Greenpeace details forced labor allegations against Taiwan fishing vessels

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Greenpeace on Thursday urged the Cabinet to ratify an international convention protecting the rights of fishers, days after it published a report containing allegations of forced labor on 12 Taiwanese fishing vessels.

At a press conference, Greenpeace Taiwan shared details from an investigative report published by the NGO's Southeast Asia branch on Monday, titled "Netting Profits, Risking Lives - The Unresolved Human and Environmental Exploitation at Sea."

The allegations related to Taiwan came from Indonesian fishermen who worked on 12 Taiwanese far-sea fishing vessels between 2019 and 2024.

Fishers on almost all the vessels reported behaviors from their bosses recognized as forced labor by the International Labor Organization (ILO), Greenpeace said, including detention, retention of identity documents and debt bondage.

Specifically, fishers reported working 21-hour days, regularly being fed food that was expired or rotten, and being unable to receive medical care for fevers and other illnesses, Greenpeace said.

In one instance, it said, a fisherman permanently lost the vision in his right eye because he was unable to see a doctor, and received no compensation after the fact.

On one of the vessels -- Shin Lian Fa No. 168, which is owned by Taiwanese tuna trader FCF and has supplied the popular U.S. tuna brand Bumble Bee -- three Indonesian fishers were left stranded at port in Mauritius for two years, Greenpeace said.

Many of these actions likely violated the "Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members," said Chung Meng-hsun (鍾孟勳), a project director at Greenpeace's Taipei office.

The report also suggested that six of the 12 Taiwanese vessels engaged in illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing.

Three of those vessels -- Guan Wang, Chaan Ying and Sheng Ching Fa No. 96, all owned by FCF -- were said by witnesses to have engaged in shark finning, which if confirmed, would be a violation of Taiwan's Act for Distant Water Fisheries.

At the press conference, Greenpeace Taiwan called on the Cabinet to set a schedule for legislating the "Work in Fishing Convention Implementation Regulations."

In a written response, the Ministry of Agriculture's Fisheries Agency said it completed a draft version of that bill on Sept. 22, and is currently collecting opinions from stakeholders before submitting it to the Cabinet for approval.

The convention, which was adopted by the ILO and entered into force in 2017, is intended to guarantee access to decent working and living conditions for fishers worldwide. It has been ratified by 22 countries.

The agency added that it planned to investigate the alleged legal violations contained in the report. However, it contended that the disputes involving one of the vessels -- Shin Lian Fa No. 168 -- had already been resolved via negotiations with the Indonesian government.

Regarding the claims relating to payment and retention of documents, the agency noted it had successfully passed legal amendments in 2022 requiring boat owners to pay their workers directly and in full, rather than transferring payments through a foreign broker.

In 2022, Taiwan also ratified the "Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights," while the Fisheries Agency hired an additional 60 labor inspectors and began subsidizing the installation of Wi-Fi on board distant water fishing vessels, the agency said.