“I am on a seafood, I see food and I eat it.”
It’s an apt quote for every food lover, and, when it comes to eating food, there would be hardly anyone to deny it. Be it non-vegetarian or vegetarian, undeniably, food is the necessity for our basic survival. Although I don’t discriminate between vegetarian or non-vegetarian, I still feel there are certain food items which one tries to avoid in this high-paced life. Among many food items, it’s particularly fish that I’m referring to. Repeatedly, several PETA campaigns are organised in order to spread awareness about the restoration of the ecosystem. Here, I don’t want to disseminate the message about the preservation of the environment. The rationale behind writing this article is not to preach but a suggestion to avoid seafood items.
Below I have enumerated a detailed reason after investing my hours of interest for human trafficking.
“Was I destined to live in a cage?” A common thought which every trafficked girl must’ve wondered. Disappointingly, only a few become can be called survivors.
Fishing industry
Apart from various industries, there is a new industry which has come under the scanner for trafficking in recent days, that is, the fishing industry. It has become a commonplace in several parts of the world where trafficked people are treated as forced labourers. This industry has registered a spike in the number of trafficked victims, especially the Thailand fishing industry. Therefore, the latest reports regarding this are making our heads bend down in shame.
Impact of the Fishing Industry on Human Trafficking
The rising global demand for fish has caused an increased need for physical labour onboard fishing vessels. If we take the latest statistics into account, the average annual per capita consumption of seafood worldwide has shown a spike in 2017. The per capita consumption of seafood worldwide amounted to 20.3 kilograms in 2017 which is up from 19.9 kilograms in 2014.
India
In fact, the Indian fish and seafood industry touched an all-time high in the most recent years, with an annual export value of $4.6 USD billion as per the latest estimates. Frozen shrimp and prawns continued to be the leading export product, contributing 34% in volume, and 67% in dollar value, to the total seafood exported from the country. However, the growing demand of labour has made human trafficking vulnerable.
Thailand
As per the media reports, in Thailand fishing industry, out of the hundreds of fishermen, there were 75% of human trafficked fishermen who were either overworking with illegally excessive long hours, unjustified low pay, and debt bondage over the past five years. So, it’s quite obvious that the fishing industry, which in particular, relies on ‘casual’ labour, instead of permanent employees, easily reaps the standard benefits out of trafficked victims. Similarly, in African lake areas where the fishing tends to be small-scale, this practice is quite common.
A Heroic Tale of Ghana
One can relate to this Ghana’s two city boys, Emmanuel and Isaac. The story has been cited in the latest 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the U.S. Department of State.
Emmanuel and Issac’s mother struggled to take care of them and keep them safe. When she could no longer afford to feed her boys, she sold them to a man who put them to work on a fishing boat. The man was abusive, often hit Emmanuel and Isaac with the boat paddle. Emmanuel and Isaac would often split one meal a day between them. Later, the brothers were able to escape when their trafficker heard authorities were arresting people who had children working on the boats. Emmanuel and Isaac now live with a neighbour who sends them to school. Well it was one of the chilling stories of human trafficking that shouted out survivors’ heroic adventures. But there are still some unheard voices which are echoing under the shackles of shameless our society.
A struggle at the end
Undoubtedly, a lot of efforts have been diverted to tackle sea slaves. Even government and social organisations are working vigorously to tackle the issue. Be it through mobile networks or extensive inspecting methods, institutions are putting their best foot forward in suppressing human trafficking.
But this struggle requires everyday training to bridge the gap between the educated and uneducated sections of the society to live under one umbrella, and, after penning down, I fear to even consume fish as it must be costing an innocent life. What say?
Definitely, the UN has provided all of us an opportunity to pledge together to propagate the idea of spreading awareness but as Pompeo said, “one should not end their fight until trafficking becomes a past,” therefore, we should show our effort everyday.
It is said that it is better to kill two birds with one stone. Therefore, after writing this, I would suggest all my friends across the globe, by avoiding fish, you will not only save one life but many.