The North American seafood industry is facing a groundbreaking lawsuit that will force the $25 billion-sector to face, head-on, alleged accounts of human trafficking and forced labour for the first time in its history.

The case is being brought against the US seafood giant, Bumble Bee Foods which is alleged to have ‘knowingly benefitted’ from several counts of forced labour, human trafficking, and human rights abuses by selling the goods associated with them.

The suit has been filed by a group of fishers in San Diego, California under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). It alleges that they experienced both human trafficking and forced labour as they caught tuna that went on to be sold by Bumble Bee in the US.

Akhmad, one of the complainants from the case, has recounted sustaining injuries that were not treated and cited the accounts of others now ‘trapped against their will’ in dangerous situations.

“One time, the rope holding the weighing gear broke and dropped a load of fish on me, cutting my leg open from thigh to shin. I was ordered to keep working,” he said. “I thought there was water filling my boot, but I realised it was my own blood. I could see the bone in my leg.

“So many men are out there right now, trapped in the same dangerous situation that I was. They deserve to work free from abuse, to be paid fairly, and to be able to leave their jobs rather than be trapped against their will.”

The historic case – believed to be the first of its kind against the seafood industry in the US – alleges that Bumble Bee knew or should have known about the conditions these fishers experienced and that it has knowingly benefited from the forced labour and human trafficking of these individuals.

Allegations in the suit include accounts of physical violence, emotional abuse, untreated life-threatening and deformity-causing injuries, debt bondage, excessive working hours, lack of payment, and financial threats against family members of workers to keep them from escaping their situation.

There are also accounts of the fishers coming together to protect each other.

Agnieszka Fryszman, partner at Cohen Milstein and chair of its Human Rights practice, said: “These men were looking for good jobs so they could provide for their families and build a future. Instead, they allege, they were trapped – isolated at sea, beaten with metal hooks, not getting enough food, working around the clock – and facing financial penalties if they tried to leave.

“The complaint outlines how each of them asked to be released, but were kept on board against their will – and in some cases didn’t take home a single penny for their labour.”

As a part of its effort to crack down and stamp out human trafficking and forced labour, US law authorises survivors to bring claims in the United States against those who benefitted from those abuses.

“Our clients are seeking justice not only for themselves but to implement changes that will protect other fishers, including men at sea right now on those same boats,” added Fryszman.

According to its 2022 report, the International Labour Organisation has estimated that at least 128,000 fishers globally were victims of forced labour. This report highlights the strong link between that forced labour and other fisheries-related crimes, such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

It’s this kind of fishing that perpetuates a vicious cycle of dwindling fish stocks, fishing vessels having to go farther to sea, and staying out for more extended periods of time to bring in enough catch to stay profitable. The isolation of being out at sea for months, and often years, at a time creates conditions ripe for labour abuse, forced labour, and human trafficking.

Globally, seafood is more than a $350 billion industry and Bumble Bee’s US parent company, Bumble Bee Seafoods boasts $1bn in annual revenue. In contrast, migrant fishers onboard Taiwanese fishing vessels were reportedly promised salaries of $400 to $600 a month.

Bumble Bee is one of the three largest US tuna brands, accounting for approximately 25% of the US canned tuna market. It is owned by Fong Chun Formosa, a vertically integrated Taiwanese tuna trader whose role in the tuna supply chain stretches from fishing vessels to US tuna brands.

Arifsyah Nasution, global project lead, Beyond Seafood Campaign, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said: “Thanks to the courage of these individuals, Bumble Bee can no longer pretend they are doing enough to address the suffering experienced by those in their supply chain who contribute to their profits, nor evade their responsibility to protect these vulnerable workers and our oceans.

“The broader seafood and industrial fishing sector should also now be aware that they can’t continue to proceed with business as usual, engaging in or allowing human rights abuses to go unchecked. The time to put an end to these atrocities is now.”  

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