Alleged forced labor practices onboard Taiwanese distant water fishing vessels have been linked to Bumble Bee canned tuna products sold in the United States, according to a new report by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and in collaboration with the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI). The report is published in commemoration of Human Rights Day.
The report, "Netting Profits, Risking Lives: The Unresolved Human and Environmental Exploitation at Sea", looked at complaints from 10 Indonesian fishers filed with SBMI from 2019 to 2024. The 10 cases were linked to 12 Taiwanese-flagged vessels, four of which were found to have supplied popular US tuna brand Bumble Bee, which is owned by Taiwanese tuna trader FCF. According to the report, these four vessels supplied Bumble Bee across multiple trips and often a number of years. [1]
A fisher from one of the vessels, Firman (pseudonym), reported excessive working hours under harsh conditions. He reported having fainted several times due to being overworked, but was still pressured to keep working. The investigation found that some of the tuna caught by Firman and his crewmates ended up in a can of Bumble Bee tuna in a supermarket in Maine.
"As Bumble Bee neither publishes a vessel list nor any public information on their grievance policy, what our research uncovered is likely the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, Greenpeace will continue doing investigations to uncover the murky side of the seafood supply chain and advocate for a more fair, just, and sustainable global seafood industry for the sake of fishers, consumers, and our ocean's future," said Arifsyah Nasution, Global Lead for Beyond Seafood campaign and Senior Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Bumble Bee and the vessel companies were asked about these allegations, but neither of them responded in time.
Of the 10 cases, the report found:
- All fishers reported they were deceived into exploitative situations and had their personal identity documents withheld by recruitment agencies, which left them unable to leave and find other jobs.
- Some 92% of fishers reported they experienced abuse of vulnerability and debt bondage, trapping them in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation. Further, in less percentages, the fishers also reported experiencing other forced labor indicators as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) [2].
- Six out of the 12 Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessels in the report were associated with any of activities that are considered illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing indication-such as undetected transshipment (catch transfers at sea) and fishing in marine protected areas.
- Fishers' testimonies also highlighted instances of shark finning, which has been banned by most Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).
"The push for overfishing, for modern slavery at sea, for shark finning all come from the same source: exploitation in the name of profits. Businesses, like Bumble Bee and other tuna brands, need to own up to their responsibility and the role they play in this industry. The need to actively engage with upstream suppliers to ensure there are real grievance mechanisms in place as well as working with them to install wifi aboard vessels," said Charli Fritzner, Beyond Seafood project team lead for Greenpeace USA.
"We are calling on not only the Indonesian government to do a better job in protecting the rights of migrant fishers, but also the governments of Taiwan and the US to ensure that their businesses are slavery-free. Together, SBMI and Greenpeace Indonesia have been pushing for changes in the last decade and we will continue to do so until we witness significant improvements," SBMI Chairman Hariyanto Suwarno said.
"Netting Profits, Risking Lives: The Unresolved Human and Environmental Exploitation at Sea" is the third edition of Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Indonesia and SBMI's Seabound report series. While the previous two only focused on forced labor and illegal fishing allegations, this year's report has highlighted financial exploitations.[3] Fishers' complaints and policy analysis revealed that many migrant fishers reported to be illegally charged recruitment fees, which ranged from 1 to 4 months average salary, despite Indonesia's law requiring employers to shoulder such expenses.[4]
