The Executive Vice President of FCF shared from a seafood industry traders’ perspective the strategy to solving forced labor in the distant water fishery. (Photo: American Institution Taiwan)
Taiwan, Kaohsiung (January, 13, 2022) – Forced labor in fisheries has been increasingly recognized by international NGOs and media. On January 11, the American Institution Taiwan (AIT) pro-actively encourages stakeholders to discuss and exchange ideas on the issue of labor in fisheries by hosting the seminar on “Development of Taiwan’s Distant Waters Fisheries and Labor Conditions for Migrant Fishermen”, enabling engagement between government, academia, NGO and industry. AIT also invited FCF Co., Ltd (FCF) as one of the panelists to share FCF’s social responsibility program work and solutions on the distant water fishery supply chain on labor issues.
Diane Sovereign, the Chief of Public Diplomacy Section at AIT, indicated that current consumer markets increasingly place the importance on the value of sustainable fisheries which covers not only the protection of the environment but also fishermen’s human rights and social responsibility in the seafood industry. As one of the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, how Taiwan develops related policies will have great impact. Therefore, AIT invited various representatives from different fields, including the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of European Commission, experts from Monterey Bay Aquarium, FCF, Lung Soon Ocean Group, suppliers, scholars and civil groups to discuss the challenges and difficulties, recommended industry-best practices, international standards related to human rights as well as the potential adoption of the risk-averse and systematic approaches. The Director General of Fisheries Agency of Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (TFA), the Chairman of Taiwan Deepsea Tuna Longline Boatowners and Exporters Association, as well as, the Vice President of National Chung-Cheng University were also in present to deliver the opening remarks.
During the session, Arthur Yeh, the Executive Vice President of FCF shared from a seafood industry traders’ perspective the strategy to solving forced labor in the distant water fishery and various approaches the industry implements for social responsibility. As a seafood supply chain solution provider FCF supports suppliers to identifying the challenges and implement improvement through, for example, the development of management system procedures and development of a “Worker’s Voice” project. A digitalized grievance mechanism in collaboration with the “Seafarers and Fisher-man Service Center (SFSC)”. FCF also shared experiences of engagement with fishers and stressed the necessity of having grievance mechanisms in place for the fishers.
Arthur Yeh further explained FCF’s Social Responsibility Program, not only involves independent social evaluation, support to improve social practices but was also developed based on the Seafood Task Force Code of Conduct and industry-accepted principles which aims to protect the welfare of crew members, and effectively minimize the risk of human rights violation from entering the supply chain. SFSC also attended the session to share their experience of implementing the “Worker’s Voice program” with FCF. The program aims to establish a digital grievance mechanism, providing a safe, instant and efficient e-platform for fishermen to communicate with suppliers. FCF also con-ducts regular supply chain engagement visits to suppliers, to increase the coverage of the Worker Voice program accessibility in the industry.
At the end of the seminar, Mason Yu, the Branch Chief of AIT Kaohsiung Branch Office, expressed that there are many topics raised in the event worth further discussing. AIT will continue promoting related activities for fisheries labor and social responsibility issues by inviting stakeholders to participate, and continue to advocate for improvement.
