Kaohsiung, Taiwan (November 15, 2021) – FCF Co., Ltd. (FCF) has recently introduced the Worker’s Voice Program (WVP) to the Squid and Saury fishing vessels that harvest Argentine Squid and Pacific Saury as major target species. FCF also carried out the orientation session to debrief how WVP works to the crew during the period of fishing vessels’ returning to the port for preparation and maintenance. Every year, Saury fishing vessels return to Taiwan from the North Pacific fishing area around November for maintenance and then head to Falkland Islands for Squid fishing operations in the next month. It is expected that more fishing vessels will be introduced to WVP when they return to the port one after another.
The new application of WVP to Squid and Saury fisheries is encouraging progress after FCF’s numerous social responsibility workshops as well as multiple continuous face-to-face communications with the vessel owners. The crew members are able to share the information pertaining to WVP to other crew members through word of mouth so that more and more crew members can make use of the digital grievance mechanism more effectively in order to protect their rights and interests.
The Worker’s Voice Program (WVP) is a solution providing efficient management and documentation of large-scale grievance mechanisms focused on social risks and corrective action implementation. Crew members’ opinions are anonymously transmitted and the system provides PCTSFSC the ability to track submissions status and progress toward resolution and eventual documented orderly close-out for each individual case.
In addition, Max Chou, President of FCF, and the owner of a Taiwanese Squid and Saury fleet signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding FCF Social Responsibility Program (SRP). The MOU means different to FCF since it is the first fishing operator of Squid and Saury fisheries, which owns nearly ten (10) fishing vessels, commits to working with FCF to identify potential risks related to human rights in Squid and Saury fisheries and systematically implement improvement actions through FCF SRP.
“FCF has continuously been promoting social responsibility in the fishing industry and we’re pleased to announce our expansion to squid and saury fisheries covering more vessels within FCF’s supply chain. We understand that we cannot transform the industry by ourselves, we must work closely and proactively with our supply chain partners to adopt positive changes. Our team has engaged with multiple committed fishing companies and recruitment agencies for the advocacy of improvement actions to the crew members working in the distant water fisheries. Moreover, FCF has facilitated 5 social awareness workshops over the past 3 months for the capacity building of our supply chain.” said Max Chou, the President of FCF.
“FCF is one of the earliest marine product traders to implement social responsibility program, and throughout the years, FCF has continued to adopt international standards into its operations,” said the Taiwanese fleet owner, “We know this is a direction that our company wants to go for in the near future, and hopefully with FCF, we can ensure the sustainable development of the Squid and Saury fisheries for generations to come.”
Since August, FCF has been organizing a series of social responsibility workshops- “With Prosperity Comes Responsibility”. Through the exchanges between NGOs and valued parties and experts, the importance and practical practices of social responsibility in the fishing industry have been identified, discussed, and promoted.
FCF continues to implement its social responsibility program. In recent years, the company has persisted in conducting on-site audits and visits of cooperating fishing vessels and crew members and has assisted the operators within the industry in making improvements to meet common international social responsibility standards. In addition, FCF has launched various subsidiary programs, including the Worker’s Voice Program, the Responsible Recruitment Program, etc., to strive for real changes.
