San Diego, CA—March 13, 2021—Yesterday, Greenpeace advocates, one dressed in a shark costume, delivered a petition demanding that Bumble Bee protect human rights on behalf of over 25,000 signers. The petition was launched in response to Bumble Bee’s parent company’s, FCF Co., LTD., recent potential implications in alleged forced labor, human trafficking, illegal shark finning, and suspected murders of a fisheries observer and a migrant worker.
Actor and Director Bonnie Wright joined the call and shared the petition on her Twitter and Instagram stories.
“Bumble Bee needs to stop hiding behind FCF. As an American company, Bumble Bee needs to ensure that the seafood it is selling isn’t caught using forced labor. The people who provide food for our families must be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve,” said Andy Shen, Senior Oceans Adviser at Greenpeace USA. “Bumble Bee must upgrade its human rights policy for tuna vessels to reflect international standards and best practices on human and labor rights. This includes a focus on keeping crew members and observers safe from abuse, limiting how long vessels can stay at sea, and transparency in the supply chain.”
The petition includes four steps the San Diego based company needs to take immediately:
- Only source from vessels where 100% independent human or effective electronic catch monitoring is taking place and there are strong fishery observer protections.
- Announce a public, measurable, time-bound plan to phase out transshipment at sea.
- Upgrade its human rights policy for tuna vessels to reflect international standards and
- best practices, including establishing a policy of three months maximum continuous-time at sea and preferential sourcing from vessels subject to port State labor inspections.
- Commit to full transparency of all its suppliers, including their labor practices and remediation of violations.
The petition can be found here: Tell Bumble Bee to Protect Human Rights and Our Oceans
In addition to the petition delivery, Greenpeace also launched a mobile billboard that drove near Petco Park, Gaslamp, and the wharf.
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Photos: https://media.greenpeace.org/
Videos: https://drive.google.com/
List of recent human rights abuses linked to FCF:
CBP Issues Detention Order on Seafood Harvested with Forced Labor
UN intervention needed on suspected murder case linked to Bumble Bee Foods parent company
