This week the 12th meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) takes place in Manta, Ecuador, where the proposal for a standard with basic safety parameters and for the fair treatment of fish will be analyzed. the crew members of fishing vessels that operate in the waters of said organization.

 

Although the institution has adopted management measures focused on ensuring the sustainability of resources and there is concern for birds, marine mammals and bycatch, until now it has never implemented a standard focused on the well-being of fishermen. This is a common regulatory gap among RFMOs, although some are making progress in assuming that responsibility.

 

The risk of labor abuses is high in fishing vessels that enter Peruvian ports and/or that transship along the Humboldt Current, according to Selig et al. (2022). At a global level, the main risk factors, they indicate, are the nationality of the vessels – in particular, whether they are Chinese – or their fishing gear (jiggers and trawlers are two risk groups).

 

The widespread and increasing use of seafarers of a nationality other than that of the flag state, particularly among long-distance fishing fleets, raises issues of equal treatment and discrimination. In some cases, fishermen are subjected to severely exploitative conditions, such as forced labor and human trafficking.

 

The new Conservation and Management Measure proposed by New Zealand, the United States and Australia includes among its standards: absence of forced human trafficking or any other form of involuntary or compulsory labor; a safe work environment, with minimal risk to health and well-being; fair conditions of employment set out in a contract, which are made available to the employee in a form and language that facilitates his understanding, and which are accepted by him; Decent working and living conditions, including access to sufficient fresh water and food, safety protection and medical care, and facilitating acceptable levels of sanitary hygiene; access to appropriate safety equipment and requiring the flag State to provide safety training according to IMO standards, and ILO fisheries safety and health standards; decent and regular remuneration and insurance for the crew; and the opportunity to disembark and request repatriation.

 

For its part, Ecuador proposes in the PS-RFMO the creation of a working group on labor standards. To define the terms of reference and scope of the proposal, it has received technical assistance from the International Labor Organization (ILO), through its project Strengthening decent work in the fishing sector in Peru and Ecuador.

 

Chris Williams, Fisheries Section at International Transport Workers'​ Federation (ITF), said: "The ITF welcomes the initiative to address labor issues and the working and living conditions of fishermen through the ratification and implementation of relevant instruments. of the ILO (including Convention 29 and Convention 188), which members of the RFMOs apply and enforce".

 

According to Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre, President of the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Giant Squid of the South Pacific (CALAMASUR), “we must add to the three pillars that are usually referred to when talking about a sustainable fishery - the health of the populations, "environmental protection and effective state management - labor and human rights issues."

 

“Today it is impossible to talk about sustainability if this fundamental requirement of care and respect for the labor rights of workers in that fishery is not met,” clarified the President of CALAMASUR.