For years now, I have had a professional and personal interest in the issues of fishers’ labour conditions, and it has been refreshing and educational to see academia tackle it, besides just a list of the never-applied legal frameworks that are supposed to manage it.
Something that is struggled with and written about a few times, if that is, as in most things in fisheries, “one size does not fit all`: the conditions on PS are not the same as those of a longliner, nor those of a trawler. Furthermore, the conditions are not the same even in the same gear in different locations, nor if they have some form of processing on board, or the refrigeration used, the seasons, abundance, etc. However, there are cultural aspects of life on board for different nationalities and cultural biases by observers and academics over reality, which they don't know much about because they have never spent time working on fishing boats.
To an extent, I “blame” academics for not contacting fishers to discuss their issues and being totally “empirical” about it. This can lead to conclusions that are not reasoned or would not pass some bare ground truthing (see here a case I criticised in the past)
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I have always read Liam Campling's work with interest. I wish I had better academic credentials to have a job like his, but on the other hand, I like my job, and I could not be doing it without my years of practical experience. Yet having two Master's degrees and a post-grad diploma doesn’t get you academic jobs!
In this article, he and Hyunjung Kim explore labour exploitation in industrial tuna fisheries, focusing on two distinct fishing industries: purse-seiners catching tuna for canning and longliners catching tuna for sashimi. I like that already since they are two different worlds, which I have spent part of my life in and know well.
They analyse the differences in labour regimes on these vessels by examining the ecological, technological, and organisational factors that shape working conditions. The study contributes to labour regime analysis by highlighting the role of ecology in shaping labour exploitation.
The article is quite substantial (23 pages) and, as always, I recommend you read the original , just below i attempt a crude summary of the paper.
Introduction
Labour exploitation in marine fishing industries has gained global attention due to reports of forced and slave labour, particularly in fisheries that rely on migrant workers. Scholars have identified structural drivers of exploitation, such as immigration regulations, recruitment practices, and the confined nature of vessel workplaces. However, the article argues that global production network (GPN) structures and competitive dynamics are essential for understanding labour exploitation. It also examines the connection between environmental decline, labour productivity, and working conditions, focusing on tuna fisheries.
The study compares two industries targeting yellowfin tuna: purse-seiners for canned tuna and longliners for sashimi. Both industries involve distant-water fishing. The research draws on interviews and field notes collected over several years from various countries, including Madagascar, Seychelles, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
Conceptual Framework
The authors utilise labour regime analysis (LRA) to examine the workplace and its management while considering broader factors such as inter-firm relations and ecological dynamics. They incorporate three analytical spheres: production, circulation, and ecology. The sphere of production emphasises resource access and conservation measures, while the sphere of circulation investigates how GPN dynamics impact labour. The sphere of ecology considers how natural conditions and species dynamics influence labour processes.
The article emphasises the material aspects of commodities, workplaces, and GPNs. For example, tuna’s biological characteristics, such as migration patterns and reproduction rates, influence fishing technologies and labour regimes. The authors argue that understanding these material aspects is essential for analysing labour exploitation.
Comparing Canned and Sashimi Tuna GPNs
Tuna are highly migratory species, requiring vessels to follow them across vast oceanic areas. Purse seiners target surface-dwelling tuna using large nets, while longliners catch deeper-swimming tuna with baited hooks. These differences in fishing methods reflect the distinct biological characteristics of tuna species. For instance, skipjack tuna reproduce rapidly and are targeted for mass production, whereas bigeye tuna mature slowly and are less resilient to overfishing.
Purse seiners rely on technologies such as fish aggregating devices (FADs) and sonar to enhance productivity, while longliners concentrate on post-harvest handling to meet sashimi market standards. Longliners often operate in high-seas areas, circumventing regulatory controls, whereas purse seiners need access to exclusive economic zones (EEZS), which involve labour conditionalities.
Canned Tuna GPN
Canned tuna is a durable commodity with a global market, primarily in the EU, North America, and the Middle East. The GPN is buyer-driven, with a few firms dominating branding and retail. Processing is labour-intensive and fragmented, with many factories competing to supply low-cost products. This structure pressures vessel owners to fish harder and faster, driving investment in larger vessels and advanced technologies.
Sashimi Tuna GPN
Sashimi tuna is primarily consumed in Japan, with a smaller Western European market. Advances in ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezing technology have enabled the global trade of sashimi-grade tuna. However, the market has declined since the 1980s, leading to low investment in longlining technology. Longliners focus on extracting maximum surplus value by intensifying labour processes, such as increasing the number of hooks.
Labour Regimes on Vessels
Similarities
Fuel and labour are the two major costs for purse seiners and longliners. Vessel owners reduce labour costs through international recruitment, employing multinational crews from the Global South at lower wages. Flags of convenience facilitate this strategy, allowing vessels to bypass national regulations. Multinational crews can fragment social solidarity, making workers easier to manage.
Differences
Labour Standards and Crew Composition: Purse-seiners are subject to labour conditionalities in EEZ access agreements, which require compliance with minimum wage standards and the employment of local crew. Longliners, operating in the high seas, have greater flexibility to source cheaper labour.
Workplace Materialities: Purse-seiners are larger and more modern, offering better living conditions for the crew. Longliners, with older and smaller vessels, provide cramped and shared accommodations.
Labour Process and Working Hours: Purse-seiners have relatively stable working hours, operating mainly during daylight. Longliners work 24-hour shifts, with crews baiting hooks before dawn and handling post-harvest tasks throughout the day and night. Longliners also stay at sea for extended periods, sometimes up to two years.
Wage Schemes: Purse seiners often pay overtime for hours worked beyond an eight-hour day, while longliners rely on discriminatory remuneration practices, such as catch shares for national crews.
Conclusion
The article demonstrates that the interplay of ecological, technological, and organisational factors shapes labour regimes in tuna fisheries. The profitability of canned tuna drives investment in newer technologies and the extraction of relative surplus value, while the stagnant sashimi market results in absolute surplus value extraction through labor intensification. Resource access arrangements and conservation measures also influence labor recruitment and working conditions.
The authors argue that understanding the materialities of commodities, workplaces, and GPNS is essential for analysing labour exploitation. They call for solidarity among workers across vessels and supply chains and consumer-facing activism to address exploitation. By incorporating social reproduction into labour regime analysis, future research can explore how materialities shape labour-supply chains and inform strategies for resistance.
This study highlights the importance of considering ecological dynamics in labour regime analysis, particularly during climate and biodiversity crises. It provides a framework for understanding how socioecological change affects work and offers insights for building alliances and organising resistance within fishing industries.