‘A Fishing Accident Blinded Me but I Was Forced to Keep Working’: Abuses Faced by Workers Who Catch Our Fish

Negligence, physical and verbal abuse are common in unregulated industry. Now labor groups and government officials are trying to crack down

Labor groups and government officials are pushing to rein in rampant abuses of workers in the fishing industry, where migrant laborers are frequently subjected to slavery and violence from employers.

One out of every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in conditions where abuses of workers are common, according to a United Nations estimate. Some 128,000 workers are thought to be currently trapped in forced labor on remote fishing vessels around the world, according to the International Labour Organization.

Child labor or forced labor has been documented in the production of fish, dried fish, shellfish, and shrimp in 20 countries, according to the US Department of Labor.

In one case, a worker was blinded in one eye after a fishing line snapped. He said the ship’s captain forced him to carry on working instead of seeking medical help.