FISHERMEN RIGHTS-HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOVEREIGNITY

 Human rights have become a topic of great importance in the fishing industry. This comes after the fishing industry has been on the spotlight for several cases of abuse of human rights. Fishermen are being subjected to very inhumane conditions. When discussing human rights in fishing industry issues of fishing rights is always brought up and there is always some form of conflict that exists in terms of allocation of such rights. It is important to recognize that crimes do happen in the fishing industry that not only threatens our ecosystems but also labourers working in the industry. Let’s take a look at how the fishing industry negatively impacts its workers and violates their rights.

1.      Poor working conditions

Most vessels subject their workers to poor working and living conditions and this has been going on for a while and several investigations have been conducted on the same. Access to adequate food, water, safety equipment and adequate living space, with spaces being cramped is an issue that has been identified (ILO).

Many fishers spend long hours away from home, with most spending even more time on sea and living there, in conditions that are not very suitable. With most spending time on the vessels, there is no clear distinction between working hours and resting hours, this makes them more vulnerable to over working and long working hours. Fishing is actually hazardous as when fishers experience challenges or are exploited they are far from family members and even authorities. They are also more likely to face more risks due to decline in fish stocks which forces then to move further offshore. This means the fatality rate of fishers are very high. Many fishers have complained of intense work, poor working conditions and very low wages.

2.      Human trafficking and Forced labour

There are many reports that show that forced labour and human trafficking is a serious issue the fishing industry, with migrants being the most vulnerable. Migrants are most vulnerable as the make up most of the labour and they are more vulnerable to being forced and tricked by recruitment agents and forced to work by means of bondage or threat (ILO).

Victims have reported incidents of sexual abuse, physical torture, long working hours, illness and death of fellow work mates. Illegal fishing, over fishing and sourcing labour from low income countries means migrant workers who are paid less are employed. Language barrier, lack of training and inability to enforce required standards make these fishers vulnerable to trafficking and forced labour.

Amidst efforts to address the issues, Thailand has been on the spotlight because of human rights abuses in the fishing industry. In April 2015, the European Union issued a “Yellow card” warning to Thailand as a country that is very possible to be uncooperative in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Human rights watch 2018).

Child labour and abuse has also been reported in harvesting and processing in the fishing industry, with studies showing there could be millions of children involved throughout the world. In Ghana, very young children are sold as bonded labourers and denied education, exposed to slavery and hazardous labour, malnourished and exposed to other forms of abuse. In Vietnam, there is evidence that children aged 5-17 are involved in harvesting and processing and are exposed to very hazardous tasks. Human trafficking and child labour is not only limited to these countries but globally this has been an issue (Lydia, et al 2019)

To curb the cases of human rights abuses in this industry, there should be stronger regulatory controls to improve working conditions at sea, proper implementation and enforcement of laws, fully equipped and trained labour inspectors and enforcement of labour laws that are in compliance with labour standards.

3.      Fishing rights

In fisheries management there exist a very important relationship between human rights and fishing rights. Fishing rights are permission that a licensing body grants a fisher to harvest fish or any aquatic product. Human rights where everyone is a right-holder and doesn’t exclude anyone, however fishing rights can’t always be equated as human rights as only those who have the ‘rights’ through licensing can get access to the resource and benefit. Hence, human rights and fishing rights cannot be considered to be equal (Song et al 2019).

Another challenge of fishing rights is determining whose rights matter more when different parties are trying to secure fishing rights; a good example is between native community and non-native small scale fishers (Song et al 2019). It is important to recognize both rights when planning and implementing Human Rights Based Approach as fishing as though it was a human right also poses great challenges. Prioritizing the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable over the economic interest of larger scale fisheries should be key and paid much focus.

REFERENCES

ILO, work in fishing convention No. 188 and recommendation No. 199.

ILO, Forced labour and human trafficking in fisheries

Human Rights Watch, January 23, 2018, Hidden Chains. Rights Abuses and Forced Labor in Thailand’s Fishing Industry.

Lydia C. L. Teh ,Richard Caddell,Edward H. Allison, Elena M. Finkbeiner,John N. Kittinger, Katrina Nakamura,Yoshitaka Ota. The role of human rights in implementing socially responsible seafood. January 25, 2019

Andrew M. Song, Adam Soliman, Situating human rights in the context of fishing rights – Contributions and contradictions