Ethical issues impacting on the UK seafood supply chain World Seafood Congress Monday 7 September 2015 Roger Plant Ethics Consultant
The Seafish project: Overview Five month assignment Ethical concerns in UK seafood supply chains Focus on human rights and labour rights of the fishers Main concern with the countries that supply to the UK market Hope that the findings and recommendations are also relevant to the seafood industry in other countries
Project outputs A comprehensive literature review An analytical report, leading to strategic recommendations for follow-up A set of 15 risk assessment country profiles An overview summary of all the country profiles An analysis of remedial measures in Thailand: industry partnerships in the seafood sector This will all be published on the Seafish website today
Some issues Slavery at sea now recognized as a serious concern The focus is on Thailand, need to look beyond Need to understand what seafood companies can do alone, when and how they can act together, and when they can just be one player in addressing broad structural concerns Need to distinguish between serious criminal practices in supply chains, requiring a criminal justice response and possible disengagement from a supplier, and other social and labour issues where improvements can be achieved incrementally
In the news
In the news
Myanmar Times: Veil of Illegal Recruitment Two of five recruitment agencies had falsified registration cards Said this was common practice Crew had no idea they were being sent to a fishing vessel Heavily indebted, no option but to work in fishing for promised high wages
AP Report: Ambon case in Indonesia Broke at end of March, when I was in Bangkok Year long investigation of 40 current and former slaves, abandoned in Benjina Named a major fishing company in Eastern Indonesia, operating boats with Thai captains and reportedly Thai owned. Led to rapid Indonesian reaction, and creation of task forces on both slave labour and IUU fishing
Under review
Details: Cambodian example in African waters Cambodian men held in servitude by traffickers on fishing vessels in African waters Migrated through recruitment agency legally registered in Cambodia Met in South Africa by mainly Taiwanese or Chinese brokers Long-haul fishing with flags from different countries Little or no payment for months or years at sea. Documents taken
Indonesian migrants: Korean vessels/nz waters Well documented by scholars from Auckland business school, supplemented by media reports May 2015 report based on interviews with some 300 fishers working on mainly Korean-owned vessels chartered by New Zealand firms Shifts of over 50 hours, for way below the NZ mimimum wage, physical violence and debt bondage Over 500 workers who had escaped from vessels, taking legal action over the past five years, had received no compensation An ongoing thorough assessment, after prompting policy reforms
Seafood and ethics; context Paradigm shift to social Disaggregate the social Fisheries crime through to labour standards Criteria for due diligence by companies, through their own codes and others Structural concerns through law and policy reform, often beyond the seafood industry
Key findings: Literature review Ethics in seafood is not a new issue, but the labour and social dimensions certainly is Several overview studies over the past few years (eg. ILO, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Fishwise) These all lament the lack of hard evidence, and the need for rigorous fact-finding at the country level Thailand has received the lion s share of attention, and also funding Well documented known issues and countries
Fishing with Trafficked Migrant Workers with main species supply to UK (2014) Blue countries sources of crew trafficked at sea. Red country fleets traffic foreign workers in fishing. UK Turkey Israel Russia South Korea China, China Senegal India Sri Lanka Burma Bangladesh Philippines Vietnam Seychelles Thailand Indonesia, Indonesia Mauritius Madagascar South Africa New Zealand Source information: US State Department (2014) Trafficking in Persons Report Mapped May 9 2015 www.laborsafescreen.com All rights reserved
Industry consultations Open ended, some key questions Do you do your own risk mapping, when sourcing new products? To what extent do you rely on external information? What information and guidance tools are available on social issues? What practical help do you need? What are the options for response and remediation? Who are the best partners for addressing problems on the ground? What has been the experience with international organizations, governments and NGOs? Can there be industry-wide reporting on issues of common concerns?
UK Modern Slavery Act: implications Transparency in supply chain provisions will require more reporting Some companies already doing this in some depth, e.g. Thai Royal and CP Foods in Thailand Chance for UK seafood industry to take a real lead Could there be joint reporting on issues, remedies and responses? Could be a golden opportunity to show a common front, and raise the bar for future actions
Lessons learned from Thailand a model? My own two visits at key times - second visit essentially to discuss experience with partnerships Not concerned with fact finding, though clearly ongoing serious problems with DWF, labour brokers and severe exploitation of migrants Government is acknowledging the problems, engaging in communications and advocacy abroad Three main industry partnerships in Thailand - ILO Good Labour Practice (GLP) - Project Issara - Shrimp Sustainable Supply Chain Task Force
Thai experience Highly innovative, and clearly respond to needs of industry at different levels Some remediating problems, some concerned with training and policy, some bridging the gaps Risk of atomized projects, need to generate a joined up approach on the policy concerns - some risk of overlapping Need to differentiate role of government from that of industry Positive that problems detected through industry-led initiatives on the ground are generating a group of asks to the government, keeping it on its toes Positive engagement of civil society and NGOs A case where monitoring is needed at different levels Useful for Seafish itself to share a further update?
Industry perceptions key asks Ethics CLG is clearly welcomed as filling a gap Bridge between industry, NGOs and government on sensitive issues Intelligence sharing is of vital importance A mechanism for showing internationally what the UK seafood industry has done, and can do Some different perceptions on the most useful tools. Country profiles can be useful, but can be simplistic and quickly out of date. How do you ensure that they are up to date? Tailored advice and guidance for the seafood industry. How to address different supply chain concerns?
Key recommendations collective action Find ways to share information and audit findings Be proactive in reporting Pioneer joint investigations (eg. labour issues in seafood processing) Stimulate comparative work on labour issues in Asian distant water fishing Build on the Thai experience, present and document findings Be aware of the risk of strategic litigation, and take preventive measures Work towards an industry code of conduct for the seafood industry