December 21, 2020 — Thai Union announced on Monday, 21 December, that one of its employees in Samut Sakhon has tested positive for the coronavirus, amid a resurgence of infections in the Thai province.
The seafood processing hub, located west of Bangkok capital, had seen no infection for 250 days before first case was detected last week.
November 9, 2020 — The Gulf of Thailand’s mixed trawl fishery has become the first fishery improvement program (FIP) in the world adopted to the MarinTrust Improver Program, CP Foods said in a statement on 4 November.
The decision was made during a meeting of the MarinTrust governing body committee in October.
October 22, 2020 — Fisheries officials from the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States have met to discuss cooperation on limiting the use of flags of convenience by distant-water fishery companies involved in illegal fishing.
The online meeting, which took place 15 October, follows a report by the advocacy group Environmental Justice Foundation criticizing the process whereby fishing companies buy flags from flag states, which are then unwilling or unable to monitor the activity of problem trawlers. The report, “Off the Hook: How Flags of Convenience Let Illegal Fishing Go Unpunished,” details the damage that flags of convenience cause to fisheries and how they are used to conduct illegal fishing. In the report, EJF calls for sanctions to end the practice and more transparency surrounding the registration of fishing vessels.
August 26, 2020 — Thai Union is looking at refinancing Red Lobster’s loans, reduced rent from landlords, and potentially closing some locations after the restaurant chain posted a USD 18.4 million (THB 579 million, EUR 15.6 million) loss in the fourth quarter.
The record losses were caused by having to close down all 600 dining rooms for a period of time, Thai Union Chief Financial Officer Joerg Ayrle said on an investor conference call.
July 31, 2020 — A rights group is suggesting the U.S. should downgrade Thailand in its human trafficking ranking, as the latter has not done enough to improve the situation.
In its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2020 released in June, the U.S. State Department has kept Thailand’s ranking unchanged at Tier 2.
April 21, 2020 — Despite legal and corporate barriers, trade unions are starting to give migrant seafood workers a greater voice in Thailand and across Southeast Asia – enabling them to combat the subpar working conditions that persist on fishing vessels and in seafood processing facilities.
Organizing hasn’t been easy, according to a new report published by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), an advocacy organization. The migrant workers that fill most of the low-wage, low-skill jobs in the Thai seafood industry are legally barred from forming labor unions in Thailand.
April 16, 2020 — Just one kilogram of freshly caught squid a day was almost enough to live on for Thai fishermen like Wisut Boonnak. Now the catch has halved in price and he’s spending more time on village duties.
“It’s the biggest price drop that I can remember,” said Wisut, who’s been fishing for the past 40 years off the southern Thai coast. “There are fewer buyers around now because exports are lower.” Wisut used to go to sea daily to catch squid and mackerel. These days he’s out just once or twice a week.
The global seafood industry, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, is seeing demand crater. From lobster fishermen in North America to salmon farmers in Norway and shrimp producers in Vietnam, people are hurting as the coronavirus shuts cafes and restaurants and wreaks havoc with supply chains. Whether farmed or wild, fresh or processed, few areas have escaped the impact.
March 24, 2020 — Helping the canned tuna industry cope with climate change tops an already lengthy to-do list for Darian McBain, chief sustainability officer at the Thailand company that owns the Chicken of the Sea and John West brands.
In a business long accused by activists of abusing workers and killing dolphins, McBain’s responsibilities at Thai Union Group Pcl typically focused on improving labor rights in the supply chain and reducing the abandoned fishing gear on the high seas.
“Climate change hasn’t been the No. 1 topic,” she said. “Now, the climate emergency has to be a lot stronger part of the dialogue.”
The industry hasn’t yet confronted the magnitude of the problem, McBain said.
March 13, 2020 — A new report released in March by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO) has found improvements in working conditions in Thailand’s fishing and seafood processing sectors. However, there remain problems with forced labor in the industry, the organization noted.
Despite the finding, a group of human rights-focused NGOs are calling on the U.S. government to downgrade Thailand in its annual report on human trafficking, according to Reuters.
March 10, 2020 — A report issued Tuesday by the U.N.’s International Labor Organization credits Thailand with improving working conditions in the fishing and seafood processing industry, but says that serious abuses including forced labor remain.
The report is a follow-up to one published in 2018, and compares the workers situations from earlier surveys to one conducted last year.
Thailand’s seafood sector accounts for billions of dollars in export earnings annually and employ more than 350,000 workers.
However, the industry began facing the threat of trade sanctions from Western nations after media exposure in 2014 of poor working conditions and especially the exploitation of ‘fishing slaves’ — forced labor.
In response, Thailand’s government began instituting reform measures, most effectively by strengthening its legal, policy and regulatory framework, the report says.
But the measures have failed to substantially cut the use of forced labor, it says. Extrapolating from the 2019 survey of workers, it estimates that 14% of those engaged in fishing and 7% of those in seafood processing were subject to some form of forced labor.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New York Times