International & Trade

BANGKOK — March 27, 2015 — Thailand's junta leader has vowed to take legal action against companies using forced labor, after an Associated Press investigation revealed that fish caught by enslaved migrant workers was being exported from Thai ports to global markets.

In comments published Friday by the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha acknowledged he had seen this week's AP article and said his government was stepping up efforts to combat the scourge and prosecute those responsible.

"If they still continue to exploit their fellow human beings, they should not be given any licenses to operate businesses in Thailand, and they must receive the punishment they deserve," Prayuth said in a written response to questions the paper submitted.

The AP reported on Wednesday that men were held in a cage along with hundreds of people who are trapped on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina, and the seafood they caught was tracked to Thai exporters who sell to global markets, including America.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Yahoo News

 

March 25, 2015 — The State Department, the U.S. seafood and retail industries and a member of Congress reacted swiftly Wednesday to an Associated Press investigation published this week that found slave-caught fish clouds the supply networks of major supermarkets, restaurants and even pet stores in the United States.

The U.S. government and major business leaders are renewing their call on the Thai government to crack down on slavery in its fishing fleets, and to punish people who force migrant workers to catch seafood that can end up in the United States.

The State Department, the U.S. seafood and retail industries and a member of Congress reacted swiftly Wednesday to an Associated Press investigation published this week that found slave-caught fish clouds the supply networks of major supermarkets, restaurants and even pet stores in the United States. The AP reported that hundreds of men were trapped on the remote Indonesian island of Benjina, and tracked seafood they caught to Thai exporters who then sell to the U.S.

"It has become increasingly clear that workers in the fishing industry, many of whom are migrants, are exploited at multiple points along the supply chain, from harvesting to processing," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a briefing Wednesday.

The State Department blacklisted Thailand last year for failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking. Psaki did not say whether current trade talks with Thailand include labor rights.

The National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Fisheries Institute, in a letter to the ambassadors of Thailand and Indonesia, also demanded to know what will be done to free the slaves described in AP's coverage and bring their masters to justice. The industry leaders said that in the past they have asked the Thai government to address forced labor, but have lacked specific allegations.

"The AP article changes this dynamic," they wrote.

Read the full story and view the video from the Associated Press

 

BENJINA, Indonesia (AP) — March 25, 2015 — ‘‘The truth is, these are the kind of things that keep you up at night,’’ said CEO Richard Stavis, who grandfather started the company. He said his business visits international processors, requires notarized certification of legal practices and uses third-party audits.

‘‘There are companies like ours that care and are working as hard as they can,’’ he said.

The Burmese slaves sat on the floor and stared through the rusty bars of their locked cage, hidden on a tiny tropical island thousands of miles from home.

Just a few yards away, other workers loaded cargo ships with slave-caught seafood that clouds the supply networks of major supermarkets, restaurants and even pet stores in the United States.

Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood may come from slaves.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press notified the International Organization for Migration about men in this story, who were then moved out of Benjina by police for their safety. Hundreds of slaves remain on the island, and five other men were in the cage this week.

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The men The Associated Press spoke to on Benjina were mostly from Myanmar, also known as Burma, one of the poorest countries in the world. They were brought to Indonesia through Thailand and forced to fish. Their catch was shipped back to Thailand, and then entered the global commerce stream.

Tainted fish can wind up in the supply chains of some of America’s major grocery stores, such as Kroger, Albertsons and Safeway; the nation’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart; and the biggest food distributor, Sysco. It can find its way into the supply chains of some of the most popular brands of canned pet food, including Fancy Feast, Meow Mix and Iams. It can turn up as calamari at fine dining restaurants, as imitation crab in a California sushi roll or as packages of frozen snapper relabeled with store brands that land on our dinner tables.

In a year-long investigation, the AP interviewed more than 40 current and former slaves in Benjina. The AP documented the journey of a single large shipment of slave-caught seafood from the Indonesian village, including squid, snapper, grouper and shrimp, and tracked it by satellite to a gritty Thai harbor. Upon its arrival, AP journalists followed trucks that loaded and drove the seafood over four nights to dozens of factories, cold storage plants and the country’s biggest fish market.

Some fishermen, risking their lives, begged the reporters for help.

‘‘I want to go home. We all do,’’ one Burmese slave called out over the side of his boat, a cry repeated by many men. ‘‘Our parents haven’t heard from us for a long time, I'm sure they think we are dead.’’

Their catch mixes in with other fish at numerous sites in Thailand, including processing plants. U.S. Customs records show that several of those Thai factories ship to America. They also ship to Europe and Asia, but the AP traced shipments to the U.S., where trade records are public.

The major corporations identified by AP declined interviews but issued statements that strongly condemned labor abuses; many described their work with human rights groups to hold subcontractors accountable.

National Fisheries Institute spokesman Gavin Gibbons, speaking on behalf of 300 U.S. seafood firms that make up 75 percent of the industry, said his members are troubled by the findings.

‘‘It’s not only disturbing, it’s disheartening because our companies have zero tolerance for labor abuses,’’ he said. ‘‘These type of things flourish in the shadows.’’

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

March 23, 2015 — A white flaky fish that recently overtook cod and crab to become the sixth most popular seafood in the U.S. could soon disappear from American dinner plates.

Depending on whom you ask, the reason stems from either imported food safety concerns or a bureaucratic entanglement designed to protect the shrinking market share of American-produced catfish.

The fish in question—pangasius—is produced in Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam, and often appears on restaurant menus as basa or swai.

Pangasius lives in fresh water and has barbels or “whiskers” just like American catfish, which is a closely related cousin. Indeed, it used to be called catfish until Congress prohibited that labeling in 2002.

Pangasius supplies could dry up as early as this year as the Agriculture Department assumes control over catfish and pangasius this spring—a job currently done by the Food and Drug Administration. The USDA is expected to impose tough new standards on Vietnam and other countries that export pangasius to the U.S.

There have been no major illnesses linked to pangasius in the U.S., or at least not any more than with other fish. But U.S. catfish farmers, who are mainly in Mississippi and a couple of other Southern states, pressed for tighter import standards. They say they fear a potential health scare related to pangasius would undermine the reputation of the catfish industry.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — March 18, 2015 — Top chefs from around the world gathered in the north of Spain yesterday (March 17) to launch a campaign to eat more small fish such as anchovies in the interests of feeding more people and reducing pressure on the world’s oceans.

Eating fish such as sardines and herring directly rather than processing them as fish meal to feed farmed salmon, pigs and chickens is a more efficient way of using protein, says non-profit ocean conservation organisation Oceana, which started the campaign.

Chefs including Brett Graham of two-Michelin-starred The Ledbury in London and Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio attended the event in San Sebastian, the capital of the northeast Basque region and one of the cities in the world with the most Michelin stars.

Read the full story from Today Online

 

March 11, 2015 — One in every five fish caught on the planet is brought to the Tsukiji Market for auction every year, about 1,800 tons and worth $20 million a day, reports "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell.

Compare that to the biggest fish market in the U.S., the Fulton Fish Market in New York City where 400 tons of seafood is sold daily.

Among the most coveted catches at Tsukiji include blue fin tuna, whose best specimens have fetched more than $1 million each and come from as far away as Norway, Spain and Massachusetts.

Read the full story and watch the video at CBS News

March 9, 2015 — A fishing group is contesting the amendments to the Philippine fisheries code that lapsed into law on February 27.

Although acknowledging that amendments to the Fishing Code of 1998 are needed under existing trade obligations with the European Union (EU), the Alliance of the Philippine Fishing Federations said the imposition of harsh penalties for violations and the requirement to invest in expensive monitoring equipment "oppressive and confiscatory."

The European Parliament granted the Philippines inclusion in the EU's General System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) in December 2017.

Members of the Alliance of the Philippine Fishing Federations met President Benigno Aquino III two weeks ago to raise their concerns about the measure but they were told that the President has the obligation to sign, veto or let it pass into law, said Alonso Tan, the group's president.

The amendments to the Fisheries Code lapsed into law on February 27 without Aquino’s signature.

Read the full story here

March 1, 2015 — A Tasmanian woman has partnered with the Commonwealth Government to resurrect the once booming Tasmanian squid industry.

Fishermen call them the weeds of the sea because they are the most abundant species in the ocean.

But 30 years ago the squid trade was thriving in Tasmania, with annual hauls of up to 8,000 tonnes and strong Japanese interest in the sector.

Debbie Wisby runs one of the only remaining Tasmanian squid fishing companies, Aqua Marine, with her husband Glen.

She said last year the total catch was two tonnes.

"Glen went all the way up to the Victoria, New South Wales border," she said.

"We spent $40,000 on fuel, and probably caught about two tonne of squid which is a value of about $6,000."

Read the full story at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

February 27, 2015 — It seems that two kinds of stories from the Atlantic fishery rate front-page coverage in the Canadian media: fishing trips that end in tragedy (or near tragedy) and reports of fish stocks in decline.

In fact, most Canadians think of the East Coast fishery as a disaster and unable to support good livelihoods for the thousands of people who continue to fish and work in seafood processing plants in Atlantic Canada. In fact, exports of seafood add almost $1 billion annually to the Nova Scotia economy.

When it sank, the Poseidon Princess was returning from a fishing trip to the most productive spawning and nursery area in Canadian Atlantic waters. Georges Bank is home to a unique circular current that retains nutrients and larval life. The productivity of this bank is witnessed by the largest year class of haddock (2010) that has been recorded in the last 50 years. Haddock, lobster, scallop and herring stocks on Georges Bank continue to sustain lucrative fisheries in both Nova Scotia and New England.

You would think that governments responsible for managing this unique ocean area would want to protect it from risks associated with oil and gas activity. A blowout similar to the recent Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico would be devastating to many fishing communities in southwestern Nova Scotia and New England. Eighty per cent of Georges Bank lies in American waters.

Two governments have acted responsibly to protect Georges Bank. The Obama administration announced on Jan. 26 that the entire Atlantic offshore area from Maryland to the Canadian border (including Georges Bank) will remain off-limits to oil and gas activity until at least 2022.

Previously, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly passed legislation, with unanimous, all-party support, announcing its wish to extend a moratorium protecting Georges Bank through 2022. That legislation called upon the federal government to join with Nova Scotia in passing similar legislation.

Read the full opinion piece at the Halifax Chronicle Herald

February 28, 2015 — The Mexican government is making a final effort to save the vaquita, a tiny porpoise that has been driven to the edge of extinction as a result of illegal fishing for another endangered species that is served as a delicacy in China.

Scientists say that fewer than 100 of the vaquita, a marine mammal, remain in its habitat, the northern Gulf of California. Several thousand fishermen working there depend on the yearly shrimp catch for a modest living.

The fishermen’s gillnets, stretching for miles across the sea, have long been a lethal threat to the vaquita, which become entangled in them and die. But over the past few years a new threat has emerged: illegal fishing for a large fish called the totoaba whose swim bladder is dried and cooked in soup in China, where some consumers believe it has medicinal properties. The vaquitas are also caught and killed in the nets set for totoaba.

The government’s new policy, which Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, an under secretary in the Environment Ministry, announced on Friday, will ban gillnets for two years across 5,000 square miles of the upper gulf and compensate the fishermen for their lost catch.

The ban will take effect later in March, and the government will begin paying the first installments of $72 million in subsidies to fishermen and others who make their living from the shrimp catch. The payments will be spread over two years.

Read the full story at the New York Times