Recruitment of fishers and international law violations

Recruitment (or manning) agencies are critical actors in sourcing workers for fishing vessels, especially in Asia. While studies have demonstrated the human rights abuses and labour rights violations to which fishers (especially migrant fishers) are subjected, less focus has been accorded to the role of recruitment agencies and their potential violations of international law. Yet their pivotal role in seafood supply chains demands that greater attention be accorded to identifying the wrongful acts of recruitment agencies and establishing what obligations bind States to protect fishers. This paper demonstrates how the actions of recruitment agencies violate international law requirements, including in relation to forced labour and human trafficking. States are required to criminalize and penalize crimes concerned with forced labour and human trafficking, to provide protection to victims, as well as cooperate and provide assistance with transnational legal proceedings. States are also obliged to prevent, punish, investigate or redress actions of recruitment agencies that violate international human rights. International law requires States to ensure that private actors are regulated consistently with human rights, labour and other international law requirements and that those regulations are enforced. While this due diligence standard has weaknesses, opportunities exist, including through ASEAN, to ensure that recruitment agencies meet international law requirements to better protect the working life of fishers.