(EJF) COMBATING SEAFOOD SLAVERY
Our fish stocks and marine biodiversity are in crisis. Rapid industrialisation and poor fisheries management have meant that too many vessels, using destructive and and unsustainable fishing methods, have been catching far too many fish. With fish stocks exhausted, global demand at an all-time high, vessels are now going further afield — often fishing illegally in other nations’ territories — and staying longer at sea, to bring back ever-diminishing catches. This is opening the door to a wave of trafficked workers forced into slave labour to crew vessels, reduce companies’ costs, and supply a global seafood market with cheap, slavery contaminated, fish products.