One in every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, often in conditions rife with worker abuse. The United Nations estimates that approximately 128,000 workers are currently ensnared in forced labor on remote fishing vessels worldwide.

According to the US Department of Labor, child labor or forced labor has been observed in the production of various seafood items in at least 20 countries, underscoring the global scale of the issue.

Deputy secretary for international labor affairs at the US Department of Labor, Thea Lee, notes,

Fishing is just an extraordinarily problematic industry. There are so many things about it both physically and economically that make it very, very vulnerable and it’s not just child labor and forced labor but every other problem, in particular safety and health violations, but also freedom of association, collective bargaining, all the fundamental labor rights and discrimination. Every fundamental labor right is probably broken a lot.

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