Beyond Fishing: Dire Labor Conditions in the Southeast Pacific Ocean Squid Fishery

The crew members from the distant-water squid fleet are suffering because of the Chinese government's refusal to comply with the new port regulations set by the Peruvian government. As a result, the vessels are spending up to 3 years catching squid on the high seas.

Eloy Aroni, Maritime consultant and distant water fisheries expert.

The distant-water squid fleet vessels are constructed of naval steel, usually 50-70 meters in length, and are equipped with squid-catching mechanical jiggers, controlled by crew members at both vessel sides, and incandescent lamps that attract squid to the surface. Credit: © Simon Ager

After finishing the 11th meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) in the city of Manta, Ecuador, one of the main measures adopted to improve squid management was the freezing of the fishing effort of the squid distant-water fleet (China, Chinese Taipei, and the Republic of Korea) to their 2020 effort limits. No more Asiatic squid vessels will be able to enter SPRFMO records.

With this measure, China, the main country fishing for giant squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Southeast Pacific Ocean, consolidates its presence with 671 vessels registered and authorized to operate in the following years. This means a maximum catch capacity of approximately 600,000 tons and a crew force of 16,000 (on average 25 per vessel), including Chinese, Indonesian, and Filipino nationals, operating jiggers all night under intense fishing lights.

Light and darkness

The year 2020 brought many changes for the distant-water squid fleet. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic did not restrict its operations on the high seas; instead, China registered the highest catch in its history with a total of 358,000 tons. This record catch occurred even with a voluntarily-imposed closed season, between September and November, west of the Galapagos Islands and a new port regulation by the Peruvian government mandating the use of the Peruvian vessel monitoring system (VMS) to use the ports of Chimbote and Callao for maintenance, refueling, or crew change. This VMS mandate marked an outstanding advance in the transparency of distant-water fleets entering Peruvian ports.

Unfortunately, until today only five foreign squid vessels (three Chinese and two South Korean) have Peruvian VMS equipment. This demonstrates that the squid fleet is unwilling to implement this measure as they did voluntarily with the closed season. The consequences of this decision are being reflected in a gradual increase in emergency requests to enter Peruvian ports. These requests, called “forced arrival”, reached 14 cases in 2022. The foreign squid fleet did not use this special measure until the new port regulation came into effect.

Crew members operating mechanic jigging systems to catch squids. Credit:© Simon Ager

The companies operating the squid vessels have not been impacted by these regulatory changes since the number of active vessels and the annual catches continue to increase. However, although production remains high, there is reason to believe that crew members, now forced to remain for prolonged periods on the high seas, are the losers in this new arrangement.

Years ago, it was almost impossible to know what happened on the high seas. Now, thanks to data transparency on free platforms such as Global Fishing Watch (GFW), we can answer complex questions surrounding distant-water fishing fleets. What ports are they now entering and how much longer are they spending at sea?

Following the lights and data

As the foreign squid fleet strengthened its presence in the Southeast Pacific, the Peruvian ports of Chimbote and Callao became the main points for refueling, maintenance, and crew change until reaching around 300 port entries in 2019. But, after the new port regulation was enacted in 2020, this value dropped dramatically to only 40 port entries. Where did the squid fleet go?

The answer lies in the port entry data. In 2020, facing changes in the rules to use Peruvian ports, part of the squid fleet decided to remain operating on the high seas while the rest was forced to return to the coasts of China, recording 197 entries to Chinese ports—double from the previous year.

In the following years, this number decreased until it reached only 92 Chinese port entries in 2022, a value ​​similar to the years prior to the new Peruvian port regulations. This decline clearly reflects the high cost of returning to the coasts of China and then sailing back again to the fishing grounds in the high seas off Peru, losing almost 3 months a year to transit.

We also initially observe an increase in entries to the port of Punta Arenas, in the Strait of Magellan in the south of Chile. Here the vessels make a break, changing from the Pacific to the Atlantic fishing grounds. However, Punta Arenas does not appear to have been able to replace the logistics services offered by the ports of Chimbote and Callao in Peru. Thus, with no port readily available, vessel operators are choosing to spend significantly more time fishing on the high seas.

Before the new port regulations issued by the Peruvian government, foreign squid vessels spent an average of 10 - 12 months at sea (minimum one entry into Peruvian ports per year). After regulation, the typical fishing trip increased to 18 - 24 months. There were even cases with time at sea of over 2 years without the crew seeing the mainland, an almost inhumane scenario in a fishing fleet with a prior history of forced labor.

Every year, thousands of fishermen, pushed by desperate economic conditions, embark on Chinese squid fishing boats without knowing the true rules of the game on the high seas. The silent truth of the years spent at sea cannot continue to be ignored.

The silence of the crew

An Indonesian crew member, stuck on the Chinese-flagged vessel CHANG TAI 802 which has a history of labor abuse accusations, sending a message in a bottle. Credit: © Joshua Goodman/AP

One of the distant-water squid vessels suspected of forced labor was the CHANG TAI 802 flagged to China. In August 2019, the vessel entered the port of Chimbote in Peru to leave a crew member with kidney disease. The crewman needed urgent treatment, but instead was threatened and coerced to sign a return flight ticket to his home country. Thus, the ship’s owner could evade any responsibility.

Later, in July 2021, the same vessel was sighted west of the Galapagos Islands by the Associated Press. The silence of an Indonesian crew member was broken, and he shouted from the CHANG TAI 802’s stern, “I WANT TO GO HOME.” But, apparently, a crew member’s life in the open ocean does not depend on themselves but on the skipper. The vessel caught squid for another year until it arrived at port in mid-August 2022. This journey cost the crew member two long years of labor in an expanse of endless water. Could it be that, at sea, we lose all the human rights won on land?

Route of two Chinese-flagged vessels, CHANG TAI 802 and RUN DA 25, which left the port of Zhoushan in China headed to the Southeast Pacific, spending 2 to 3 years fishing on the high seas, and continuing fishing in the West of the Galapagos Islands, in Ecuador. Credit: © Artisonal

These two events strongly suggest a recurring pattern of forced labor on the CHANG TAI 802, which set sail again in September 2022. The tracks left by this vessel and the rest of the squid fleet on publicly available databases show the harsh reality of crew members that may be held against their will in service of industrial squid fishing.

A dramatic case was again documented on the vessel RUN DA 25, which left the Chinese coast towards the high seas in January 2020 and is currently still fishing. It is unimaginable to think of a crew living for nearly 3 years between the deck and the crew cabins of a 60-meter vessel. It is time to start accepting a bitter truth - that some portion of fish in international waters are caught with the sweat and fear of a crew that does not know if or when they will return home.

A dramatic increase in forced arrivals may reflect the dire conditions of the crew

Who is the authority on the high seas? Who must decide if a crew member’s life is in danger and must return to port. Ultimately, this decision is made by the sole authority of the ship's captain. The RUN DA 25 entered the port of Callao on November 23, 2022 (after spending 3 years at sea). Its entry was allowed because of a forced arrival request. However, despite this request, the vessel’s activity is unknown. Did the vessel leave someone or something on land, or did it pick something up? None of these details are known, and the vessel continues to fish after departing Callao.

Another case is the Chinese ship ZHE PU YUAN 98, which entered a Peruvian port 8 times during 2022 due to forced arrival. All of these entries occurred with less than 24 hours in port. This seems highly unusual, even though the details behind the forced arrivals are unknown. However, the repeated landings leave us with the suspicion that the ZHE PU YUAN 98 might have been ferrying crew members from Asiatic squid vessels into Peruvian ports.

A crew member cutting his partner's hair on the foredeck of the Chinese vessel MING XIANG 868. Credit:© Eloy Aroni

In the open ocean, there are regional organizations such as the SPRFMO for managing fishing resources and limiting the number of vessels. But who monitors the well-being of crew members, those who make it possible for hundreds of thousands of tons of squid to reach the coast? Who is the authority that can ensure compliance with the basic needs, human rights, and working conditions of the crew? There is no clear answer—a difficult scenario to face at sea.

Without clear parameters and rules on minimum standards of living for crews at sea, there is little that inspectors can do in port. International organizations must begin implementing measures and tools so that port inspectors can identify, and prevent, cases of possible labor abuses and forced labor on distant-water squid fleets.

Effective measures would include establishing a maximum time spent at sea allowing crew members to access an annual medical test and communication with their families. Also, establishing a traceability platform making it easy to know when and where a crew member boarded a particular vessel would facilitate port inspectors to identify crew members held against their will. These procedures would help give the crew members a voice.

The world welcomes the measures that the Chinese government is implementing in the distant-water squid fleet regarding the closed season and voluntary distancing from the limits of the exclusive economic zone of Ecuador and Peru. However, we also encourage their policies in international waters to align with the new port measures implemented by the Peruvian government. This decision would have a big impact on the behavior of China’s distant-water fishing fleet and the well-being of its crew members. It is our hope that fishing transparency will soon reach the high seas of the Southeast Pacific Ocean, location of a major global fishery and temporary home to thousands of crew members living far from their friends and families in one of the most isolated locations on the Planet.

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Eloy Aroni is a representative of the organization ARTISONAL.