Tuna Fisheries and Forced Labor: A Deep Dive into Eco-Label Shortcomings

I want you to picture this, you're in a restaurant, maybe a sushi restaurant, you've gone out for sushi with some friends or a group of co-workers for lunch and you're ready to chow down, you're ready to just mow down all you can eat sushi. You get the tuna spicy roll, it's

great, it's got a little bit of a kick. it's tuna so you know it's good fish and you're eating it and eating it and eating it and you're eating it because you've done the responsible thing and looking at the restaurant making sure that it follows like the eco labels and to be sure that hey you know what this restaurant is buying certified sustainable seafood right once you do that No

guilt, right? You're trying to do the best you can because you've been listening to the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, and Andrew has said, follow Seafood Watch, follow the Marine Stewardship Council, follow all these ecolabels because they've done the work to do the best they can to make sure that the seafood that you're eating is the best. And if it isn't, that you should avoid. It should tell you that you should avoid it or doesn't support it. And

that's what we do. We trust in these type of ecolabels. But are these ecolabels perfect? No. And today we're going to talk about one of the major reasons why they're not perfect and why they need to do better. But we're also going to talk about, is this the end of these ecolabels? It's going to be a really interesting conversation. Let's talk about it on this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. Let's start the show. Hey

everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, and this is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean, and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action. And on today's episode, we're gonna be talking about tuna fish. We're gonna be talking about tuna fisheries, as we did on Monday's episode, two episodes ago.

where we had the ISSF on the show. It's the International Sustainable Seafood Foundation on the show. And to talk to Vincent Restrepo, Dr. Restrepo to talk about just the sort of the annual report on tuna fisheries. We talked about how some busting some of the myths of what it is to do to overfish or what dolphins in seafood or in tuna fish and so forth. And

where that's actually concentrated. But we also talked about some of the shortcomings of the tuna fisheries and not being able to track everything in these regional fishering management areas, the RMFOs. And so we're going to talk a little bit more about that because there was a new publication in Nature, the Ocean Sustainability section. And it was an article that was penned by Katrina Nakamura. Katrina talks about how the Marine Stewardship Council falls short of

reporting on forced labor. This is fishery slavery. This is basically where people go on boats, they get coaxed to come on boats, they get paid for fishing boats, but then they never get off, or it takes a while before they get off and they're treated like crap. They're treated essentially like slaves. like modern day slaves. These are people who are not fed properly. They don't have access to clean water, just clean anything. It's horrible the way they're treated. A lot

of times if they get sick, they're thrown overboard. And because tuna fisheries are so far offshore, It's really difficult to monitor them. And so when we talk about forced labor and the reporting that the Marine Stewardship Council requires, you know, we have to start holding them to a better standard than what is actually reported by Katrina in this article. So I'm gonna put the link to the article so

that you can check it out. I highly recommend it I've also looked at sort of a summary that Oceana has published because they're advertising this across social media that I've seen And they're they're letting people know that the MSC the eco label may not be what it seems to be Especially when it comes to forced label forced labor because of what they demand in terms of what they demand for reporting on forced labor So we're gonna talk about that all in good

time. We've talked about jobs and we've talked about something that's really important when we get jobs. You want to get a job at an eco-label, you want to get a job in research, you want to get a job working for a non-profit organization like Oceana. A lot of times you'll see like program manager or policy analyst or like different, you know, office jobs or even field jobs or jobs that have a field component that require some

type of project management. And you don't get project management courses always available to you at your university. So you may not have done it in undergrad. You may not have even done it in grad school. You may not even know what it's all about. You may already have the skills, but you just don't understand what those skills are because you've never really taken it and you may have just just incorporate them in your job anyway.

So some of you may get those jobs based on what you've experienced, but others need a little help. And that's something like I do when I did my communications course with Conservation Careers. They're offering a program management, a project management course, so you can look at what it actually takes to become a program manager. and what it is for conservation. It's specific for conservation and you have the chance to be able to take this course online. It's

asynchronous so you can just take it and watch the videos and do whatever you need. There's somebody who's there to monitor all your tasks and all your reports and things like that that you have to hand in for the course to help you get better at that. There's a great group that you can use to help you throughout that and while you're watching the videos, asking questions and so forth and support your work that you're doing. through an

app called Circle, and it's fantastic. It's all seamless, they put you on the app, you get to look at that app whenever you want, you get to watch it on the go, whether you're at home, whether you're on the go, it doesn't matter, you're in a car, you're on a bus, you can always take this course and watch the material, and I just think it's great. And right now, it's offered until September 27th, it's offered for 33% off.

All you have to do is just use the link in the show notes or in the description if you're watching this on YouTube, or if you're on an app, it's in the show notes, Just check it out, take a look at it, read what it's all about, and then use the link to sign up for the course. I do get a little piece of the action, but also you get to help your career. And yeah, that's essentially it. So check that out, link in the show notes, and I will be able to answer any questions that you

might have on this. Anyway, let's get back to the show because this is something that's really important. Oceana has put out an article, a press release really, to talk about what's happening with tuna fishing. And we talked about tuna fishing on Monday, on the two episodes ago, and

we talked about sort of where things are at based on the annual report. We never really talked about forced labor because forced labor is covered under the I guess the application status or the reporting for the MSC, which is the Marine Stewardship Council, which is an eco-label that basically certifies the tuna fishing label, the vessel, the distribution companies, the processing companies, and so forth, the whole supply chain as eco-friendly and as following all of the

demands that are required to qualify under the MSC, under the Marine Stewardship Council. But there's a problem with forced labor. And it was highlighted by Katrina Nakamura, who put out this article that Oceana is publicizing, because it's something that is concerning when we look at it. And like I mentioned in the beginning in the intro, You know, you're at a restaurant or you're buying seafood. You look for the MSC label just like I do. And you're like, oh, this is

a label, an Inco label that we can trust. This is something that we can see that is, you know, they're using proper, they're treating their employees properly, the fishers properly, the processors and everything like that throughout the supply chain properly. They're following human rights sessions, as everybody should be. They're making sure that the tuna is sustainable and following the rules of each RMFO and all that

kind of stuff. But unfortunately for this situation, it doesn't look like it's easy to track or it's being tracked properly when it comes to forced labor. And that's really what

it comes down to the problem. So the person who wrote it, Katrina Nakamura, who's a PhD, said, and I quote, in a matter of minutes, I was able to find multiple cases of forced labor on vessels that are part of the MSC, the Marine Stewardship Council Certified Fisheries, by comparing data from the vessel registries of all the tuna regional fisheries management organizations against highly publicized lists

of implicated vessels. She goes on to say, if it was this easy for me to find this information, it's hard to believe that MSC could be unaware of this problem. There is an estimated 128,000 fishers that are trapped in forced labor aboard fishing vessels by businesses recruiting fishers for very low wages to work intensely in hazardous and remote conditions who then experience untended injuries, illness, unpaid and withheld wages, psychological or physical abuse.

Nakamura analyzed data from 3,313 tuna vessels listed on the MSC's website and found that 74% of MSC certified sustainable tuna was untraceable to the vessel owners fishing or fishing employers. So being able to have the tuna that's coming through the supply chain, so the processors, the distributors, and everything like that, you couldn't match the vessels of where that's coming from and

how much they're actually contributing to each one. And so the MSC standards rely on self-reported information by trade associations, manufacturers, and distributors rather than the vessel owners or employers. And the MSC does not screen vessels or companies against publicized lists of labor abuses, which is what Katrina did for this study. So these standards leave room for vessels associated with crimes such as human trafficking and forced labor to benefit and

profit from the MSC eco-label. So in other words, they fly under this eco-label, everybody thinks it's fine, they self-report, or the vessels don't have to self-report because it's all the different trade associations, manufacturers, and distributors that are self-reporting, but the vessels, where the forced labor actually happens, does not have to self-report. That's a question in itself, like why do the vessels, why are the vessels not held accountable? The other thing is too, is

like nobody looks at these vessels. Nobody goes aboard them, there's no fisheries observer, there's no human rights observers that seem to be part of this eco-label, you know, sort of requirements. And so this, again, is another problem where you're like, well, hold on a second, how do you know that this is a problem? What you're relying on is the self-reported information from people

who are not even on the vessel. to say, hey, you know what? We haven't seen any indication or any evidence that there's been forced labor. It seems like it's a loophole to say, we don't care. We're not looking. We don't have to check. It's not saying that we have to check. There's no evidence that we have to provide. There are no conditions that we have to look at on the vessels. There's no auditors for each vessel. It seems like that is missing from the MSE label,

legal label requirements, right? That's what seems to be missing. And so the MSC has recognized concerns about forced labor and human rights abuses occurring in tandem with illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the tuna supply chain, but tells consumers that the best way for tuna buyers to significantly reduce exposure to the above risk is to choose MSC certified

tuna. That's a quote directly from MSC. Now that's a little bit of a problem because even though you expect the ECO label to be able to be followed, It's not being followed because it's not properly reported. So Nakamura continues, she says, this is clearly bad advice considering MSC clients, including a company associated with the U.S. tuna ban for forced labor, whose self-declaration states, quote, no evidence

of forced labor, end quote. The quote, this is Nekomura saying this, the MSC should have far more effective barrier for protecting vulnerable workers. They evidently choose not to do so. A more robust barrier would exclude all companies with any association to fisheries crimes and include a firm rule that vessel owners to be identified and screened against highly publicized lists of implicated vessels, such as the notice of sanction actions published

on the Federal Register of the United States. It seems straightforward. It seems straightforward. So the question really comes down to, and I want to be very clear here, this episode is not to demonize

the Marine Stewardship Council. They are taking on an amazingly huge task of making sure that a supply chain around the world for a number of different fisheries, I think it's like 400 and some odd fisheries, are sustainable and are following human rights, are treating their employees properly, treating their contractors and the fishers properly.

It is not easy. The MSC is not a huge organization. However, it has taken on the task and the responsibility to ensure that the consumers that are consuming the fisheries and the fish are understanding that everything is good with the fisheries. With all things considered, everything should be good. There shouldn't be any forced labor. There should be sustainable treatment of the fish and the fisheries. We should know that they're following quotas and following the rules of the RFMOs. You

know, this is pretty easy to do. Well, it's pretty easy to think about, but it's not easy to do. Like, I fully recognize this is not easy to do. However, it's very difficult when, you know, MSC is certifying that there's no forced labor, when it's self-reported by people that are not even on the boat. That's really tough to swallow. It's a tough pill

to swallow. So according to the solutions here, to help mitigate labor violations at sea, Oceana is calling on world governments to apply for the Global Charter of Fisheries Transparency. The charter pinpoints the most essential policy priorities needed to combat fisheries management, illegal fishing, and human rights abuses at sea, including collecting data on the conditions of fishing vessel crews and publishing it while keeping it personally identifiable information primary. it. That's

pretty easy. It looks like the system's already there. So my question is, how many countries are a part of this and why aren't countries signing up more and more? So in the United States, Oceania is campaigning for immediate action to address illegal fishing, seafood fraud, and human rights abuses in the US seafood supply chain. This includes expanding the seafood import monitoring programs called SIMP

to cover all seafood. Only 45% of the imported seafood is currently covered, and all production standards, including forced labor. That's the article. I've read a lot of it because I thought it was really important for you to know. I'll link to it in the show notes and in the description on our YouTube video. This

is very concerning. You know, like I said before, as a consumer and as someone on the end user point, when you're trying to use these ecolabels, you know they're never going to be perfect. But forced labor is a serious thing that's happening around the world and it's disrupting and harming the lives of a lot of individuals and families of vulnerable people. These are people who are trying to make money to protect their kids, to protect their families, to ensure that their families can

thrive and survive. And they may never see their families again. They may never be able to send their money back home again because of fishing vessels that are up to no good. A lot of times, we talk about protecting the environment, protecting fisheries, protecting the ocean. I mean, this is what this podcast is about. But it has to be human-centric. We have to protect the humans that are using the oceans. We have to protect the fishers as much as possible. while

protecting the ocean. This is why conservation is so complex. It is so difficult to be able to do. You can't just snap your fingers and say, hey, this is easy. We're going to be able to do this. Just stop eating seafood. That's not going to happen around the world. I wish it was that easy. It's very complex. 60% of the population of our 8 billion population on the planet lives along the coastline. And they

need to be fed. They need to eat. And a lot of the times they look towards fishing and fish and seafood to be able to eat. Now, there are ways to make it more sustainable and there are many ways that we can reduce our impact on fisheries and on the oceans. We just have to put them in place. And when there are ecolabels who are trying to do the best that they can to get these done, like MSC, like Seafood Watch, we have to make sure that they are being held to the

standard that they are professing. If they're not being able to do that, we have to put them like, what Katrina is doing is not just identifying the problem, but demanding a solution, right? You can't claim that you are making sure that there's no forced labor in tuna fisheries when we know that there's forced labor in tuna fisheries. We've proven that. Katrina looked at those lists and

said, hey, you know what? We have one list of the fishing vessels, but there are some fishing vessels that are on this list that have been accused of forced labor. And they're under the MSC label. And they're saying, hey, you know what? We've self-identified, we self-proclaimed, there's no problem here. Nothing to see here, just look away. And nobody's looking, nobody's looking. They're just expecting them to work on the honor system. Well, people who do forced labor are not honorable

and they do not work on the honor system. And we need to make sure that the eco labels that say that they're gonna do something, that they need to do something. If not, we need to hold it to better standards. or they need to take away that they can say that these ecolabels stop forced labor. I would love for them to stop forced labor. It's not easy. It's very difficult to do so. There's a lot of crime involved, crime

syndicates. It's very hard to track. We've talked about it before on this podcast, but it'd be great if they could, you know, hold them to the fire and say, let's do better, right? These ecolabels do a lot of great things. but sometimes there's some shortcomings and now we've seen it and this is a very serious matter we're talking about forced labor talking about fisheries slaves We can't have it. It's unacceptable. So they need to improve that process. I did try to reach out to MSC, some

of my contacts, but it seems like I couldn't get ahold of them. And I would love to hear from them at some point, and hopefully we'll hear a response from them. But the fact that it's saying, hey, you're better off buying tuna fish that are under this label, under the MSC label, because we know we're doing our best to stop forced labor doesn't necessarily mean that they're stopping forced labor. With that said, does it mean that other fish and seafood that's within the MSC is

bad? Not necessarily, right? And so you have to look at it from case by case basis. What I would suggest, stop eating tuna altogether until we know more about this forced labor stuff. But that's again, a difficult thing to do. I'm in the position where I can do that. I'm not sure if everybody's in that position. But if you don't need tuna in your diet, or you don't have tuna in your diet, it makes it

easy. But if you need tuna, it makes it harder. But we need to make sure that these ecolabels, like MSC, are held to the standard that they're professing that they're keeping. So I'd love to hear your, you know, I'd love to hear what you think about this. You know, I did cover an episode just a couple days ago or a couple episodes ago where we talked about tuna fishing. We talked about some of the problems that we have. We talked about how, you know, some RFMOs are not able to

look at different RFMOs. We don't know if they're double dipping and some of the vessels are double dipping. And it sounds like there's not a lot of quality control on the vessels themselves. in terms of what they're doing on the vessels. And so there's some problems. We know that there's these problems. Now it's a matter of making sure that ecolabels like MSC, who say they're looking after that, do better in looking after that. So

I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Have you heard anything different? Have you heard of any response from MSC? I would love to hear from you, because this is a community. This is the beginning. I'd like to start off the conversation. You guys continue it. And I'd love to hear from you on YouTube. You can drop a comment in the comments section, of course. Also, you can do that on Spotify. And of course, you can always hit me up on Instagram, at howtoprotecttheocean. That's

at howtoprotecttheocean. I want to thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. Have a great day. We'll talk to you. Oh, by the way, I'm your host, Andrew Lewin. Have a great day. Talk