Indonesian fishermen sue Bumble Bee and say the canned tuna giant knew of abuse in its supply chain

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Lawyers representing 4 Indonesian fishermen who accidental they were beaten and trapped connected vessels that were portion of the planetary proviso concatenation that provided tuna to Bumble Bee Seafoods filed a suit Wednesday against the canned seafood giant.

It is believed to beryllium the archetypal specified lawsuit of forced labour astatine oversea brought against a U.S. seafood company, the men’s lawyer, Agnieszka Fryszman, said.

U.S. companies that payment from forced labour and undercut different businesses request to beryllium held accountable, Fryszman said.

“What you spot is truly devastating,” she said.

The suit accuses the institution headquartered successful San Diego of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The instrumentality allows foreigners who suffered from quality trafficking to writer U.S. businesses that knew oregon should person known that they were profiting from forced labor.

Bumble Bee did not instantly respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.

The fisherman are each from villages successful Indonesia and worked for longline vessels owned by Chinese companies from which Bumble Bee sourced its albacore tuna, according to the lawsuit. They accidental they were beaten regularly by their captains.

One fisherman named Akhmad, who similar galore Indonesians uses lone 1 name, said helium was deed by a metallic hook and forced to enactment adjacent aft being injured connected the occupation by a load of food that gashed unfastened his limb to the bone. Another fisherman, Syafi’i, said helium received nary aesculapian attraction for terrible burns and was ordered to instrumentality to enactment to wage to eat. All the men said they asked to spell location and adjacent tried to spell connected onslaught connected board, according to the lawsuit.

The boats stayed retired astatine oversea portion proviso ships provided provisions and collected the catch. The men were strapped with indebtedness from nutrient bills and different fees and the menace of fines if they quit, Fryszman said.

Bumble Bee had been warned of inhumane conditions successful its proviso concatenation implicit the years. In 2020, accounts of abusive conditions and forced labour prompted the U.S. to halt imports from a Taiwan-based sportfishing vas that reportedly supplied the planetary tuna trading institution that acquired Bumble Bee Seafoods that aforesaid year. None of these fishermen worked connected that vessel.

The suit seeks compensation for their unpaid wages and abuse, Fryszman said. The men are besides seeking systemic changes, she said. For example, they privation companies similar Bumble Bee to necessitate successful their contracts that the vessels successful their proviso concatenation bring successful their drawback alternatively than stay retired astatine sea, and person aesculapian attraction connected committee and Wi-Fi work for workers to get help.

The planetary sportfishing manufacture has been plagued by labour abuses for years, with workers subjected to brutal attraction often with small oregon nary pay. Congress approved authorities providing the bureau with further authorization to ace down connected forced labour successful 2016 aft an Associated Press probe recovered that seafood caught by slaves successful Southeast Asia was ending up successful restaurants and markets astir the United States.

In 2018, Fryszman represented 2 Indonesian fishermen who said they were enslaved connected an American sportfishing boat. They settled their suit for an undisclosed magnitude against the vessel’s California-based proprietor 7 years aft escaping and receiving peculiar U.S. visas arsenic victims of quality trafficking.