A group of Indonesian migrant fishermen has filed a lawsuit against the American seafood company Bumble Bee Foods, accusing it of forced labour and human trafficking. The lawsuit, filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), marks the first of its kind against the US seafood industry, according to Greenpeace Indonesia and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union.
“This is a historic moment for justice in the global fishing supply chain,” said Fildza Nabila Avianti, a Sea Campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia. The plaintiffs claim they suffered physical and emotional abuse, debt bondage, excessive working hours, unpaid wages, and financial threats to their families while working on tuna fishing vessels supplying Bumble Bee Foods.
The lawsuit also alleges that Bumble Bee Foods, owned by Taiwan-based tuna trading giant Fong Chun Formosa (FCF), profited from exploitative labor practices. Greenpeace Indonesia reports that despite FCF generating an annual income of $1 billion, Indonesian migrant fishermen were promised only $400 to $600 per month—wages that were often reduced or left unpaid.
The Indonesian Migrant Workers Union has recorded 943 complaints from migrant fishery workers between 2010 and 2024, with 196 cases reported last year alone. These included allegations of withheld wages, debt bondage, contract violations, and workplace violence. Many fishermen reportedly experienced exploitation from recruitment to their return home, facing deception, fraud, and inhumane conditions.
Hariyanto Suwarno, Chairperson of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, emphasized that some workers endured exploitation for months or even years. He called for accountability, stating, “The parties profiting from these inhumane actions must be held responsible for violating the rights of migrant fishery workers.”