China leads list of labor abusers, sometimes akin to slavery
In this July 2021 photo provided by Sea Shepherd, the Chang Tai 802, a Chinese-flagged ship, fishes for squid at night on the high seas off the west coast of South America. Hazardous work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, including this one, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, according to research by the Financial Transparency Coalition released on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Photo: Isaac Haslam/Sea Shepherd
AP NEWS
MIAMI, Florida, USA — Hazardous, forced work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, a new report concluded.
MIAMI, Florida, USA — Hazardous, forced work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, a new report concluded.
The research by the Financial Transparency Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that tracks illicit money flows, is the most comprehensive attempt to date to identify the companies operating vessels where tens of thousands of workers every year are estimated to be trapped in unsafe conditions.
The report, published Wednesday, found that a quarter of vessels suspected of abusing workers are flagged to China, whose distant water fleet dominates fishing on the high seas, traditionally lawless areas beyond the jurisdiction of any single country.
Vessels from Russia, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea were also accused of mistreatment of fishers.
Disclaimer: Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) welcomes your thoughts, feedback, views, bloggs and opinions. However, by posting a blogg you are agreeing to post comments or bloggs that are relevant to the topic, and that are not defamatory, liable, obscene, racist, abusive, sexist, anti-Semitic, threatening, hateful or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be excluded permanently from making contributions. Please view our declaimer above this article. We thank you in advance for complying with VINO's policy.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
Disclaimer: All comments posted on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) are the sole views and opinions of the commentators and or bloggers and do not in anyway represent the views and opinions of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Virgin Islands News Online and its parent company.
Leave a Reply