A regional survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals persistent gaps in decent working conditions for migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors in Asia, highlighting the need to ratify and fully implement international labour standards on recruitment, work in fishing and forced labour.
"Towards fair seas: Recruitment and working conditions for migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors in South-East Asia," delivers a comprehensive assessment of working and living conditions for migrant workers, including the prevalence of forced labour.
Produced by the European Union funded ILO Ship to Shore Rights South-East Asia programme, the survey is the largest of its kind conducted on these issues to date. It significantly expands the data available on migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing industries in Asia, providing a clearer picture of the situation in major countries of origin (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Viet Nam), as well as in destinations (China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) and Thailand).
The findings reveal that substantial challenges exist across much of the region's blue economy, including high recruitment costs, inadequate wage protection, long work hours, serious occupational injuries, barriers to freedom of association, gaps in access to social protection and concerns with forced labour.
Applying the ILO methodology for measuring forced labour, the study estimated that one out of eight migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors (13 per cent) were employed in situations of forced labour, meaning they were working against their will and unable to leave their employment. Forced labour was much more common among migrant fishers (20 per cent) than seafood processing workers (0.4 per cent).
The study particularly highlights the higher frequency of abuse on distant water tuna fishing vessels, where excessive work hours and extremely long periods at sea contribute to heightened vulnerability to coercive labour practices. The location for this type of fishing, which is often carried out in remote fishing grounds on the high seas where law enforcement is very limited, further exacerbates the risk for migrant fishers.
Although the survey revealed that conditions are better in the seafood processing industry, improvements in labour rights protection are needed throughout all tiers of the fish and seafood supply chain. Notably, the heavy reliance on women migrant workers to perform low-paid, precarious and often informalized work in the seafood processing value chain has not received sufficient attention.
Luisa Ragher, Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to the Kingdom of Thailand, said: "Important advances have been achieved in increasing adherence to international labour standards in the fishing and seafood processing industries in recent years. However, as the findings of this report clearly show, ensuring decent work for migrant workers is a regional challenge and much more needs to be done."
Amongst its recommendations, the report highlights the fundamental importance of ratifying and fully implementing international labour standards relating to recruitment, work in fishing and forced labour in order to provide a legally binding set of minimum standards for decent work in the fishing and seafood processing sectors. It also recommends that migrants are provided with their fundamental rights to form trade unions and bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions.
"Decent work deficits in the fishing and seafood processing sector reflect structural weaknesses in how labour and migration are governed across the region. Addressing these challenges requires coordinated action by governments, employers and workers to ensure accountability throughout the supply chain," said Tuomo Poutiainen, ILO Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
Fishing, seafood processing and related industries have long provided an essential livelihood for those living along the region's fertile coastlines. Of the approximately 61.8 million people working in fisheries and aquaculture globally, an estimated 52.7 million work in Asia. In some countries of Asia, the blue economy constitutes as much as a 20 per cent share of gross domestic product.
Ship to Shore Rights South-East Asia: Safe Migration for Decent Work in the Blue Economy is a regional initiative funded by the EU. The ILO implements the programme in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with the overall objective of promoting safe migration and decent work for a sustainable fish and seafood supply chain in South-East Asia. The programme addresses the specific vulnerabilities that migrant workers face in these sectors, as well as the risks they encounter during the labour migration process, which can lead to decent work deficits, labour rights abuses and forced labour.
