Over the past five years a series of scandals concerning slave-like working conditions on fishing vessels have provoked global efforts to improve working conditions for fishery workers. Yet initiatives that seek to improve working conditions are hampered by a lack of empirical evidence and explanatory analysis of the dynamics that lead to such unacceptable working conditions, and what actions might be taken to improve them.
This research sets out to examine marine fisheries work, focusing on fisheries based out of Thailand and Taiwan that have been identified as having large numbers of migrant workers and instances of labour abuse. We aim, in particular, to understand labour issues as experienced by workers and worker support organizations. We will place these experiences in the context of both the global seafood supply chains (or production networks) and the 'reproduction networks' that link migrant workers with their families and communities in source areas.
For more details about the project please see the About Us page.
*Work at Sea photos provided by project researchers
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