YCAR faculty associate, Peter Vandergeest’s latest publication co-authored with Melissa Marschke, examines what has been labelled as “slave labour” in industrial fisheries in Thailand. The article, titled, “Slavery Scandals: Unpacking labour challenges and policy responses within the off-shore fisheries sector”, draws on research on regional labour migration and the work of civil society organizations. The authors suggest that efforts to improve labour conditions must address migration management. The article also provides the basis for assessing the potential and limits of recent programs to improve labour relations on the oceans, including anti-trafficking policies, IUU enforcement, buyer efforts to ensure that supply chains do not involve forced or illegal labour relations, and Thai government actions.
The article is published in Marine Policy, Volume 68, pp 39–46, and is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X16000622