Trash fish: Its gross, tainted by slavery and

possibly in your dog food

A laborer from Myanmar works in the hull of a Thai fishing vessel. Trash fish caught by forced laborers is a key ingredient in fish sauce,
pet food and shrimp feed. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)
June 18, 2014
11:35
BANGKOK For years, it was a poorly kept secret. Thailands fishing indstry a key
spplier to the !" is entangled in #ar#aric sla$ery.
Today, sla$e la#or on Thai trawlers is no longer a secret. %ts a worldwide scandal.
&a$e after wa$e of da'ning in$estigations pre$iosly #y Glo#al(ost, 'ost recently
#y The Gardian ha$e helped re$eal an ndergrond trade in which 'en are press)
ganged into toiling on the seas for *ero pay.
Thai fishermen catch freshwater white tilapia fish at a fish farm in Samut Prakarn
province June 6, 2012.
"'ggled fro' poor $illages in +yan'ar or
,a'#odia, with pro'ises of -o#s on land, 'en and teen #oys are instead forced onto
Thai)owned #oats plying distant waters. .itting is for#idden. /iso#edience is
pnished with #eatings, dis'e'#er'ent and worse.
+any of these 'igrants and the Thai #oat'en who lord o$er the' ha$e told
Glo#al(ost that 'rder on Thai trawlers is practically rotine. As one Thai crew'an
e0plained1 2% saw an entire foreign crew shot dead... The #oss didnt want to pay p so
he lined the' p on the side of the #oat and shot the' one #y one.3
This practices horrors ha$e #eco'e so well known that after years of gi$ing
Thailand a pass the !" 'ay annonce sanctions against the "otheast Asian nation
this week.
The i'plications cold #e hge for Thailands 45 #illion glo#al seafood indstry.
Thailand is A'ericas second)largest seafood spplier thanks in large part to &estern
appetites for cheap shri'p and fish sticks.
Bt there is one co''odity chrned ot #y this indstry thats notoriosly reliant on
forced la#or. %ts called 2trash fish3 and its as npleasant as it sonds.
Trash fish doesnt refer to a single species. %ts a catch)all ter' for two types of wild)
caght seafood1 species that are npalata#le 6to h'an tonges, at least7 and species
that wold grow into #ig, tasty fish if nets had not snared the' so yong.
Trash fish are only $ala#le once theyre grond to a 'sh sed to prodce li$estock
feed, pet chow, fish oil and cheap processed food.
The link #etween trash fish and forced la#or is clear. The acconts of escaped sla$es
indicate that $icti's in$aria#ly work on Thai)owned trawlers, s'all $essels that tra$el
$ast distances to dredge trash fish in giant nets.
"otheast Asias seas are so o$erfished that high)$ale species are increasingly rare.
The scarcity of 8ality fish forces trawler captains to scor for loads and loads of trash
fish a greling, la#or)intensi$e chore.
There is great pressre to dri$e down costs,3 said "te$e Trent, e0ecti$e director of
the 9ondon)#ased :n$iron'ental ;stice Fondation, which has condcted e0tensi$e
in$estigations into forced la#or on Thai trawlers. 2%n so'e peoples 'inds, thats
practically legiti'i*ed the se of sla$e la#or.3
The fisheries are ot of control,3 Trent said. 2There is no effecti$e 'anage'ent. %n a
relati$ely short ti'e, since the indstrial trawlers were introdced to the region, yo$e
had a 'ore than <= percent decline in catch. Theyre cr'#ling #eneath the weight of
this 'is'anage'ent.3
+ch of the spply chain fro' trawler net to sper'arket is si'ply not 'onitored or
properly policed. By the ti'e sla$ery)tainted fish reaches the shore, the origins ha$e
#een o#scred #y a series of fish'ongers and 'iddle'en. The syste' is so 'rky that
seafood co'panies cant honestly assert that their trash fish prchases are sla$ery free.
They clai'ed they dont know. Or theyre preferred to look the other way,3 Trent said.
2Bt now yo ha$e clear e$idence of a#se in the prodction of trash fish ... and yo
cannot #e sre yo dont ha$e so'ething on yor shel$es that does not ha$e sla$ery or
forced la#or in its prodction.3
>ere are three ite's reliant on trash fish that yo 'ay find in yor pantry or free*er1
"hri'p1 Thailand is the worlds largest shri'p e0porter and and A'ericas largest
foreign shri'p spplier.
The shri'p arent directly far'ed sing forced la#or. Bt shri'p are often fed the
'shed)p sea life collected on sla$e #oats. 2That has #een pro$en #eyond any
reasona#le do#t,3 Trent said. The Gardian has directly i'plicated the planets
largest shri'p e0porter a 'assi$e Thailand)#ased conglo'erate called ,( Foods
in feeding sla$e)caght trash fish to shri'p.
,( Foods has long sold shri'p to &al)+art and ,ostco as well as Tesco, a !K)
head8artered sperstore chain, and Frances ,arrefor. "o far, only ,arrefor has
stopped #ying shri'p fro' ,( Foods following Gardians e0pose.
/og and cat food1 Grond)p trash fish are a co''on ingredient in pet food. No
in$estigation has linked a particlar pet chow factory to forced la#or #t 2its wholly
reasona#le to e0pect that trash fish 'ay #e entering spply chains prodcing cat food
and dog food,3 Trent said.
9ast year, 4?5? 'illion worth of dog and cat food entered the !" fro' Thailand,
according to the !nited "tates /epart'ent of Agricltre. &hen it co'es to dog and
cat food in 2sealed in airtight containers3 which typically 'eans wet pet food
Thailand is A'ericas top foreign spplier.
Fish sace1 Trash fish is a key ingredient in fish sace a sa$ory, a'#er)colored
li8id. %n 'any Asian kitchens, its an ingredient no less crcial than salt in &estern
kitchens.
%n the !", Thai fish sace rles @A percent of the 'arket. 9ast year, according the !"
go$ern'ent statistics, A'ericans cons'ed 'ore than BA 'illion ponds of Thai)
prodced fish sace. Thats enogh to feed two onces of fish sace to e$ery A'erican
'an, wo'an and child.
Fish oil pills1 A poplar sorce of O'ega B fatty acids, fish oil pills are so'eti'es
prodced with trash fish. +ackerel and sardines are co''on species sed to 'ake the
pills. Theyre also co''on species caght #y sla$es on Thai trawlers.
The :n$iron'ental ;stice Fondation has looked into links #etween sla$e)caght fish
and factories and will 2e0a'ine the' frther,3 Trent said. 2% dont think people in the
'a-or cons'er 'arkets want to #e eating a health prodct prodced #y sla$es.3