Slavery, murder, starvation and abuse.
A Kiwi investigator is shining a light on the dark side of the fishing industry after his investigation sparked key changes.
The world's biggest producer of tinned tuna, Thai Union, has agreed to reduce slavery and illegal fishing in its supply chain thanks to private investigator Tim Mckinnel and Greenpeace.
He told Larry Williams industry-wide change is needed because the fish we eat is tainted by horrific conditions at sea.
"Several dozen vessels, they're cockroach ridden, you've got open pitted toilets, people told us they worked for years and get kicked off the boats and paid nothing."
McKinnel said the changes Thai Union has agreed to are incredibly important.
"They are a global giant and we believe from our analysis that they are responsible for one in five tins of tuna globally and for them to be making such a substantial commitment to human rights and the environment is impressive."
LISTEN ABOVE AS MCKINNEL SPEAKS WITH LARRY WILLIAMS
Earlier McKinnel told the NZ Herald about how slavery might be defined today when he mentions the use of a slug gun.
"Is it debt-bondage or do you have to be in chains?" says the Greenpeace investigator.
"I interviewed one guy who worked on a tuna longliner where his captain would shoot his crew with a slug gun from the bridge to get their attention.
"They were working in the tropics but they took to wearing raincoats to protect themselves.
"I don't know how you would define that other than criminal violence but these guys would come into port and couldn't leave the boat because they were owed too much money."
McKinnel doesn't doubt that human trafficking is rampant in the fishing industry, and, he says, "We are kidding ourselves if we think New Zealand isn't tainted by these issues."
New Zealand imports, for example, more than 500 tonnes of mostly tuna products each year from Thai Union, , the giant fishing company targeted by a Greenpeace campaign.
Thai Union and the environmental lobby group jointly announced today a range of plans to boost fishery sustainability and improve the treatment of workers throughout its supply chain.
McKinnel, best known for his leading role exposing the miscarriage of justice suffered by Teina Pora, has in recent years worked as research and investigation manager on Greenpeace's tuna campaign.
It was no secret, he tells the Herald, that there were issues around labour standards and over-capacity in terms of the amount of fish being taken out of the sea. To be a credible campaign they needed evidence.
That involved hearing the stories of fishermen and factory workers.
The investigation was headed by Greenpeace New Zealand and involved work by staff in West Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, remote islands in the Indian Ocean and landlocked Cambodia where migrants workers are recruited.
They used local conduits to help with access and language barriers. "It can be challenging. There is a veil of secrecy that shrouds the fishing industry and it is not always easy to get access to vessels or workers."
"Some fishermen we spoke to would work for years and not get paid a cent. Others we calculated were earning 13 or 14 cents an hour.
"They worked 20 or 22 hours a day. Money was meant to be remitted back to their families in their home countries but that would never eventuate.
"We met dozens and dozens of fishermen who were debt bonded, so they were trapped by debts they'd incurred from recruitment fees."
Agents in countries such as Cambodia and Burma charged exorbitant fees to arrange fishing jobs that on the face of it appeared to be paid quite well, McKinnel says.
Some had applied to work in fish factories or on boats other than tuna longliners but found themselves tricked, indebted and trapped.
They were lured by the chance to earn much more than they could if they stayed in their village. "Many never get paid what they are promised, if anything. They are disposable commodities to many of the f...
