More than 130 migrant fishers impacted by forced labour in seafood supply chain for scampi that ends up on UK plates
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has successfully appealed against the false labour and human rights claims of the UK Nephrops (scampi) Fishery Improvement Project (FIP).
After months of rigorous investigation by the ITF, industry sustainability reporting platforms FishChoice and FisheryProgress have confirmed that there is a credible and public claim of forced labour and/or human trafficking connected to the FIP – which covers all UK-flagged vessels fishing for scampi in UK waters – within two years of its latest Self-Evaluation of Risk Criteria submitted on July 17, 2023.
ITF Fisheries Section Coordinator Rossen Karavatchev said: "FIPs lack direct and continuous engagement with workers, which is a fundamental requirement for Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) – which is now the widely accepted standard for ensuring the protection of rights and the environment in supply chains.
“The current model of FIPs creates market fragmentation, excludes workers and entrenches power imbalances, ultimately undermining trade union organising and worker empowerment."
The litany of failures to protect workers’ rights in the FIP, uncovered by the ITF, includes:
- 62 vessels within the FIP found to employ migrant fishers without work permits for the UK, in contravention of the Nationalities and Borders Act 2022;
- 11 vessels reported for forcing fishers to work excessive hours and unpaid overtime, in contravention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention (C188);
- 14 vessels involved in withholding or delaying workers’ wages, amounting to wage theft;
- crew on 12 vessels subjected to abuse, including bullying and death threats.
The ITF estimates that abuses across a number of vessels – with some implicated in several categories of abuse – affected at least 138 migrant fishers working in UK waters.
ITF Fisheries Expert Chris Williams said: “The entire concept of certifying for labour issues at the fishery level is inadequate, ineffective, and risks ‘fairwashing’. What this ultimately means is that UK shoppers are completely unaware that they’re buying and consuming seafood tainted by forced labour.
“We want to see UK scampi on our plates – but we must ensure that it is both sustainable and caught by workers whose rights are respected. To do that, we must end superficial sourcing requirements like FIPs and introduce collective bargaining agreements, Human Rights Due Diligence and other binding agreements with genuine worker representation.”
The ITF believes that this case highlights that FIPs cannot be viewed as providing credible assurances that there are no labour or human rights violations in a fishery and, more broadly, that voluntary measures do not protect workers in the UK fishing industry.
ENDS
Media contact: Mark Dearn +44 7738 832 413 media@itf.org.uk
Notes
The ITF’s key findings from analysis of the UK scampi FIP:
- Illegal Employment Practices: 62 vessels within the FIP were found to employ migrant fishers without work permits for the UK, in contravention of the Nationalities and Borders Act 2022.
- Excessive Work Hours and Unpaid Overtime: 11 vessels were reported for forcing fishers to work excessive hours and unpaid overtime, in contravention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention (C188).
- Wage Theft: 14 vessels were involved in withholding or delaying workers' wages, amounting to wage theft.
- Illegal Work Agreements: 13 vessels failed to comply with ILO C188 by using illegal employment contracts (fishermen’s work agreements).
- Denied Medical Care: Four vessels failed to report accidents and denied medical care to injured fishers.
- Poor Living Conditions: Six vessels were reported for providing workers insufficient food, water, and unhygienic living conditions.
- Violence and Retaliation: Crew on 12 vessels were involved in abuse, including bullying and death threats.
- Abandonment: Three vessels were reported for abandoning workers (non-payment of wages for over two months).
