Editorial: Deal offers hope for fish stocks and crew

Much of the credit for the deal rests with former police officer Tim McKinnel and his team. Photo / Duncan Brown

An investigation run from an office in Auckland promises to have a lasting impact on global fish stocks and conditions on board the boats which harvest valuable fish species.

The environmental group Greenpeace undertook the inquiry, which has led to a remarkable agreement with Thai Union, the world's largest canned tuna company, to address overfishing and labour abuse at sea.

Much of the credit for the deal rests with former police officer Tim McKinnel and his team.

McKinnel, whose dogged work exposed miscarriages of justice in the Teina Pora case, helped run the Greenpeace tuna campaign for the past few years. Its work delved into overfishing as well as the appalling conditions on boats endured by a largely migrant labour force.

McKinnel, who once worked with the police in south Auckland, remarked that while he had encountered unpleasant crime scenes in New Zealand, he was unprepared for the scale of exploitation in the global fishing industry. The inquiry ranged as far as West Africa and across the Indian Ocean to Thailand and landlocked Cambodia, a poor nation with a plentiful supply of desperate workers.

On boats crewed by bonded migrants, workers were paid as little as 13 or 14 cents an hour and expected to toil for 20 hours a day.

McKinnel described crews as "disposable commodities", forced to put up with hideous conditions. Inspections of some vessels found that crew were made to sleep by open-pit toilets, and cope with terrible smells.

Thai Union says it is committed to ending labour abuse by putting observers on boats and opening its operations to third party audits and inspections. The move could affect crews on 400 boats - and many more in the world's fishing fleets if other industry players fall into line.

The seafood giant also pledged to reduce the use of devices which create mini ecosystems and lead to the death of non-target species such as turtles and sharks. The deal with Greenpeace proposes regular checks to monitor progress and an independent review in 18 months.

New Zealand imports 500 tonnes of Thai Union products a year, for human and animal consumption.

It may be that the agreement struck by the seafood processor and
Greenpeace increases the price of its products as crews get decent wages and the shift to sustainable methods reduces the catch available for canning. But then the price of fish products sold in supermarkets should not rest on exploitation and unethical practices.

Thirty-two years ago this week, Greenpeace was at the centre of a sensational incident when its flagship vessel Rainbow Warrior was sunk in what emerged was a state-directed act of terrorism.

The French secret service carried out the fatal attack on the Auckland waterfront, and France eventually admitted the truth.

It is fitting that as France observes Bastille Day today, and celebrates the creation of the modern French Republic, Greenpeace too has cause to feel proud that its latest endeavours will hopefully lead to a more sustainable world fishing industry, along with fair and humane conditions for the millions who work in it.