If your mackerel came from Thailand, an enslaved migrant probably caught it
Thailand’s fishing industry is a global powerhouse. It exports around $7.3 billion worth of seafood annually, making it the planet’s third-biggest exporter after China and Norway. But the length of its coastline alone isn’t what got Thailand there. Instead, it probably has more to do with the fantastic profitability of its business model. Specifically, the labor inputs: brutally underpaid laborers, and often outright slavery.
Nearly all of Thai long-haul fishing vessels are crewed by migrants from neighboring countries, says a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (pdf)—many of whom are trafficked. They do backbreaking work for as many as 22 hours a day, for little or no pay. At sea for five or more months at a time, migrants have nowhere to escape to, and are sometimes moved from boat to boat while at sea to keep them captive.
The threat of violence is constant. One escaped migrant tells of captains beating them with a stingray tail (pdf, p.61); others tell of torture and even murder. One Thai fisherman saw a captain execute his 14-man crew; it was easier than paying wages.
A booming economy sandwiched between much poorer neighbors—Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar—Thailand is now a major destination for human trafficking (pdf). But the Thai authorities are doing little, or are even taking a cut. This reluctance to protect migrants goes all the way to the top, as a former commander in the Thai marine police told NPR. “[The government] says it’s too many and will affect the stability of the country,” said Surapol Thuanthong. ”So they don’t do anything.”
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http://qz.com/89452/if-your-mackerel-came-from-thailand-an-enslaved-migrant-probably-caught-it/
