Supply Chained

Human rights abuses in the global tuna industry

November 4, 2015

A Greenpeace Southeast Asia report found that recent actions and policy updates from Thai Union Group have not done enough to alleviate concerns over human rights abuses in the company’s tuna supply chain.

Fishermen Sleep Onboard a Taiwanese Longliner in Samoa

Fishermen sleep in cramped quarters on a Taiwanese longliner in Samoa. Fishermen on tuna vessels often work long days for little or no pay, and some companies have even been linked to human trafficking.

The report features new interviews with survivors of trafficking and forced labour in Indonesia who faced abuse on Thai-operated fishing vessels. These ships transferred their tuna and other fish to a Thai carrier vessel, Marine One, which is owned by Thailand’s Silver Sea Line Co. Ltd — the same company implicated in a recent Associated Press investigation for transporting seafood caught via forced labour to a Thai Union supplier.

Thousands of trafficked workers that caught fish including tuna destined for Thailand are now either unaccounted for or stranded in Indonesia with an uncertain future.