A landmark human trafficking lawsuit filed by four Indonesian fishermen against US canned seafood giant Bumble Bee Seafoods could open the door for more victims of forced labour to sue well-resourced companies that profit from their exploitation at sea, rights groups said. In the lawsuit, filed on March 12 in California, the plaintiffs alleged forced labour and abuse on board Chinese-owned longline vessels in Bumble Bee’s supply chain. The complaint detailed abuses such as withheld wages, physical mistreatment, long working hours, debt bondage, and threats to their families. It is believed to be the first case of forced labour at sea brought against an American seafood company. “Trafficking at sea happens because it’s profitable, perpetrators can avoid getting caught because the victims are isolated from law enforcement and there are so many jurisdictional hurdles to effective enforcement,” Agnieszka Fryszman, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told This Week in Asia, adding that once onshore, fishers often lack access to legal support in other countries. “Merely arresting the low level actors will not put a stop to forced labour.” Bumble Bee, which is owned by a Taiwanese tuna trader FCF Co. Ltd., did not respond to a request for comment. The company is one of the top canned albacore tuna brands in the US, earning more than US$1 billion in annual revenues, the lawsuit said. In 2018, Fryszman represented two Indonesian fishermen who sued an American boat owner for lack of medical treatment, verbal abuse, and financial threats. After escaping from the boat in San Francisco, they received special visas for human trafficking victims and settled for an undisclosed amount. “Unfortunately, it was too small of a case, against just one captain, to have lasting impact on the commercial fishing industry,” Fryszman said. The new lawsuit claimed that a fisherman, Muhammad Syafi’i, had been “severely burned” while working in the kitchen, while another, Akhmad, said that his leg was “gashed open from mid-shin to thigh … he could see the bone in his leg” after a load of fish fell on him due to a broken rope. The suit also said neither man received medical treatment due to a lack of supplies on the ship. The plaintiffs also alleged physical abuse at the hand’s of the ship’s captain, including “being lashed, beaten with a metal hook, and stabbed with a metal needle”. All the men were promised salaries ranging from US$300-US$700 per month, but these amounts were significantly reduced due to recruitment fees, on board living costs, and the stipulation that they complete their contract terms. It is never easy for individuals to go against large, well-resourced corporations like Bumble Bee, but these men are Sari Heidenreich, senior human rights adviser for Greenpeace US Failing to do so could result in fines as high as US$20,000, as was the case with Muhammad Sahrudin. All the plaintiffs repeatedly asked to go home, but their requests were ignored. One captain even told Akhmad to “swim in the ocean” if he wanted to leave. “It is never easy for individuals to go up against large, well-resourced, and influential corporations like Bumble Bee, but these men are,” said Sari Heidenreich, senior human rights adviser for Greenpeace USA. “I am optimistic that through this case, the fishers will get the justice they deserve and that corporations will know their power is not unmatched,” she said in a statement on March 12. Greenpeace is providing legal support for the plaintiffs. Systemic change According to Fryszman, the men sought “corporate accountability” to prompt reform in the US$350 billion global seafood industry. This included measures such as “prohibiting transshipment and requiring vessels [to] return to port every three months, so fishers are not trapped at sea for a year or more, requiring adequate rest time consistent with the [International Labour Organization] convention, and requiring vessels to have appropriate medical equipment”. ILO Convention 188 sets standards for decent working conditions for fishers, including adequate accommodation, food, medical care, regulated hours, and safety. However, major fishing nations like China and Indonesia, despite being ILO members, have yet to ratify it. Cases of forced labour and human trafficking involving Indonesian fishermen on foreign-flagged vessels have been well-documented over the years. In 2020, Jakarta summoned a Beijing envoy after a viral video showed the bodies of three Indonesian fishermen being dumped overboard from a Chinese vessel. In December, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union and Greenpeace Southeast Asia released their latest forced labour at sea report, which found the practice still occurring on 12 Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessels – including four that supplied Bumble Bee. The report also noted the involvement of nine Indonesian and four Taiwanese recruitment agencies. Afdillah Chudiel, an ocean campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, said many factors drove Indonesian fishermen to work on foreign boats. “[It] is also because of poor governance in our local fisheries’ industry. The recruitment process on local ships is also problematic. The [calculation of the] wages and salaries is not clear, so when there is an offer to work on a foreign ship, they are interested,” Afdillah said. Depleted fish stock in Indonesian seas, such as in the northern coast of Java, had also forced local fishers to work as migrant fishers on foreign-flagged, distant-water fleets for extended periods, Afdillah said. He noted that some recruiters had received permits from the ministry of transport, instead of the ministry of labour, which exempted them from regulations for Indonesian migrant workers. This overlap in authority hindered effective supervision and law enforcement, he said. In California, Fryszman said she hopes the lawsuit will highlight the role of the manning agencies. “One of our requests is that Bumble Bee enforces effective policies that bar manning agencies that charge fishers any fees, including recruitment fees, guarantee fees or other penalties for terminating a contract, as well as ensure that all fishers are paid in full at least monthly,” she said.