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What's the true price of a can of tuna? This is the question that journalists ask in investigating the cost of enforcing sustainable seafood standards. The harassment of marine observers has become increasingly common, yet no one really knows about it. The issue is serious. Approximately 50% of marine observers in the US alone have reported being harassed on the job, including being threatened at knife point. Want to find out more about the terrifying conditions that marine observers experience? Click on.
Simi Cagilaba had been a marine observer for 18 years. With a background in marine affairs, he worked for Fiji’s Ministry of Fisheries in efforts to safeguard tuna fishing.
In 2015, he was onboard a seiner called the Sea Quest, just outside the Marshall Islands, as an official observer of marine fisheries.
Cagilaba was used to being the only observer onboard a fishing vessel. He spent nearly two decades at sea for weeks at a time.
But this 2015 trip was different. At the beginning of the voyage, he had already caught the ship’s captain falsifying documents. Twice.
Cagilaba had also observed crewmen dump several bags of plastic waste into the sea. Everything he observed, as directed, went into his report.
The ship’s captain didn’t want to have these unfavorable observations documented and allegedly harassed Cagilaba throughout his time onboard, seeking censored reporting.
Cagilaba recalled this trip during a testimony to the US Congress on the subject of observer harassment, which was being investigated alongside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Cagilaba’s experience isn’t unique. Just in the US, almost half of all observers report harassment on the job.
The Association for Professional Observers (APO) documents the experiences of these marine professionals and the dangerous incidents they experience.
The APO’s website includes incidents of rape, bribes, starvation, threats, and other forms of punishment and intimidation that observers experience onboard fishing vessels.
The APO notes that of all the regions, observers conducting work in the South Pacific face some of the worst conditions and risks.
According to the APO, the violence against observers is escalating. It's becoming increasingly common for marine observers to be thrown overboard, murdered, or otherwise disappeared.
The APO warns that the labels “sustainably caught” and “certified” come at great cost to human life due to the violence that marine observers are experiencing.
Large commercial suppliers can, of course, pressure the fishing industry to ensure that there is greater emphasis placed on the safety of marine observers.
Unfortunately, there has been little action in terms of commercial pressure. Some experts say that this is due to the fact that suppliers don’t really know which boats they buy from.
Therefore, they also don’t have any way of really knowing about the incidents that are taking place on those boats.
According to Greenpeace, one of the major challenges is the ambiguities of the global seafood supply chain, which allows companies to profit from a lack of information.
Advocates are attempting to bridge this gap to help bring commercial entities into play to better protect marine observers, as well as fishing crews, who face their own set of risks and dangers.
Who are marine observers and what do they do? What’s their role in the global seafood supply chain and why are they targeted?
Marine observers are primarily employed by governments and a few companies that are responsible for documenting fishing activities.
Documentation activities include data collection about the fish that are being sourced at sea, polluting activities by seafarers, and any other information that is relevant to fishing activities.
Their role is important, as they are the only entities that keep potential destruction at sea regulated and controlled.
Although there are a series of national, regional, and international regulations that exist, someone has to observe their implementation. This is the role of marine observers.
It’s precisely due to their unique role that they are often targeted. Protections for marine observers only came into play recently.
A well-known American observer seemingly disappeared at sea. The investigation of his disappearance prompted a larger investigation that unveiled reports of other disappearances and the deaths of marine observers more broadly.
In 2018, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) passed a measure to force member nations to observe the safety of its marine observers to prevent these incidents from occurring again.
Observers are now given two-way satellite radios to ensure they can report any perceived threats to their lives.
Commercial entities hold a great deal of power to pressure suppliers to adhere to regulations and frameworks. Retailers can place pressure on the fishing industry to take accountability and secure the safety of their crew and workers onboard fishing vessels.
In fact, retailers can influence the law, encouraging certifiers to include human rights in their sustainability standards. This measure alone could completely change the fishing industry’s supply chain.
Sources: (The Guardian) (Civil Eats) (Association for Professional Observers)
See also: Underwater farms: a new hope for combating climate change?
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What's the true price of a can of tuna? This is the question that journalists ask when investigating the realities of enforcing sustainable seafood standards. The harassment of marine observers has become increasingly common, yet no one really knows about it. The issue is serious. Approximately 50% of marine observers in the US alone have reported being harassed on the job, including being threatened at knife point.
Want to find out more about the terrifying conditions that marine observers experience? Click on.