Report: PRC fishing vessels top abusers of forced labor

FORUM Staff

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the leading abuser of forced labor on fishing vessels globally, according to a new study.

The report, “Dark webs: Uncovering those behind forced labour on commercial fishing fleets,” by the Washington, D.C.-based Financial Transparency Coalition, focused on vessels operating either on the high seas or inside another nation’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The November 2023 report found that a quarter of the commercial fishing vessels suspected of abusing workers flew under the PRC flag.

The United Nations International Labour Organization estimated that 128,000 fishers worldwide were trapped into forced labor aboard vessels, according to the 2022 “Global Estimates of Modern Slavery” report. That figure, however, “likely significantly understates the full extent of the problem. The isolation of the workplace makes it difficult to reach the fishers affected, while the extreme vulnerability that comes with work at sea, as well as the risk of repercussions, can lead to reluctance on the part of fishers to report and discuss abuses,” the report stated.

PRC-flagged vessels are the prime perpetrators of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to a report by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. IUU fishing threatens food security, economic stability and maritime ecosystems globally.

The PRC’s plundering of coral, clams and fish is “theft on a grand scale, unrestricted warfare on natural resources,” Kevin Edes, a maritime security analyst for SeaLight, a project of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, wrote on the SeaLight website in November 2023. Edes noted that Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the United States Coast Guard, described the PRC’s IUU fishing as “theft of a nation’s natural resources.”

IUU fishing is closely tied to distant-water fleets that operate in international waters or other countries’ territorial waters, including the PRC’s fleet, the world’s largest. Vessels engaged in IUU fishing recruit workers from vulnerable and disadvantaged populations, potentially leading to human trafficking and violence, as well as labor abuses.

The Financial Transparency Coalition identified 475 vessels suspected of using forced labor since 2010, although accurate flag information was unavailable for about half those boats because of a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight.

The report said 77 companies operating commercial fishing boats under the PRC flag used forced labor, identifying two Chinese companies, ZheJiang Hairong Ocean Fisheries Co. and Pingtan Marine Enterprises, as the top offenders. Combined, they operated 17 vessels accused of relying on forced labor.

“We are once again seeing the heartbreaking reality of what is happening on some commercial fishing vessels out at sea and it’s completely unacceptable,” Beth Lowell, vice president for the U.S. of conservation group Oceana, told The Associated Press. “Forced labor and other human rights abuses should not be the cost for a seafood dinner.”