Slavery scandals: Unpacking labour challenges and policy responses within the off-shore fisheries sector

Abstract

Over the past year, scandals around what has been labelled slave labour in the industrial fisheries sector in Thailand have revealed not only the connections between northern buyers and southern labour practices, but also the relative lack of research on fisheries labour in Asia and the global South. The slavery and trafficking framings pervading these depictions have been very useful for drawing attention to and acting on criminal activities in labour recruitment and abuse, but have limits as a basis for addressing the underlying causes of forced labour in fisheries. Insights from research on regional labour migration as well as the work of civil society organisations in Thailand suggest that broader improvements in labour relations will require changes in migration management, with a focus on addressing vulnerabilities that restrict the abilities of migrant workers to obtain better working conditions. This analysis provides the basis for assessing the potential and limits of recent programmes to improve labour relations on the oceans, including anti-trafficking policies, IUU enforcement, buyer efforts to ensure that supply chains do not involve forced or illegal labour relations, and Thai government actions.