ILO Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia Project | Seafish

ILO Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia Project

Organisation
International Labour Organization
Location
Type
Sector
ILO Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia (SEA) project for all migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors.



Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia (SEA) is a multi-country, multi-annual initiative of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN), implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Its overriding objective is to promote regular and safe labour migration and decent work for all migrant workers in the fishing and seafood processing sectors in South East Asia. ​​It is due to run from August 2020 to July 2024.

Ship to Shore Rights SEA will build on Thailand’s achievements, which were gained with the support of the EU-funded ILO Ship to Shore Rights project. The collaboration with IOM and UNDP will also enable the programme to draw the UN’s collective experience in combatting human trafficking, improving recruitment practices, and ensuring access to information.

The previous Ship to Shore Rights project ran from February 2016 to July 2019. See the project outputs below.

Gap analysis of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), and Thai national laws, regulations and other measures concerning conditions of work on board fishing vessels. 30 May 2017.  

The report examines Thailand’s existing legal framework for work in fishing followed by a Section-by-Section analysis of the gaps between Thai law and the definitions, scope, general principles, and provisions of C. 188.

Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and the fishing and seafood processing industries in Thailand. 30 May 2017.  

The research aimed to assess the country’s existing laws and regulations, as well as their practical implementation, against two of the main international standards on forced labour, namely the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (the Forced Labour Protocol).

Industry Agrees to New GLP Principles. October 2017. 

Leaders of seafood and fishing associations, government, unions, and civil society organizations pledged publicly to act out nine core elements of credible industry labour programmes. These include clear workplace standards, CEO-level commitment and dedicated labour staff, industry internal due diligence and remediation, engagement with workers and civil society, accountability mechanisms for high- and low-performers, and independent due diligence with public reporting on labour practices. Finally, the revised GLP will look for sourcing choices by downstream buyers–including overseas retailers–that reward good labour practices.

KEY. Baseline research findings on fishers and seafood workers in Thailand. 

In 2017, to kick off the Ship to Shore Rights project, the ILO undertook a survey of 434 workers from across Thailand, with the goal of learning more about the country’s fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing sectors. Participants, the majority of whom were migrants, were asked about recruitment practices, wages, hours, safety and health, support services, complaint mechanisms, living conditions, forced labour indicators, and legal compliance levels. Their evidence is included in a report, Baseline research findings on fishers and seafood workers in Thailand, published in April 2018, which also sets out the limited progress made to date, outlines major challenges remaining in the industry, and makes recommendations for more effective enforcement of Thai law to prevent and end unfair labour practices for migrant workers. The data will be used as a benchmark and compared with information collected at the end of the project in 2019.

Ship to Shore Rights videos.

There are four films: how trade union organizing and CSO support for migrant workers have helped bring seafood processing workers and fishers to the centre of the debate over reform of the Thai fishing industry; ratification of the Forced Labour Protocol (P. 29); best practices for enforcement in fishing; and revised Good Labour Practices programme for the seafood industry.

KEY. Endline research findings on fishers and seafood workers in Thailand. March 2020. 

The endline report has found improvements in working conditions in Thailand’s fishing and seafood processing sectors. However, there remain problems with forced labor in the industry. The endline research surveyed 219 fishermen and 251 seafood processing workers and compared the results with its “baseline” study, conducted in 2018. The new research looked into Thailand’s recruitment, contracts, pay, working hours, safety, and worker organizing. The latest report found that recruitment through registered agents and brokers has been reduced, which helps lessen the burden of high fees on workers.

Significance for seafood businesses: 

A significant programme in Thailand. This is the International Labour Organization (ILO) working in partnership with Thailand’s Ministry of Labour and the European Union.

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