[Press Release] “Tuna in the Black Box”: Human rights risks hidden in the opaque tuna supply chain from Korean fishing vessels to the Japanese market
Sashimi tuna exported by South Korea and imported by Japan are ripe with human rights violations, yet the supply chain’s opacity prevents buyers and consumers from knowing. A new report published by the Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL) and the Human Rights Now (HRN) identifies what stakeholders can do to unveil and prevent the risks of human rights abuse in the tuna supply chain, from South Korean vessels to the Japanese market.
Once South Korean tuna longliners catch sashimi tuna, the majority of them are transhipped at sea and exported to the Japanese trading companies for domestic handling and sale. However, due to a lack of oversight and transparency, it is hard to trace how tuna might reach the table of a Japanese consumer–from what vessel, by which companies, and through what stakeholders. The problem in this process, according to the report, is that South Korean tuna vessels hold records of human rights abuses such as forced labor and human trafficking. While the South Korean government has put in place some measures to prevent such abuse, they have been proven to be ineffective in the past years. Similarly, Japanese corporations that import and distribute tuna have not disclosed their supply chains, and while some have human rights due diligence policies, whether and how they are implemented remain hidden.
The report outlines recommendations for the South Korean government, the Japanese government, the Japanese corporations, and the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations to ensure tuna supply chain free of human rights abuses. APIL and HRN will host a hybrid seminar on December 21st to share the contents of their report, and the organizations will also meet with relevant industry stakeholders on December 22nd to discuss what corporations can do to improve their human rights due diligence in the tuna supply chain.
South Korea's distant water fishing is the fourth largest in the world, with more than half of its vessels being tuna longliners that mainly catch yellowfin, bigeye, and bluefin tuna. These tuna are mainly supplied to the market as “sashimi tuna”, and Japan is the largest importer of sashimi tuna caught by South Korean longliners.
However, the supply chain for tuna caught by Korean longliners reaching the Japanese market is highly complicated and lacks transparency. Majority of the tuna caught by Korean longliners are transhipped at sea to carrier vessels, which is in principle prohibited due to the near-impossibility of inspection by the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).
The already opaque and complex supply chain of tuna continues to be so within the domestic market in Japan. Trading companies play an increasingly important role in the import and distribution of tuna in Japan, yet the lack of transparency in their distribution prevents access to relevant information, and makes it difficult to differentiate labor-safe and labor-risky tuna.
However, the risk of forced labor and human trafficking is significantly high on Korean longline vessels. Most of the workers on Korean longline vessels are migrant workers, who are particularly vulnerable to manipulation and labor exploitation. The report, based on interviews with the fishers, identifies multiple forced labor indicators such as unpaid or withheld wages, wage discrimination, long working hours, verbal and physical abuse, and passport confiscation.
While the South Korean government implemented a plan in 2021 to address forced labor and human trafficking in the distant water fisheries, research has revealed that the measures have been ineffective in practice. The South Korean government also enacted a new law on human trafficking in 2023, yet no victim identification or support system has been established since.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government released the Supply Chain Human Rights Due Diligence Guidelines in 2022, encouraging companies to voluntarily identify, and take measures to address, human rights risks in their supply chains. However, none of the companies involved in the distribution of tuna in Japan disclosed their supply chains, and while some have fisheries-specific human rights due diligence policies and tuna-related procurement guidelines, there was no available information on how such policies were implemented in practice.
The complex supply chain that stretches from the Pacific to South Korean fishing vessels and then to Japanese ports and markets disguises human trafficking and forced labor in the fishing of tuna. States, international organizations, and corporations all have a role to play in addressing such transnational human rights abuses. Detailed recommendations to the above stakeholders can be found in the final section of the report.
APIL said “The South Korean government should take steps to combat human trafficking and forced labor in the distant water fishing industry by adopting measures such as correcting the customary practice of illegal wage deduction and recruitment fees by ensuring public entities' management over the recruitment process. In addition, the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations need to establish binding measures on labor standards, and increase the transparency of transhipment at sea by closely monitoring and publicly disclosing transhipment occurrences.”
HRN said “The Japanese government should ensure traceability and transparency in the supply chain of tuna, as well as seafood at large, and establish a legal framework for companies to proactively establish and implement human rights due diligence policies in their supply chains and publicly release their results. The Japanese seafood importers should develop and enforce supply chain guidelines, and conduct human rights due diligence to identify and prevent human rights risks in their supply chain.
APIL and HRN will hold a hybrid seminar to share the contents of their new report on December 21st, 19:00 at the Hibiya Library with English and Japanese translation available. The organizations will hold dialogue sessions with 2 leading seafood companies in Japan: Try Sangyo Co., and Sojitz Corporation on December 22nd to discuss what corporations can do to prevent import and distribution of tuna produced from human rights abuses.
