday, 3 March, committing to full supply-chain transparency across its global tuna supply chains.