Australian retailers are being urged to do more to ensure their imported seafood is not being produced by slave labour.
While stricter Australian laws and policing ensure Australian-made products are mostly free from the influence of slave labour, Thailand, Indonesia and China’s fishing industries are reported to be rife with forced labour.
They frequently use stateless or illegal workers who can’t complain to authorities about being forced to work as slaves in brutal conditions.
The Seeing Slavery in Seafood Supply Chains report, published in the journal Science Advances on Thursday, aims to promote better awareness among seafood buyers, sellers and traders.