Greenpeace continues to criticize the Taiwanese fishing industry after nine people who worked on the distant-water fishing vessel Da Wang were charged with forced labor and physical abuse.

The Vanuatu-flagged Da Wang is owned and operated by Yong Feng Fishery, based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On April 22, her captain, mate and seven other workers on board were charged by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor’s Office in Taiwan for their alleged involvement in the abuse of 20 Indonesian and Filipino workers on board the Da Wang. Prosecutors alleged that the migrant fishermen were beaten and forced to work up to 20 hours a day. The first mate was also involved in an incident in which a migrant fisherman was struck in the head, collapsed and later died.

Additionally, according to the Taipei Times, some of the crew’s clothes were thrown into the ocean despite the cold temperatures, and some Muslim workers were forced to eat pork to survive despite their religion’s ban.

In August 2020, the United States Bureau of Commerce, Customs and Border Protection issued a Restraint Release Order (WRO) on the Da Wang “due to reasonable suspicion of forced labor on the vessel”. The WRO requires the detention of seafood harvested by the Da Wang at all US ports of entry.

The environmental non-governmental organization Greenpeace had previously documented problems aboard the Da Wang in its 2019 report, “Seabound: The Journey to Modern Slavery on the High Seas”, and its 2021 report, “Forced Labor at Sea: The Case of Indonesian Migrant Fishers.” J. Park, head of Greenpeace USA’s oceans campaign, said the Da Wang case has implications for major seafood brands in Western markets, as the ship has ties to the Taiwanese seafood company. tuna trade FCF Co., owner of Bumble Bee Seafoods, which said it was working to eliminate forced labor from its supply chain through the Seafood Task Force, an industry umbrella group.

“The deep sea fishing industry uses cost-cutting tactics and illegal fishing, forced labor and other human rights abuses to stay profitable,” Park said. “This indictment of the nine people who worked on the Da Wang is indicative of a larger problem. American grocery stores and consumer brands like Bumble Bee have a responsibility to ensure their products are free of copyright violations. the man.

Greenpeace has waged a multi-year campaign to persuade the CWF and the entire Taiwanese tuna industry to make reforms, but Yuton Lee, an oceans activist at Greenpeace’s East Asia office in Taipei, said that too little had been done.

“We commend the investigation and enforcement of the Da Wang and those involved. But this is just one of many vessels that are also committing horrific human rights violations in against its workers,” Lee said. “To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, Taiwan must amend its related laws and regulations and carry out port inspections on Taiwan-owned and flagged vessels, as well as on Taiwanese-owned vessels flying flags of convenience In particular, Taiwan should ensure that its laws and regulations comply with the International Labor Organization Convention C-188, establish minimum labor standards for all fishermen and carry out binding labor inspections in its ports.

Since 2021, the Taiwanese tuna industry has started testing a video surveillance system on board its fishing vessels, with the aim of stopping labor abuses, and adopted a blockchain system to prevent any tampering with its data. monitoring. In April 2021, Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said it had “worked to improve the protection of crew members’ rights and benefits through institutional safeguards”, including amending labor laws country to align with ILO C-188 standards.

In June 2021, Taiwan amended its own regulations to ban any foreign-flagged vessel whose owners are involved in labor abuses or human trafficking from entering its ports, although the government did not specify. how he would detect or judge such transgressions.

And on May 5, the Executive Yuan of Taiwan, the executive branch of the Taiwanese government, announced a National Action Plan on Fisheries and Human Rights, in which the government pledged to better protect fishers. migrants and to strengthen surveillance of the country’s fishing vessels.

However, in October 2020, the US Department of Labor placed Taiwan on its 2020 list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor. And Greenpeace is pushing the US government to take further action by downgrading Taiwan in the US State Department’s next Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Greenpeace’s Lee said Taiwan hasn’t gone far enough in reforming its fishing industry.

“We welcome the 15 actions taken by the Taiwanese fishing industry to improve human rights on board, but we ask for more details, including the timing of each action, the number of participating fishing vessels and the outcomes as well as the impacts of those actions,” Lee told SeafoodSource.

A statement from several Taiwanese fishing industry bodies provided to SeafoodSource in April 2022 by Tony (Han-Yu) Lin, Section Head of the Taiwan Association of Deep Sea Tuna Longline Owners and Exporters, said that NGO criticism “will only lead to any progress or advancement in improving the fishery”. and the protection of human rights.

However, Lee said Greenpeace would not stop criticizing Taiwan and its fishing fleet until more significant reforms were undertaken.

“We encourage the industry to adapt the changes necessary to implement the action plan and ensure that its policies are in line with the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (C-188), which has no unfortunately not applied by Taiwan,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Greenpeace