For Japanese fishing town of Nemuro, Moscow holds key to survival
Nemuro, Japan Reuters Japanese fisherman Tsuruyuki Hansaku was barely out of high school when he served 10 months in a Soviet prison, arrested at sea on his father’s boat for catching cod in what the Russians considered their territory. The silver-maned resident of the northern Japanese fishing town of Nemuro, now 79, is still on […]
Satellites used to expose risks of forced labour in global fishing
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Fishing vessels with crews of forced labourers behave in systematically different ways to the rest of the global fleet, according to a study purporting to be the first to remotely identify vessels potentially engaged in modern slavery. Using satellite data, machine learning and on-the-ground expertise from human rights practitioners, US researchers found up […]
New law to protect Thai fishermen seen boosting child labour
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Teenagers could work as unpaid interns on Thai fishing vessels in a proposed change to the law that activists fear will encourage child labour. An amendment to a ministerial regulation – aimed at protecting workers – underwent a public hearing on Thursday in answer to years of global criticism over industry […]
Runaway warming could sink fishing and reef tourism, researchers warn
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Countries from Egypt to Mexico could lose 95 per cent of their income from coral reef tourism, and parts of West Africa could see their ocean fisheries decline by 85 per cent by the turn of the century if planet-warming emissions continue to rise, oceans experts have warned. “Action in reducing […]
THAILAND: NEW RULES, NEW DEBTS – SLAVERY FEARS FOR MIGRANT WORKERS
MATT BLOMBERG and NANCHANOK WONGSAMUTH, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how Thailand is tackling labour rights for migrant workers – despite resistance from some…
Warnings over new law to protect workers in Thai fishing industry
Phnom Penh, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation A new law to address abuses in Thailand’s multi-billion dollar fishing industry contains loopholes, labour rights campaigners have said, warning of difficulties in enforcement. The legislation published last Wednesday follows years of global scrutiny over abuse of Thai and migrant workers and mandates basic rights such as social security, medical […]
Vatican and FAO call for increased action to tackle rights abuses in world’s fishing industry
The Vatican has joined with the UN Food and Agrriculture Organization in calling for intensified international action to stamp out human rights abuses, including the trafficking of people and use of forced labour, in the world’s fishing industry. At an event held to mark World Fisheries Day, the organisations also called for an increase in […]