Fiji fishing industry faces human trafficking concerns

Human rights advocates are sounding the alarm over alleged systemic exploitation within Fiji's fishing industry. Concerns point to conditions that may constitute forced labor for both local and migrant workers.

Dr. Patricia Kailola, Director of the Human Dignity Group, highlighted at a recent discussion that fishing vessel captains reportedly confiscate passports and certificates. This practice strips workers of their freedom of movement and association, with some workers stating their documents are held even after voyages to ensure their return for future trips.

Kailola also explained that workers can become trapped in debt bondage due to falsified contracts and fraudulent recruitment. Many are lured with promises of jobs on tourist boats but are instead forced into demanding fishing work. Breaking these contracts, she noted, requires workers to repay costs associated with their misleading documentation, effectively trapping them.

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But even for Fijians, in their surveys we say, do you get them back at the end? No, they say the captain holds them so he can find us again the next time. So that’s stopping the freedom of association. Isolation, obviously on a fishing boat they’re isolated.

The absence of oversight on high seas vessels exacerbates the problem. These ships operate under the "law of the flag," offering no guarantee of legal protection or compensation for workers. Cases have emerged where Fijians recruited for fishing were allegedly forced into unpaid factory labor in China.

These practices reveal urgent gaps in regulation and enforcement. Advocates emphasize that without stronger monitoring of vessels and recruitment agencies, Fiji's fishers remain vulnerable to exploitation, which harms both human rights and the nation's standing in global trade.

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They get two to three year contracts. And if they break the contract, they have to pay everything back their false documents, their false passports, and all of that. So obviously they’re caught.