Tuna is ubiquitous in Japan, from high-end sashimi to go-around sushi chains and every neighborhood grocery store. But despite tuna’s central place in Japanese food culture, few know what really happens on the fishing vessels that supply the country’s tuna market. Last week, a Mongabay investigation revealed a massive illegal shark finning operation across the […]
Greenpeace report finds forced labor among Indonesian migrant fishermen
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Greenpeace Southeast Asia is claiming that 20 Indonesian manning agencies and 26 fishing firms from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nauru are allegedly involved in forced labor practices against Indonesian migrant fishers.
The allegations were presented by the organization in a report released 31 May, “Forced Labour at Sea: The Case of Indonesian Migrant Fishers,” released in partnership with Indonesian migrant workers union Serikat Buruh Migran Indonesia (SBMI).
In interviews with Indonesian migrant fishers conducted between May 2019 and June 2020, Greenpeace said 87 percent said they had wages withheld, 82 percent reported abusive working and living conditions, 80 percent reported being deceived in order to perform more unpaid or underpaid labor, and 67 percent reported being taken advantage of for lacking knowledge of local language or laws. Indonesian migrant fishers over