‘A fishing accident blinded me but I was forced to keep working’: abuses faced by workers who catch our fish

Negligence, physical and verbal abuse are common in unregulated industry. Now labor groups and government officials are trying to crack down

Labor groups and government officials are pushing to rein in rampant abuses of workers in the fishing industry, where migrant laborers are frequently subjected to slavery and violence from employers.

One out of every five fish is caught through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in conditions where abuses of workers are common, according to a United Nations estimate. About 128,000 workers are thought to be currently trapped in forced labor on remote fishing vessels around the world, according to the International Labour Organization.