MSC's 'Blue Tick' Fish Scheme Accused of Masking Labour Abuses at Sea
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which operates a widely recognised "blue tick" certification scheme to indicate the sustainability of fish, has been accused of creating an "illusion" of ethical sourcing. A recent study claims that the organisation's sustainability label may be obscuring severe labour abuses within global seafood supply chains.
Widespread Abuses on Certified Vessels
Researchers discovered that one in five vessels where crew reported abuses to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) over the past five years were ships catching seafood certified as sustainable by the MSC. In total, they identified 80 cases of labour abuses onboard 72 vessels across 25 MSC-certified fisheries worldwide, ranging from North Sea haddock fisheries in Scotland to tuna fisheries in the Pacific islands.
Ten of these cases involved allegations of serious crimes, including forced labour, human trafficking, and forced criminalisation. The most common abuses reported were unpaid or delayed wages, but the list also included excessive working hours, violence, harassment or threats, denial of medical care, and debt bondage.
Underreporting and Repeat Offenders
The ITF, which commissioned the study, warned that the abuses reported on "blue tick" vessels likely represent an underestimate. The research relied solely on ITF data covering 354 vessels, but national unions, seafaring organisations, and other maritime authorities regularly receive additional reports of maltreatment.
Each ITF case, of which there were 462 in total, refers to reported labour abuses on a single vessel but could involve multiple incidents. For example, on one vessel, all 26 crew members were said to have been owed wages, yet this was recorded as just one case. The study also highlighted repeat offenders, such as a North Sea fishing vessel that had three alleged cases of withheld wages and one of debt bondage over a five-year period while still approved to sell its catches under the MSC label.
Criticism of MSC's Policies
Dr Jessica Sparks, co-author of the report titled Slipping through the net: labour abuses in MSC-certified fisheries, stated that the analysis adds to growing concerns that MSC's policies and practices may obscure labour abuses by undermining enforcement efforts and reducing scrutiny. She pointed out that the MSC's policy of excluding vessels with convictions for forced or child labour is problematic because prosecutions are rare, and this narrow legal definition overlooks other exploitative practices.
"The MSC says 'we don't certify for social', yet they have these pre-eligible conditions for certification," Sparks said. This approach, she argued, leads to an "illusion" of ethical sourcing without providing mechanisms to identify or remedy abuses effectively.
Global Context and MSC's Response
The International Labour Organization estimated in 2022 that approximately 128,000 workers were trapped in forced labour on fishing vessels globally, underscoring the scale of the issue. For the report, researchers cross-referenced ITF data with a database of MSC-certified fishing vessels from publicly available sources.
A spokesperson for the MSC responded by stating, "We agree that MSC's policies are no substitute for businesses' human rights due-diligence responsibilities and we make no claim to offer social assurance." The organisation emphasised that addressing forced and child labour in the seafood sector is a significant challenge requiring "industry-wide" collaboration.
The spokesperson added that convictions provide a "clear, objective and legally robust basis" for confirming forced labour, given MSC's environmental focus and lack of social assurance mandate. Furthermore, the MSC has ended the use of third-party social audits after an expert panel found them ineffective on labour issues and is creating a third-party online information portal to enhance transparency.
