International & Trade

January 22, 2015 — Labor and anti-trafficking groups are calling for more steps to be taken to curb rights abuses in Thailand’s lucrative fishing industry, which often relies on trafficked labor from Myanmar and Cambodia. Despite the Thai Government adopts measures to correct the shortcomings, challenges remain for an industry long dependent on low cost labor.

Thailand’s reputation as the world’s third largest global exporter of fish and fishery products, worth more than $8 billion, is under threat amid ongoing charges of labor rights abuses and human trafficking, especially of foreign workers from Cambodia and Myanmar.

Up to 20 percent of workers on Thai fishing boats have faced forced labor says the United Nation’s International Labor Organization (ILO).

Widespread abuses

A coalition of rights groups centered on the seafaring and fishing industry say there are widespread abuses on vessels and the industry remains poorly governed and legislated.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a report on the Thai seafood industry, says labor shortages have led to recruitment brokers targeting men from Cambodia and Myanmar – also known as Burma – and even Thailand.

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson, says after interviews with men forced to work in the fishing industry, many pointed to regular threats of violence and abuse on board vessels.

“We continually see problems of physical abuse by captains and other officials. Every group of fishermen that Human Rights Watch has talked to said they had seen captains, beating, abusing and in some cases killing fishermen. The fishermen are compelled to keep going; they can’t stop work. We found beatings with tools, with stingray tails, also shootings,” said Robertson.

Read the full story at Voice of America

January 20, 2015 — A radical plan by the Thai government to put prisoners to work on the country's under-staffed fishing boats has been scrapped, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, following charges the scheme threatened inmates' rights.

Rights groups had also argued the idea would fail to address the fundamental causes of the labor shortage that fuels human trafficking in Thailand's fishing industry.

Thailand is the world's third-largest seafood exporter and its fishing industry employs more than 300,000 people, many of them illegal migrant workers from neighboring countries who are often subject to ill-treatment.

Read the full story at Reuters

January 19, 2015 — Mexico has begun testing unmanned drones that could help it save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise, which is threatened by illegal fishing in the upper Sea of Cortez.

Alejandro del Mazo, an assistant prosecutor with Mexico's environmental protection agency, said Monday he hopes to have three drones patrolling the vaquita's habitat in coming months. The sea, also known as the Gulf of California, is the only place vaquitas are found.

"We are considering the use of advanced technology, because drones would allow us to have permanent aerial patrols in the area and be able to react much more efficiently and quickly," Del Mazo said.

Fewer than 100 of the shy, elusive porpoises remain. The vaquita is threatened by illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, a large fish whose swim bladder is prized by chefs in China. Nets used by fishermen can trap the tiny porpoises, commonly about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long.

Del Mazo said Mexican authorities last year arrested 17 people for trafficking in totoaba bladders.

Luis Fueyo, the head of Mexico's national protected areas, said Mexico also is increasing cooperation with U.S. authorities, given that dried totoaba bladders often are clandestinely shipped through California and then to China.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — January 15, 2015 — Human rights groups and labor organizations across Asia urged Thailand's military government on Thursday to scrap a proposal to send prisoners onto Thai fishing boats to fill labor shortages.

In a letter addressed directly to coup leader-turned-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the 45 organizations including Human Rights Watch said the pilot project would pose "a serious threat to the human rights of prisoners" and sending them to sea is a violation of international rights standards.

Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said the project had not yet been implemented and authorities were still weighing such concerns before deciding whether to go ahead. The government has said that only "well-behaved" prisoners would qualify to participate, and they would work voluntarily and would be paid.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

BANGKOK — January 14, 2015 — Thailand must empower victims of trafficking and forced labour to complain and must crack down on corrupt officials if it wants to tackle its human trafficking problem, activists and food industry executives say.

Thailand is scrambling to clean up its act after the U.S. State Department named it in June as one of the world's worst centres for human trafficking, saying it was a source, destination and transit country for forced labour.

The State Department said most victims of trafficking in Thailand were from neighbouring countries and were forced or defrauded into labour, with tens of thousands exploited in the commercial sex trade, on fishing boats or as domestic servants.

As it prepares to submit a report on 2014 to the State Department by March, Thailand has announced a slew of measures including steep fines for offenders and a budget to hire 700 anti-corruption staff to investigate cases.

In interviews with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, rights activists, Thai food industry association leaders and executives of the world's largest seafood companies – some of which have been accused of exploiting trafficked and forced labour – said serious law enforcement was key.

Read the full story from the Daily Mail

 

SEAFOODNEWS.COM — January 12, 2015 — Bangkok, Thailand will implement new regulations over concerns regarding forced labour on its fishing boats, a senior official said today.

Among the new regulations that will be put into place are at least 10 hours of rest per working day and 30 days of leave per year, and the registration of migrant workers and their families.

"These reforms are part of a much bigger plan to address human trafficking and labour exploitation," Don Pramudwinai, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said.
The regulations will be enforced within 60 days after approval by the National Legislative Assembly on Friday, he said.

Non-governmental organizations expressed doubts about whether the reforms will actually be implemented.

"Thailand has a long history of extortion and exploitation over migrant workers," said Amy Smith, director of Fortify Rights, a human rights organization in South-east Asia.
"Therefore we are sceptical if these regulations will be implemented and sustained."

Thailand is the world's third-largest seafood exporter, after China and Norway.

According to the International Labour Organization, nearly 17 per cent of workers on Thai fishing boats have experienced forced labour.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Thai News Service] — January 9, 2015 — The government of Thailand has established five subcommittees to suppress human trafficking, and is set to submit the progress report to the United States within this month, said government spokesman.

According to the Government Spokesman Capt. Yongyut Maiyalap, the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the conference of the committee on the human trafficking policy and illegal fisheries yesterday.

There are currently two committees directly responsible in tackling the human trafficking issue, namely the Policy Consultation Committee on Human Trafficking and the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Committee.

For increased effectiveness, five subcommittees have been established, namely the Human Trafficking subcommittee, chaired by the Minister of Interior, the subcommittee on Women's Issues, chaired by the Minister of Social Development and Human Security, the subcommittee on Child Labour, Forced Labour and Migrant Workers, chaired by the Minister of Labour, the Fisheries and IUU subcommittee, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and the subcommittee on Legal Affairs and Public Relations, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Government Spokesman said that each subcommittee will be holding their meetings on various subjects with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense Gen Prawit Wongsuwan as a consultant. The subcommittees were ordered to start working immediately and constantly report the progress without delay, to be presented in the meeting of the big committees.

Meanwhile, the committees have approved the plan to solve the beggars issue through law enforcement, protection, and rescue operation as beggars might be involved with cases of human trafficking.

Regarding the United States Trafficking in Persons Report 2014 where Thailand has been downgraded to Tier 3, the PM's Office Spokesperson said that Thailand will send a progress report of this issue to the United States within 30 January 2015, clarifying Thailand's current policies, law enforcement and prosecution, aid, protection, and cooperation with all related agencies to tackle this issue.

The Deputy Government Spokesman Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that the government wants to show the global community that Thailand is trying to improve the situation on human trafficking.

He said that the report will highlight the accomplishments, and will include a solution to issues that have not yet been accomplished, with hope that the report will help rebuild the trustworthiness of Thailand to the international community.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

January 9, 2015 — “The biggest thing this year was that the meat quality was so poor, and the weather was also very poor this fall and the decline in the fish itself, like there was less scallops. I mean we all fish within 10 miles of each other, so it's pretty much the whole area that was down this year.”

Fishermen are reporting a very poor scallop season on P.E.I.

The province says it doesn't have hard numbers yet, but anecdotally landings are down across the province.

Myles MacDonald has been fishing scallops out of Wood Islands for 30 years.

“One of the worst that we've seen in that 30 years,” said MacDonald, adding a number of factors came together to keep the catch down.

Read the full story from CBC News

 

January 8, 2015 — The legislation would ban destructive foreign commercial fishing practices such as longlining, a technique where baited hooks are attached at intervals to a main line, for its ocean territory the size of France. It would permit 20 per cent to remain open solely for domestic fishing and tourism.

In the early days of his dive shop, cradled by an ocean flush with giant clams, Sam Scott and his crew became known for agitating against Chinese vessels and their hauls of shark fins.

Situated adjacent to a longlining operation, Scott would marshal his fellow conservationists and they would siege boats entering the harbour, tear down fins hanging from rafters and hurl them back into the deep sea.

It was the early 1990s, more than a decade before the Republic of Palau would adopt the same stand and formally establish itself as the globe's first shark sanctuary. Now, the palm-fringed archipelago in the remote North Pacific is on the verge of extending protection to all marine life in its 600,000 square kilometres of waters.

"It's a good time to offer it," said Scott, as divers rinsed out their gear near the open-air bar of Sam's Tours, which doubles as a Royal Yacht Club since his stepfather was one of Palau's high chiefs.

"I think Palau can have very sustainable fisheries that could support the local people more than the foreigners."

Encroachment upon both sea and land by mighty Asian nations including China and Japan is a growing concern among inhabitants of the tiny country that's buoyed by tourism — yet has a largely underdeveloped industry compared to equally sun-kissed destinations. It's located 800 kilometres east of the Philippines and more than 300,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, with a population of 21,500 (a 2012 census found one-quarter are foreigners) at the gateway to Micronesia.

Read the full story from GuelphMercury.com

 

January 6, 2014 — Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday his government would step up measures against human trafficking as the country scrambles to improve its record in fighting the illegal trade before a U.S. deadline to show improvement.

Thailand is ranked one of the world's worst centers of human trafficking. It was downgraded to the lowest "Tier 3" status last June on the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report for not fully complying with minimum standards for its elimination.

Prayuth, who as army chief seized power from an elected government in a coup in May, said Thailand would work on areas flagged by the United States before submitting its record for 2014 to the U.S. State Department by a March deadline.

"We have set up a committee to look after 23 areas which the U.S. analyses and has warned us about for years," Prayuth, told reporters in Bangkok.

"We have to take this plan and put it in to action. Police, officials … everyone."

Read the full story from Reuters at Business Insider