Four Indonesian fishermen have sued Bumble Bee Foods in a U.S. federal court, alleging the company profited from forced labour in its tuna supply chain. They claim to have suffered abuse, excessive hours, lack of medical care, and debt bondage on Chinese-owned vessels supplying Bumble Bee.
- On March 12, four Indonesian fishermen filed a federal lawsuit against Bumble Bee Foods, alleging the company knowingly benefited from forced labour and human trafficking within its tuna supply chain.
- The plaintiffs claim they endured severe abuse, including physical violence and denial of medical care, while working on vessels owned by Chinese companies that supplied tuna to Bumble Bee. The case was filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, a law firm specialising in complex litigation, including human rights abuses.
- It accuses Bumble Bee Foods of violating the TVPRA by profiting from forced labour on fishing vessels operated by its suppliers. The fishermen allege they were subjected to inhumane conditions, such as beatings by captains, excessive working hours, inadequate food, and lack of medical attention for serious injuries. One plaintiff, Akhmad, reported being struck with a metal hook and forced to continue working despite a severe leg injury that exposed the bone. He was allegedly threatened by his captain “If you want to go home, you can swim in the ocean”. Another fisherman, Syafi’i, claimed he received no medical care for severe burns and was compelled to work to afford food. Another fisherman, Sahrudin was beaten multiple times.
- The plaintiffs also allege being trapped on vessels due to debt bondage and threats, with boats remaining at sea for extended periods, resupplied by other ships, preventing any chance of escape. Several of the fisherman reported that when they finally returned home, after staging a no-work protest at the conditions, they found they had not been paid any salary.
- The lawsuit seeks compensation for unpaid wages and abuses suffered. Additionally, the plaintiffs are advocating for systemic changes in the fishing industry, including requirements for vessels to return to port regularly, provision of medical care on board, and access to communication facilities like Wi-Fi to enable workers to seek assistance, and a ban on recruitment fees, guarantee fees or other penalties for terminating a contract.
- Forced labour in the seafood industry has been flagged multiple times by credible organisations.
- Taiwanese Distant Water Fishing Fleet: An investigation by Greenpeace in December 2024 reported on forced labour practices on Taiwanese fishing vessels, including four which supplied Bumble Bee Foods. The victims were Indonesian migrant fishermen who worked in Taiwanese vessels from 2019 – 2024 and experienced forced labour including deception, retention of identify documents, abuse of vulnerability, and debt bondage, withholding of wages.
- Thailand’s Fishing Industry: Thailand, one of the world’s largest seafood exporters, has been under scrutiny for labour abuses in its fishing sector. Reports have documented forced labour, human trafficking, and exploitation of migrant workers on Thai fishing vessels. In 2014, the U.S. Department of State downgraded Thailand to the lowest tier in its Trafficking in Persons Report in part due to these persistent issues.
- North Korean Forced Labor on Chinese Vessels: A 2025 report by the Environmental Justice Foundation uncovered the use of North Korean forced labour on Chinese fishing fleets between 2019 and 2024, potentially violating international sanctions. North Korean workers were allegedly kept at sea for extended periods under strict control, with their wages appropriated by the North Korean government.
About the TVPA:
- The US Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) entered into force in October 2000 and establishes trafficking as a federal crime. It has been amended numerous times through the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). It has three key objectives: (i) it mandates the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to maintain a list of goods and their source countries if there is a reason to believe they are produced by child or forced labour, or the inputs of forced labor or child labour; (ii) it clarifies the extraterritorial reach of TVPRA by confirming that it applies to US-based conduct even if the conduct did not occur in the US (2013), and (iii) includes increased penalties for conspiring to commit trafficking-related crimes and penalising those who knowingly benefit financially from participating in a venture that engaged in trafficking crimes.
- We are monitoring several cases brough against companies using the Act, including a case brought in October 2023 against Jacobs and its subsidiary CH2M for their role in overseeing the construction of stadiums for the 2022 World Cup where forced labour trafficking and other labour rights violations occurred. In 2022, International Rights Advocates brought a case against Ansell and Kimberly-Clark on behalf of 13 former workers in Malaysia who claim that the two firms “knowingly profited” from forced labour at their supplier, Brightway.