Law

March 24, 2025 —  Muhammad Syafi’i remembers screaming in pain as hot cooking oil splashed across his stomach and dripped down his legs, his wet clothing sticking to his torched skin as it began to bubble and swell.

Like many poor Indonesian men, he had signed up to work abroad in the fishing industry, where wages are higher than back home. He was hired to work in 2021 as a cook on a ship which supplied fish to Bumble Bee Foods, one of the biggest tuna importers in the United States.

But when he got there, he says he was physically abused and forced to work in dangerous and demanding conditions. And when Syafi’i was seriously burned while working in the kitchen, he claims he was left writhing in pain on a bench and denied food, water and access to medical care.

Syafi’i’s account is detailed in a new landmark lawsuit filed by four Indonesian fishermen against Bumble Bee Foods. It alleges the tuna giant “knowingly benefitted” from forced labor, debt bondage and other forms of abuse in its supply chain.

In a statement provided to CNN, Bumble Bee Seafoods said it became aware of the filing last Wednesday and will not be commenting on pending litigation. The allegations have not been tested in court.

The four plaintiffs worked on three different fishing vessels which supplied tuna to Bumble Bee, according to the legal complaint, which was filed on March 12 in federal court in California. While at sea, the men say they were physically abused and held against their will.

This is the first known case of fishing boat slavery brought against a US seafood company, Agnieszka Fryszman, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, told CNN.

“Fishing vessels never really have to go port, so the men are really, really stuck. It makes it very easy to engage in forced labor and trafficking,” Fryszman said.

Human rights abuses in the fishing industry are well documented but accountability is rare. The industry is notoriously opaque because of its reliance on migrant workers, the complicated nature of global supply chains and the fact that the work occurs at sea, where workers are typically excluded from land-based labor laws.

Campaigners have long argued that US companies need to do more to ensure their supply chains are free from abuse.

“These are people who wanted to work to give their families a better life. We, as Americans are eating this tuna. We are eating the seafood that is produced off the backs of these abuses,” said Sari Heidenrich, a senior human rights advisor in the global fisheries unit for Greenpeace, which is also representing the plaintiffs.

Read the full article at CNN Business