Impact
Direct and indirect outcomes of the investigation.
- Legislation passed.
- Congressional hearing called.
- Company ties severed.
- Op-Eds published.
- CEO resigned.
- Federal agencies petitioned.
- Lawmakers demand company documents.
- E.U. parliament debates.
- Shareholder resolution filed.
- China vows improvements.
Investigation Investigation An article on the Corporate Accountability Lab website critiqued the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for deceiving consumers into believing that its certified seafood is sustainable and ethically sourced, despite evidence of forced labor and human rights abuses in MSC-certified fisheries. The article cited the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation about forced Uyghur labor in ten MSC-certified facilities in China.
Investigation The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) launched its first-ever Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor, focusing on the seafood supply chain and addressing issues like illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labor. The strategy aims to use trade tools to reduce forced labor in U.S. supply chains, with a strong emphasis on preventing seafood caught with forced labor from entering the market. Seafood Source cited the “bombshell report” by the Outlaw Ocean Project that revealed extensive evidence of Uyghur and forced labor in the seafood supply chain in October 2023, which led to action by dozens of U.S. companies and requests to place Chinese companies under Magnitsky sanctions and continued pushes by NGOs and U.S. government officials to combat forced labor in the seafood labor.
Petition The Southern Shrimp Alliance submitted a petition to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to add Rongcheng Sanyue Foodstuff Co. to its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List due to its involvement in forced labor practices and attempts to export Argentinian red shrimp to the U.S. despite refusing FDA inspections. The letter mentions the Outlaw Ocean Project‘s “detailed exposé” documenting the pervasive use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry.
Op-Ed The Hamilton Spectator, one of Canada's largest newspapers, published an opinion piece by Sarah Teich, co-founder and president of Human Rights Action Group. Teich discussed the findings of the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation on the human rights abuses throughout China's supply chain and how tainted products reach Canadian shelves. She urged Canada to use its sanctions regime to prevent complicity in these abuses and block such products from entering the country.
Investigation The Congressional Research Service, a U.S. federal agency that supports Congress with in-depth and reliable legislative research, published a report on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The report cited the Outlaw Ocean Project’s recent investigation, which highlighted abuses on distant water fishing vessels and their link to IUU fishing activities.
Investigation Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization, called on the European Commission to require more consumer information on processed seafood. The organization pointed out that labels on products, such as canned tuna, fish fingers or surimi, lack key information such as species name, origin, catching or production method. Oceana mentioned the recent Outlaw Ocean Project investigation that revealed that European companies, as well as a company supplying the European Parliament, were importing seafood products from China, with possible links to forced labor at sea and in fish processing plants.
Investigation Above Ground, a Canadian NGO that advocates for corporate accountability for Canadian companies, recently published a report about forced labor in Canada’s international seafood supply chains. The report examines links between Canadian seafood imports and forced labor, the government’s policy response, and outlines how Canada could better protect the rights of workers in fisheries, including by adopting a strong human rights due diligence law. The report cites the Outlaw Ocean's recent reporting on the Chinese seafood industry and uses the bait-to-plate tool to identify over twenty Canadian seafood importers that have sourced from Chinese vessels or plants where forced labor is reportedly used. These importers supply dozens of retailers across the country, including some of Canada's largest chains.
Policy A bipartisan group of House lawmakers, led by House Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva, asked the Biden administration to investigate and show evidence of efforts to stem illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing across the global economy. The group also asked for responses to recent reporting including the Outlaw Ocean Project’s series of articles about India and China’s seafood industries. In a press release, the lawmakers requested information from eight federal agencies “to help assess how they are responding to the new information from the Outlaw Ocean Project and others.”
Two organizations in Canada have submitted legal petitions to Global Affairs Canada to implement targeted sanctions against some of the Chinese companies named in the Outlaw Ocean Project's investigation. One of the NGOs, the Human Rights Action Group, has already pressured the Canadian government to implement targeted sanctions against seven Chinese companies in December 2023. The new recommendation adds companies to the list, including Shandong Jeikou Fishery Group, Shandong Baoma Fishery Group, Shandong Xinfa Group and its subsidiary Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Products, Bodelong Group and its subsidiary Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food, Jinghai Group, China National Fisheries Corporation and its subsidiaries Yantai New Ocean Aquatic Food and China Aquatic Products Zhoushan Marine Fisheries, Pingtan Marine Enterprise, and Dalian Ocean Fishing Co.
Op-Ed Renowned ocean writers Paul Greenberg and Carl Safina wrote an article for New York Times Opinion highlighting the unsustainable practices in global seafood consumption and citing the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation, arguing that sustainable seafood is not just about personal choices but also about demanding systemic change.
Investigation U.S. regulatory agencies hosted a series of webinars to address the impact of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) on the seafood industry following revelations by the Outlaw Ocean Project, which uncovered extensive labor abuses within China’s seafood sector, including forced labor involving Uyghur workers. These findings prompted numerous U.S. companies to sever ties with Chinese seafood suppliers and intensified scrutiny by U.S. lawmakers and regulators. In response, the U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, led by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had revised its UFLPA strategy in July, designating seafood as a high-priority sector for enforcement. The “UFLPA 101 for the Seafood Sector Webinar Series” provided insights from DHS’s Office of Policy, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Labor, and the Department of State. The sessions included an overview of the UFLPA and its Entity List, CBP’s enforcement practices, and best practices for ensuring due diligence in seafood supply chains.
Investigation The Australian Senate started a public inquiry on March 29, 2023 on the issue of greenwashing. During that inquiry Australian supermarkets testified about the sale of farmed salmon as responsibly sourced despite Australian Government Conservation Advice identifying salmon farms as a primary threat to an endangered species, the Maugean skate. Among the grocery chains was Coles Group Limited, an Australian retailer, whose officials responded to questions on Aug. 2nd that had been submitted to the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications on July 12th. The company was asked if they were aware of The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation and its revelations about forced labor within the global seafood supply chain. Coles’s stated only that they were aware of the investigations and were committed to acting responsibly.
Investigation The Outlaw Ocean Project published a summary of the impact of the recent investigative series about human rights and environmental concerns tied to the global seafood supply chain. The reporting prompted U.S. federal agencies to ban imports, seafood sellers to sever ties with plants, a CEO to resign, and legislators to adjust laws, pressure companies, and hold hearings. Dozens of news organizations also began collaborating with The Outlaw Ocean Project to expand the reporting. Read the summary of what has and has not happened in response to the investigation on Substack.
Investigation Ahold Delhaize, the owner of Giant, Stop & Shop, and other major grocery chains, highlighted the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation into the seafood industry as a key case study in their 2024 Human Rights Report. The report cited the allegations of human rights violations at supplier facilities revealed by the investigation and said the company immediately followed up with their direct suppliers to conduct a full investigation, determine whether the brands receive products from the facilities mentioned and, subsequently, to take appropriate action. According to the report, Ahold Delhaize is also working with social audit and seafood programs like amfori BSCI, Sedex, ASC, and BAP to address these cases and broader human rights concerns in global seafood supply chains. While good to see the mention of the investigation, the company's wording regarding the actions they have taken is vague, including its reference to “appropriate actions” that its suppliers have taken and its declaration that they are “working with” the social audit and other certification bodies. These descriptions of company actions feel more like public relations language than actual engagement and correction of core problems with these suppliers. Especially unclear is how exactly Ahold Delhaize intends to ensure that its suppliers and certification companies, many of which are located in China, do unannounced spot checks and/or uncover the presence of North Korean and Uyghur workers at seafood processing plants.
Read our discussions with Ahold Delhaize.
Policy The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025, which is the federal law that funds the Defense Department, has introduced new language “prohibiting procurement and commissary sales of seafood originating or processed in China.” For fuller context, read the piece by The Outlaw Ocean Project in Politico that first revealed ties between state-sponsored Chinese labor (Uyghur/North Korean/sea slavery on vessels) to seafood being served in (largely by Sysco) federal prisons, public schools, US Congressional cafeterias.
Policy New guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security added seafood to its list of high-priority sectors for enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and cited The Outlaw Ocean Project reporting that revealed that Uyghur and other persecuted groups are being transported from the Xinjiang region and transferred through state-run labor programs to work in seafood processing plants in eastern coastal China, and particularly in Shandong Province. Shandong Meijia Group Co., Ltd., a company mentioned in the OO investigation was previously added to the UFLPA Entity List.
Policy The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it has added a large Chinese seafood company called Shandong Meijia Group to a federal list that prohibits further imports to the U.S. due to the company’s proven ties to the use of state-sponsored forced labor. The so-called “Entity List” is connected to a federal law called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). DHS said the decision to add the company to the list was largely triggered by reporting produced in the New Yorker by the Outlaw Ocean Project. This investigation was released in October 2023. It revealed that Shandong Meijia Group and its subsidiaries have employed labor from Xinjiang as recently as May 2023.
Investigation The Stimson Center published a commentary piece about organized crime on the high seas and mentioned the work The Outlaw Ocean Project has done documenting the vast amount of criminal activity that happens at sea with no place for victims or their families to turn for accountability.
Investigation The Daily NK, a South Korean publication, reported that North Korea is considering plans to replace senior officials who run seafood plants in China and who regularly sexually assault workers. The article said that “when international criticism of human rights abuses arose after The New Yorker story, North Korean authorities ordered managers of workers overseas to pay more attention to protecting workers’ rights and providing a safe working environment.”
Hearing In a hearing held by the Congressional Executive Committee on China about factories and fraud in China and the ways that audits are unreliable, several expert witnesses cited the Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation of human rights abuses in the global seafood industry. Scott Nova, the Executive Director of the Worker Rights Consortium, said is that the Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigations revealed that despite certifications from reputable bodies like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), social audits failed to identify instances of Uyghur forced labor. These audits often fail because they are announced in advance, allowing workplaces to conceal forced labor, and auditors lack the training to recognize state-imposed forced labor, he said. Jim Wormington, a Senior Researcher and Advocate on Corporate Accountability at Human Rights Watch, cited the Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation and said that audits in China failed to identify the presence of Uyghur forced labor at factories, highlighting how audits across China face obstacles to safely investigate companies’ supply chain links to forced labor.
Termination The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, an NGO that works to advance human rights in business and eradicate abuse, reported that 3 major retailers in South Korea - Lotte Mart, Coupang, and Market Kurly - have removed imported seafood products after the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation revealed North Korean forced labor was present in Chinese seafood plants.
Investigation Chosun, one of the largest South Korean newspapers, ran a story about a statement from the U.S. Congressional and Executive Committee on China calling for the governments of South Korea, Japan and the U.S. to work together to stop seafood products processed in China by forced North Korean labor from being imported. The story said it was highly unusual for a U.S. government body to publicly criticize American allies about imports to their markets.
Investigation In an article about NOAA’s 15-month initiative Collaborative Accelerator for Lawful Maritime Conditions in Seafood (CALM-CS), SeafoodSource cites The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigations as having rocked the seafood sector by flagging forced labor and other abuses within the industry.
Investigation An article published on Salon about pervasive violence, lack of transparency, and general physical danger within the modern fishing industry interviewed The Outlaw Ocean Project on these issues and cited The Outlaw Ocean Project’s solutions page as ways reformers can bring about change within the seafood supply chain.
Termination The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has decided to cease operations in China. Undercurrent cited as a contributing factor the Outlaw Ocean Project investigation about captive North Koreans forced to work in seafood processing plants in China.
Read our discussions with Aquaculture Stewardship Council.
Policy A bipartisan group of 26 US lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him and the administration to take increased action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. The letter highlights the OO investigation, citing the multiple stories on the presence of forced Uyghur, and North Korean labor in the seafood supply chain.
Policy The U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China has called on the Biden administration to act against alleged forced labor involving North Korean workers in China's fishing industry, saying seafood sales to U.S. consumers could be helping finance North Korea's weapons programs.
Petition A British NGO filed a legal petition to the U.K. government seeking formal sanctions against seven Chinese companies that were revealed by the ongoing Outlaw Ocean Project investigation as being tied to Uyghur forced labor.
Policy Negotiators from the E.U. Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on new rules to ban products made with forced labor from the E.U. market. At Parliament’s insistence, the European Commission will draw up a list of particular economic sectors in specific geographical areas where state-imposed forced labor exists. Industry publications pointed out that this provisional agreement comes after The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation revealed state sponsored forced labor in Chinese seafood plants with significant buyers in the U.S. and E.U.
Policy On March 1, 2024, Members of European Parliament Caroline Roose and Mounir Satouri, both representing France, sent a letter to the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament following up on Le Monde's publication of The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation. The letter asked about E.U. Parliament ties to the Compass Group, a company that the investigation tied to North Korean labor and supplying catering services to the European Parliament.
Op-Ed Drew Cherry, Editor-in-Chief of IntraFish, an industry publication, published an opinion piece faulting the global seafood industry for years of failure to confront its ties to human rights abuses. “The seafood industry -- up and down the supply chain -- is now at an unavoidable crossroads in its relationship with China,” he wrote, saying that The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation is the reason for this global reckoning.
Suspension Trident Seafoods, High Liner Foods and Sysco Corp. have suspended business with Dalian Haiqing Food Co., a large processing firm in China, in response to The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation revealing the use of North Korean labor. The use of North Korean labor is a violation of U.N. sanctions and U.S. law.
Read our discussions with Trident Seafoods, High Liner Foods, Sysco, Dalian Haiqing Food.
Policy The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a bipartisan committee set up by the White House and Congress, urged the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to take steps to stop importing seafood from China following the OO investigation about physical & sexual abuse of North Korean workers at Chinese seafood processing plants connected to prominent seafood suppliers and retailers. The CECC also said the U.S. Mission to the U.N. should hold a Security Council briefing on forced labor that funds Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions.
Policy A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to the US Treasury and State Departments calling on them to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions on Chinese companies named in The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation. Such sanctions would ban travel, halt imports and freeze assets tied to the individuals and companies cited in The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation.
Finalist Huge honor: The Outlaw Ocean Project/The New Yorker team is a finalist for the National Magazine Award in the Public Service category for the reporting on the human rights and other crimes behind global seafood. We're alongside some of the giants in the business including the Marshall Project, ProPublica, NY Times Mag, among others.
Policy The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO), which regulates South American waters, recently approved proposals on improving work conditions, eliminating human rights abuses, and establishing more stringent labor standards on fishing vessels operating in the South Pacific. News outlets tied it partially to The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation.
Statement Director of a major processing operation in northern China said the investigation has led to a significant decrease in U.S. demand for seafood from China as companies cut ties with plants identified as using forced labor.
Statement 30 major seafood companies, including Cotsco, Aldi, Sysco France, High Liner Foods and Lund’s Fisheries, wrote a letter urging the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization to help improve how workers on fishing vessels are treated. The letter came two months after The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation identified human rights abuses on Chinese squid ships fishing in South American waters. These same ships supply seafood to US and EU companies, including many of the companies that signed the letter.
Statement In a letter addressed to the US Department of Homeland Security on Monday, the Southern Shrimp Alliance expressed concerns about country of origin labeling issues. According to the group, Americans purchasing Argentinian shrimp may unwittingly contribute to Uyghur oppression due to the lack of information on whether the shrimp was packed in plants in Shandong under current labeling laws. This call comes after the alliance conducted a thorough review of materials from The Outlaw Ocean Project, including articles, videos, and communications with stakeholders in the seafood industry in both the United States and China.
Policy Rep. Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security citing the investigation and urging the agency to strengthen enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The letter lists the companies and plants that the investigation revealed as using Uyghur labor. It also asks the agency whether it can confirm Uyghur forced labor at these plants and if so whether the agency plans to add these companies to its “entity” list, which would officially prohibit goods from them coming into the U.S.
Termination Ruggiero Seafood has decided to cut ties with the Chishan Group – a seafood processing company based in China that the investigation tied to the use of forced labor involving members of the Uyghur ethnic minority group.
Read our discussions with Ruggiero Seafood.
Policy A bipartisan group of senators raised concern over a decision made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to withdraw the proposal to expand the number of species subject to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). The legislators cited the investigation and proposed that NOAA includes forced labor as a criterion for species’ inclusion in SIMP.
Petition A Global Magnitsky legal petition was filed with the U.S. Department of Treasury calling for sanctions against 7 Chinese companies that The Outlaw Ocean Project revealed as being complicit in the widespread use of forced labor.
Policy A bipartisan group of 22 lawmakers sent a letter to the White House citing the investigation and insisting that it sever ties to Sysco, which supplies most food to federal agencies, unless the company stops getting seafood from plants using forced labor.
Policy Jared Huffman, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, cited the investigation findings as a catalyst for actions he has taken to combat IUU fishing in the U.S. and abroad, especially the revelation that seafood purchased by the federal government, including cafeterias in the U.S. Capitol, is tainted by forced labor in Chinese processing plants.
Policy President Biden signed an executive order closing a sanctions loophole that had allowed the U.S. importation of large amounts of Russian-caught pollock, cod, salmon and crab processed in China. Much of this Russian fish is routinely shipped to China to be thawed, further processed, then refrozen, and exported to the United States and Europe. The investigation revealed that some Russian pollock was being processed by forced Xinjiang labor in China.
Policy A U.S. House committee focused on U.S.-China trade competition issued a bipartisan report that recommends Congress make all Chinese seafood products subject to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) “to ensure the United States is not complicit in the PRC’s practice of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.”
Investigation The CEO of Trident Seafoods, the largest seafood supplier in the US, is calling for more scrutiny of China’s seafood companies. Trident uses Chinese processing plants but the CEO said that they do their own auditing to ensure that Xinjiang, North Korean and other types of forced labor are not present. The “vast majority of production facilities” cannot meet the corporate governance standards, Trident said, and many of the plants Trident rejected were the same ones that Trident had opted not to contract.
Policy Anchorage Daily News ran a long piece about the impact of the investigation on Alaska-associated fishing companies. The story cites a letter signed by 38 members of Congress that was sent Thursday to President Joe Biden asking for the closure of the “loophole” that allows Russian seafood processed in China to be imported into the United States “in defiance of U.S. sanctions.” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said “The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation bolsters the case for keeping Russian seafood that moves through Chinese processors out of the United States.”
Investigation After Sysco's decision to terminate ties with a Chinese processor called Shandong Haidu, the company confirmed plans to investigate whether the company has ties to other Chishan plants. Sysco did not say whether it intends to investigate how many other Chinese plants aside from those connected to Chishan Group, have Xinjiang or North Korean workers and how it will fix the flawed audits it used to inspect all of the Chinese plants in its supply chain.
Termination Undercurrent News, an industry publication, wrote about Sysco's severing of ties to a major Chinese seafood processor, Shandong Haidu, in response to pressure from Congressman Jared Huffman. The story cites a letter Huffman sent to Sysco asking it how the company intends to confront a wider problem that likely exists across most seafood processing plants in China: the use of audits that do not check for Xinjiang or North Korean forced labor and the unwillingness of the Chinese government to allow unannounced spot checks of its plants or inspections on its fishing ships. One of the world's largest food service companies, Sysco supplies over 400k restaurants in the US alone & is a major supplier of federal institutions like federal prisons, public schools and military bases.
Read our discussions with Sysco, Shandong Haidu Ocean Product.
Policy A Congressional committee issued a bipartisan report with 150 policy recommendations, including to add Chinese seafood to the products assumed to be tied to Xinjiang forced labor under federal law, based on The Outlaw Ocean Project investigation.
Investigation Congressman Jared Huffman sent a strongly-worded letter to Sysco, a major supplier of seafood to the US government, citing the investigation & asking the company how many seafood plants in China supplies it and how the company will ensure that future audits will avoid seafood tied Xinjiang and North Korean forced labor from entering federal institutions.
Shareholder Action Oxfam cited the investigation in filing a shareholder resolution urging Walmart to publish human-rights impact assessments that examine the actual and potential human rights impacts of high-risk commodities in the company’s supply chains.
Testimony The Outlaw Ocean Project testified before the Canada House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans about illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Policy IntraFish, an industry publication, covered all the U.S. lawmakers that have “piled on the requests for a seafood import ban on China” following the investigation published earlier this year saying it also has made “US and European seafood buyers and retailers re-examine their supply chains.”
Policy In a new piece in The Globe and Mail, Business Columnist Rita Trichur cited the investigation as a “wake-up call” and said Canada’s new anti-slavery law is an important first step but called on the Canadian government and companies to do more to prevent products tied to forced labor from entering the country.
Op-Ed Chicago Tribune published an op-ed by celebrity chef Kerry Heffernan about the investigation and calling on restauranteurs, grocers and consumers to pressure seafood companies to create better tools for ensuring that what they sell and serve is not coming from processing plants or fishing ships engaged in abusive practices. Heffernan also said there is only so much that consumers and industry can do and that the U.S. government needs to enforce existing laws and strengthen monitoring programs.
Policy A group of lawyers and NGOs has formally requested the Canadian government to ban the import of seafood from seven Chinese companies linked to the investigation of Uyghur forced labor.
Policy U.S. Senator Tom Cotton has introduced legislation banning seafood imported from China in response to the investigation. The bill also seeks to block seafood trans-shipped with Chinese vessels or tied to Chinese aquaculture. The law would block seafood from China until the U.S. government can confirm that forced labor is not being used in their production, the Chinese government ends its practice of subsidizing its fishing fleet and the U.S. Secretary of Defense confirms that China’s fishing fleet would not be used to invade Taiwan.
Op-Ed Fast Company ran an op-ed by Kristen Abrams, senior director of the think tank McCain Institute, showing the evidence that audits are failed tools for detecting abuses in the seafood industry, especially in China, where information is tightly controlled. Abrams called for governments to step in where audits have proven ineffective.
Policy The E.U.’s Market Advisory Council (MAC) has recommended that the European Commission and member states adopt a regulation prohibiting products made with forced labor on the E.U. market. This comes after the investigation detailed links between alleged forced labor and illegal fishing activities in China with major buyers in the E.U.
Policy N.J. lawmaker Frank Pallone sent a letter to U.S Customs and Border Protection citing the investigation’s findings of forced labor on Chinese fishing ships & in Chinese processing plants. The letter demands that the agency enhance its screening of seafood coming from China.
Op-Ed Ian Ralby a maritime analyst, published an op-ed with the Center for Maritime Strategy, a think tank, in which he makes an unusual and intriguing argument based on the investigation about the definitional differences between slavery and trafficking & how it might legally change the ways that navies and coast guards handle these fishing ships prone to captivity/abuse.
Op-Ed SeafoodSource published an op-ed by a seafood supply chain expert who advised companies to conduct due diligence investigations of their suppliers in order to save themselves from “the fallout, costs, and embarrassment from the Outlaw Ocean report” and other journalism exposing worker abuses.
Policy SeafoodSource, an industry publication, cited a second legal petition filed to U.S. Customs & Border Protection — part of growing pressure from lawmakers and advocates to stop forced labor in US imported seafood.
Policy E&E news from Politico covered the decision by NOAA to delay the proposed expansion of its program for tracking seafood imports & the blowback from lawmakers & NGOs who cited the investigation & the need to stop imports tied to forced labor.
Op-Ed Sarah Teich and Mehmet Tohti from the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project wrote an op-ed published in the Ottawa Citizen arguing that in light of the investigation and ties between Xinjiang forced labor and seafood, the Canadian government must stop the import of seafood tainted by such violations.
Hearing Rep. Jared Huffman said during a Congressional hearing with the Coast Guard and GAO that seafood coming into the U.S. is widely tainted by forced labor. He faulted NOAA's delay in expanding the seafood imports it tracks and he asked GAO to study how agencies can better prevent forced labor in seafood imports.
Statement Skadden Arps, one of the largest law firms in the U.S., published a “client alert” citing the investigation and predicted a possible uptick in seafood imports being blocked by Customs and Border Protection.
Op-Ed LA Times published an op-ed about the morality of eating seafood in light of the investigation's findings about the use of forced labor throughout China's supply chain.
Statement The Uyghur Human Rights Project and Anti-Slavery International, two human rights organizations, called on U.S. customs to take action following the investigation by enforcing a law that enables the govt to block imports tied to forced labor, and called on other countries to pass their own legislation banning the import of products associated with abuses.
Termination Fastnet Fish, a U.K. frozen seafood supplier, cut ties with Shandong Meijia Group, a Chinese seafood processing conglomerate identified in the investigation as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Iceland Foods, Fastnet Fish, Shandong Meija Group.
Policy SeafoodSource, an industry publication, covered this year's Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit & said that companies focussed their discussion on the investigation and how to prevent forced labor in their supply chains.
Policy SeafoodSource, a major industry publication, reported that the Chinese government, which criticized the Outlaw Ocean's investigation publicly, also responded by announcing plans to begin monitoring its distant-water fishing fleet more “systematically” and “scientifically.” SeafoodSource said that the likely reason for the speedy and aggressive commitment is that many firms named in the investigation “are likely to face increased scrutiny from U.S. and other countries’ authorities.”
Policy After a hearing before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, US lawmakers asked several questions in writing of the Outlaw Ocean Project, which provided written replies to be added as part of the official testimony on record.
Op-Ed Forbes magazine ran an op-ed by Olivia Enos, a Georgetown University governance professor, citing the investigation and arguing that the Customs and Border Protection agency needs to add seafood to a list of goods at high risk for ties to Uyghur forced labor.
Investigation U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Costco instructing the company to provide the “audits and risk assessments” it used to justify sourcing seafood from Chinese companies implicated by the investigation.
Policy Lawyers from the Human Trafficking Legal Center filed a formal petition (a Withhold Release Order, or WRO, petition) to the Customs and Border Protection agency to halt all imports of squid from the Zhen Fa 7, the ship profiled in the investigation.
Testimony Ian Urbina provided testimony to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China about The Outlaw Ocean Project's investigation on forced labor in China's seafood industry.
Testimony At-Sea Processors Association submitted testimony for the Congressional-White House hearing about the investigation's findings. The org calls for the U.S. to adopt E.U.-style carding system & to better enforce the Uyghur protection law, especially regarding seafood. The org also criticized MSC & says that some “industry initiatives” to counter forced labor in seafood have “been too weak to make a difference.”
Policy Rep. Chris Smith and Sen. Jeffrey Merkley, chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, submitted a letter to Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, citing the investigation. In the letter Smith and Merkley called for Withhold Release Orders for all seafood processors in Shandong and Liaoning Provinces, for import bans against companies employing North Korean labor and for companies using Uyghur labor to be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act “Entity List.”
Policy The Associated Press reports that U.S. lawmakers have asked the Biden administration to ban seafood processed in two Chinese provinces from entering the U.S. market because of concerns about rights abuses as cited in the investigation.
Statement The Business and Human Rights Resource Center, a human rights organization, covered the impact of the reporting, including High Liner Foods, Lund’s Fisheries, and the Pacific American Fishing Company firing their suppliers, and Walmart, Edeka, Tesco, and Kroger stating plans to investigate.
Policy Georgetown Law Professor Robert Stumberg testifies at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's hearing about the investigation's findings and urges the government to update procurement regulations, more strictly implement the Uyghur safety law and expand seafood import monitoring.
Policy Sally Yozell, director of the environmental security program at the Stimson Center, testifies at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's hearing about the investigation's findings and calls for expansion of the seafood import monitoring program and changing the definition of illegal fishing to include forced labor.
Policy Greg Scarlatoiu, director of The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, testifies at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s hearing about the investigation’s findings and calls for the government to enact import bans for seafood products made with North Korean labor and asked the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to focus on forced labor in seafood.
Policy American University Professor Judy Gearhart testifies at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's hearing about the investigation and calls for strengthening the seafood import monitoring program, increasing corporate reporting requirements, and bolstering protections for fishers' rights.
Op-Ed Ian Ralby, who runs I.R. Consilium, wrote an op-ed for the Center for International Maritime Security, arguing that aside from the investigation's findings about forced labor, the U.S. public and government should stop financing Chinese aggression toward the U.S. by ceasing purchases of Chinese caught or processed seafood, including that served on U.S. military bases or other public institutions.
Op-Ed IntraFish ran an op-ed about the investigation arguing that preventing human rights abuses in the global seafood supply chain is appropriately going to cost money. (The otherwise smart op-ed has one small error in stating that the investigation “had no absolute proof, just a suspicion people are working against their will.” This wording misunderstands the Xinjiang issue & relevant federal law (UFLPA), which defines all workers from Xinjiang as categorically part of state-sponsored forced labor. The investigation, in fact, revealed extensive proof of Xinjiang & government-transferred workers into at least 10 seafood plants, the products from which are banned from import under US law due to their ties to state-sponsored forced labor.)
Statement Barry Andrews said in a video with Renew Europe that the investigation has made “absolutely clear” that forced labor is in the supply chains of Western supermarkets, including Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, and Musgrave, and these companies will be receiving “serious questions” soon.
Policy SeafoodSource, citing the ineffectiveness of auditing systems, looked at possible solutions to human rights abuses in seafood, including expanded import monitoring, gov't data collection and ceasing seafood purchases from China.
Statement Seafish, a U.K. seafood industry group, said the problem of Xinjiang, North Korean, and other forced labor revealed by the investigation seems to impact more than 300 companies across the industry and vowed to work with the industry to “develop appropriate responses” to the issue.
Policy Two U.S. lawmakers wrote the Customs and Border Protection agency, citing the investigation, insisting it use the Tariff Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to stop seafood from China entering the US. The letter also demanded that the agency provide documents detailing the steps they have taken to stop import of such seafood.
Policy Two U.S. lawmakers wrote the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, citing the investigation, insisting the Seafood Import Monitoring Program is expanded to all imported seafood to protect U.S. consumers from seafood tied to illegal fishing and abusive labor practices.
Policy Louisa Greve, director of Global Advocacy at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, cited the investigation in her testimony during a Committee on Homeland Security hearing as evidence that the seafood industry should be added to the list of “targeted sectors” under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Statement China's seafood association said the investigation was “fabricated” and added that the use of labor from Xinjiang in seafood processing plants does not constitute forced labor because they are paid wages. Undercurrent News pointed out how U.S. law sees it differently.
Legislation Pierre Karleskind, Caroline Roose, Barry Andrews, and Izaskun Bilbao, a group of European lawmakers, cited the investigation as they passed a resolution urging China to be more transparent about its fishing fleet, especially on illegal fishing and human rights issues.
Legislation Barry Andrews, an Irish lawmaker, said that legislation moving through the European Parliament is necessary to stop illegal fishing and human rights abuses in the seafood industry, as highlighted in the investigation. This legislation was approved on Oct. 17th.
Legislation Samira Rafaela, a Netherlands lawmaker, cited the investigation to support a draft regulation on forced labor that was approved October 16, 2023.
Termination Seafood Connection, a Dutch subsidiary of the world's largest seafood company, Maruha Nichiro, stopped working with two of its Chinese seafood suppliers in response to the investigation.
Read our discussions with Seafood Connection, Shandong Haidu Ocean Product, Zhejiang Industrial Group.
Investigation A major European supermarket chain, Albert Heijn, announced plans to review its potential exposure to forced Uyghur labor, based on the investigation's findings.
Read our discussions with Albert Heijn (AH), Yantai Sanko Fisheries.
Statement Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers called for “swift action” from authorities in response to the investigation's findings. “The horrific & blatant human rights violations catalogued in the important article ... do not represent the practices of our members,” the association said.
Statement SeaBOS, a group of large seafood companies, cited the investigation and said the findings of forced labor are “disappointing.” World Benchmarking Alliance, which helps companies achieve SDGs, called for the industry to improve human rights tracking and traceability.
Termination Lund’s Fisheries, a large U.S. seafood company, severed ties with Rongcheng Haibo Seafood, a Chinese processing plant identified as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Lund's Fisheries, Rongcheng Haibo Seafood.
Termination Pacific American Fishing Company, a large U.S. seafood company, terminated their relationship with Shandong Haidu Ocean Product and Rongcheng Haibo Seafood, two plants identified as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Pacific American Fish Co. (PAFCO), Shandong Haidu Ocean Product, Rongcheng Haibo Seafood.
Termination Weee!, America's largest online Asian supermarket, terminated their relationship with Shandong Haidu Ocean Product and Rongcheng Haibo Seafood, two large seafood processing plants in China identified in the investigation as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Weee!, Shandong Haidu Ocean Product, Rongcheng Haibo Seafood.
Op-Ed Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, wrote an op-ed in the Guardian about the investigation and calling on Europe to better handle Uyghur forced labor in its seafood imports.
Hearing The Congressional-Executive Commission on China announced a Congressional Hearing, scheduled for October 24th, at which The Outlaw Ocean Project will provide testimony on forced labor on China’s fishing ships and in seafood processing plants and the exposure of the U.S. Government and American consumers to these crimes.
Policy Human Rights at Sea, an advocacy organization, reviewed the investigation and called for broader reforms in seafood oversight.
Op-Ed An Irish lawmaker published an op-ed in the Irish Sun calling for stricter forced labor laws based partly on The Outlaw Ocean Project's investigation.
Op-Ed IntraFish published an op-ed from Joe Bundrant, the CEO of major US seafood company Trident Seafoods, saying our findings sent “shock waves” and calling on the entire industry to “step up to a uniform standard of supply chain integrity.”
Termination Cité Marine, owned by the second biggest seafood company in the world, dropped Qingdao Tianyuan, a Chinese processing plant identified as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Cité Marine, Qingdao Tianyuan.
Termination High Liner Foods, one of North America's biggest seafood suppliers, dropped Yantai Sanko, a processing plant in China tied to forced labor.
Read our discussions with High Liner Foods, Yantai Sanko Fisheries.
Statement The Aquaculture Stewardship Council, an accreditation organization, issued a statement saying it takes the investigation's revelations “very seriously” and that they welcome scrutiny of the global supply chains.
Read our discussions with Aquaculture Stewardship Council.
Op-Ed Kristen Abrams, senior director of the McCain Institute, published an op-ed in USA Today about the investigation and the problem of trafficked labor.
Policy Stephanie Madsen, of the At-Sea Processors Association, called for industry reforms including uniform import controls, enforcement of the US law tied to Uyghur forced labor, transparent labeling, and more in response to the investigation.
Policy U.S. lawmakers offered their impressions of the investigation and called for tighter controls, better enforcement and a suspension of seafood imports tied to forced labor.
Statement Barry Andrews, an Irish lawmaker, said that, in light of The Outlaw Ocean Project's investigation, the Forced Labour Regulation, being considered by the E.U. parliament, needs to be strengthened to stop the entry of seafood tainted by forced labor into Europe.
Policy Celeste Leroux, from seafood trade compliance firm Goldfish, responded to the investigation by suggesting better screening by NOAA and others for seafood tainted by forced labor coming into the U.S.
Resignation The CEO of High Liner Foods, one of North America's biggest seafood suppliers, resigned after the investigation identified at least two of its factories using forced labor. The resignation came shortly after the High Liner and its American customers were alerted of these findings.
Read our discussions with High Liner Foods.
Termination Albertsons, the second largest grocery chain in the U.S., dropped certain products from High Liner Foods, one of North America's biggest seafood suppliers, identified in the investigation as using forced labor. The move applied to all its brands across the U.S., including Acme Markets, Albertsons, Safeway and Shaw's.
Read our discussions with Albertsons, High Liner Foods.
Termination Nichirei, a seafood company from Japan, dropped Dandong Yuanyi, a Chinese processing plant identified by the investigation as using forced labor.
Read our discussions with Nichirei Seafoods, Dandong Yuanyi Seafood Refined Products.