The ocean makes up two-thirds of the planet's surface. More than three billion people rely on the sea for their livelihoods (OCED, 2022), representing many opportunities and its fair share of challenges. The ocean means It truly is uncharted territory, the last frontier; the lawlessness at sea is truly staggering. Given the vastness of international waters, regulating what is happening on every vessel is hard. This video provided below does a great job explaining how international water laws work or don't work; I would argue the latter due to the lack of resources allocated to monitoring and combating illegal activities in the oceans. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health lists commercial fishing as among the most dangerous jobs in the US.
Modern slavery is prevalent in the fishing industry worldwide, and America is no different. In Honolulu, off pier 17, an American fleet of boats holds hostage hundreds of undocumented men due to a federal loophole. This loophole does not allow these undocumented men, from mainly Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, or Kiribati, to leave the vessel or step on American soil; the men are at the mercy of the American captains who have seized their passports on American-owned ships flying the American flag (Mendoza, 2016). The loophole is much more sinister because fishermen are duped into thinking they are coming to America to make a lot of money. Once directly boated in from respective countries with no visas, law enforcement steps in and demands all workers must stay on the vessel. Despite being on an American vessel, there is nothing free about this imprisonment. They are without visas, the captain holds their passport, and they are meant to fulfill their contracts no matter the circumstances. Given the fact these American vessels have no obligation to follow labor standard governing other major U.S. fishing sites. (Mendoza, 2016).
The average American deck sometimes gets paid $28,000 for just a few months out of the year.
Meanwhile, undocumented foreign workers are only getting paid $350 a month, which is only about .70 cents an hour (Mendoza, 2016). Working up to 20 hours a day and catching some of the world's most exotic and expensive fish. The undocumented men lived in heinous conditions on the vessels, were forced to use buckets instead of toilets, had terrible sores from bed bugs, and lacked sufficient food (Mendoza, 2016).
The AP report stated that " 700 foreign workers in Hawaii, who catch $110 million worth of seafood annually, lack certain labor rights most Americans take for granted." Undocumented workers' exploitation while making exorbitant capital for these boat owners is astonishing. Upscale restaurants and markets proudly state, "Local matters. Fresh. Product of the USA (Hawaii_ Processed in," but these labels are misleading at best, beneath the surface of these labels, fish are being sold for hundreds of dollars while fishermen are not receiving adequate pay or living conditions.
AP Photo/ Caleb Jones
AP Photo/ Caleb Jones
Works Cited
Mendoza. M, Mason, M. 2016. Hawaiian seafood caught by crews confined on boats. AP News. Sept. 8, 2016. https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/hawaiian-seafood-caught-foreign-crews-confined-boats.html
OC. 2022. Better policies for ocean life. The USA. https://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/
Hey Summre! This post was so interesting because I learned a lot about the fishing industry and how it operates. I was really interested in the part that you posted about the men on the boats off of the coast of Hawaii. I think that this is a really interesting human rights violation because it is something that I feel like has no recognition or awareness that is spread about it at all. I felt like you were really informative for such a simple blog post, and I really appreciate your addition of photos for reference. Great post! -Emma
Hey Summre, This post was really interesting, I had no idea how many undocumented people were being taken advantage of for their basically free labor. Thank you so much for reporting on this, really opened my eyes! Ally
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 ...
Greetings, my fellow comrades! Creator: Jennifer Cappuccio Maher | Credit: Staff Photographer Copyright: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG So as previously stated, I want to emphasize that the purpose of this blog is to expose companies that violate human rights with either prison labor, child labor, and/or just horrendous labor violations. Today I am going to focus on prison labor. As I mentioned, I have personal experience with prison labor, a...
Hey Summre!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so interesting because I learned a lot about the fishing industry and how it operates. I was really interested in the part that you posted about the men on the boats off of the coast of Hawaii. I think that this is a really interesting human rights violation because it is something that I feel like has no recognition or awareness that is spread about it at all. I felt like you were really informative for such a simple blog post, and I really appreciate your addition of photos for reference. Great post!
-Emma
Hey Summre,
ReplyDeleteThis post was really interesting, I had no idea how many undocumented people were being taken advantage of for their basically free labor. Thank you so much for reporting on this, really opened my eyes!
Ally