Human trafficking and forced labour is still rife across Thailand’s fishing industry, despite government pledges to reform, a new report has revealed.

The 134-page investigation – Hidden Chains: Forced Labour and Rights Abuses in Thailand’s Fishing Industry – was conducted by Human Rights Watch between 2015 and 2017, by interviewing 248 current and former fisheries workers, and also boat owners and Thai officials.

It discloses that fishermen, mainly from Burma and Cambodia, are still being trafficked into bonded labour, forced to work in dirty and dangerous conditions, and chronically underpaid.

The disturbing findings mean that British, European, American and Japanese consumers of Thai fish have no guarantees that the food on their plates has not been provided by abused workers.

Shrimp, snapper, bream, mackerel and tuna are among the fish caught by Thai boats. As the world’s largest seafood exporter, with an annual market value of $6.5 billion, Thailand sells most of its fish to the US and Japan. The UK is the biggest European importer, buying about £135 million worth in 2015.