Who peels your shrimp?

AP Photo Dita Alangkara

 Hey Everyone! So let's talk about shrimp, shrimp fisheries, shrimp labor, shrimp boats, shrimp companies, and the overall shrimp industry. That shrimp bit was my take on Bubba from Forest Gump. But really, those tasty little free-swimming crustaceans are small but have caused some significant waves around the world. Also, a fun fact before the doom of these creatures, did you know that flamingos are pink because they consume shrimp and algae with a high amount of beta carotene, an orange-reddish pigment that flamingos metabolize and turn their feathers into beautiful and vibrant shades of pink. Ok, enough of the fun stuff. 

The shrimping industry is rife with human rights abuses and violations. There are many reasons and speculations as to why that is the case, such as being alone at sea where there are no random inspections, third-party facilities where shrimp are processed/ packaged, and the scale of the industry. The global shrimp market is valued at $62.8 Billion and grows yearly (Imarc, 2021). The focus of this blog post takes us to Thailand and exposes a company named Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) which brings in around $16 Billion in revenue (Forbes, 2022). One of their most significant and well-known buyers is Cosco. One pound of cooked, peeled shrimp at Costco will set you back $14.49, but the amount of human suffering it took to consume those little shrimpies doesn't have a price tag. Also, Nestle has been implicated for their role in purchasing shrimp from CP Foods and using it in Fancy Feast for cats. 

The shrimping industry uses forced labor in large part to continuing to keep the prices low for consumers like you and me. Myanmar and Cambodia have fewer opportunities for people. They are much poorer, making perfect conditions for enslavement, trafficking, and exploitation. Companies make false promises of good-wage jobs if they come to Thailand to work, where they are stripped of their passports, without work visas, and forced to work for little to no money. Usually lured by a broker, then hauled off to Thailand and sold to a Gig shed (Mason, 2015). Migrant workers are habitually trafficked, enslaved, and forced to work on shrimp fishing boats (Kelly, 2018). The shrimp are sitting in ice buckets upon arrival, where women, children, and men are forced to work 16-hour days with aching hands due to the cold ice baths that no glove can protect them from enduring. Pervasive human trafficking has helped make Thailand the world's largest shrimp provider (Mason, 2015). 

A Burmese worker Tin Nyo Win and his wife at a peel shed talking to Thai authorities during a raid and seemingly quite happy to be freed. 

AP Photo Dita Alangkara 

I am going to focus on the act of peeling shrimp because it is a significant issue within a much larger problem. These peel sheds are hidden in plain sight in port towns along the coast of Thailand. Peel sheds are third-party facilities where people are forced to process the caught shrimp. They rip the guts, heads, tails, and shells off the shrimp so they can be consumed elsewhere. These sheds could be large warehouses or, quite literally, a single shed with no signage in the middle of a busy port city in Thailand. Abuse is widespread in Samut Sakhon, a port town in Thailand. The wage is tied to how much shrimp one can peel in a day. Tin Nyo Win, photographed in the picture above, told authorities he and his wife peeled 175 pounds of shrimp daily for less than 4 dollars a day (Mason, 2015). If Costco sells a single pound for $14.50, the math is remarkable, and the markup for these pink crustaceans is outrageous. Due to the fact Tin Nyo Win and his wife were sold into this industry, the owner of this particular peel shed told him and his wife they actually owed him money and had to work off their debt, meaning they were enslaved. Workers are expected to sleep where they work and work long hours regardless of health, and there have been reports of sick people having to process shellfish all day (Mason, 2015). Arms and hands endure infections from the brine water the shrimp stay in during the day. Children are forced to work alongside parents to help them maintain a quota. All in all, it's pretty horrific and lacks any semblance of safety or health code regulations. 

AP Photo Dita Alangkara

AP Photo Dita Alangkara

AP Photo Dita Alangkara

There is much more to uncover. This is only the beginning of the shrimp industry and its human rights abuses. Please watch the video I am providing below to understand the gravity of the situation!!!

(Mason, 2015)

AP: Supermarkets Selling Shrimp Peeled By Slaves

Works Cited:

Forbes profile. 2022. Charoen Pokphand Foods Company Stats. https://www.forbes.com/companies/charoen-pokphand-foods/?sh=4cffd025cb52. 

Imarcgroup. 2021. Top Companies in the Shrimp Market. https://www.imarcgroup.com/shrimp-companies

Kelly, Annie. (2018). Thai Seafood: Are the prawns on your plate still fished by slaves? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jan/23/thai-seafood-industry-report-trafficking-rights-abuses

Mason, Margie, Et Al. 2015. Global supermarkets selling peeled shrimp. Associated Press. Seafood from slaves. Dec. 14, 2015. https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/global-supermarkets-selling-shrimp-peeled-by-slaves.html