Pope Francis has condemned trafficking and forced labour in the fisheries industry, calling for an intensive international push to halt human rights abuses in the sector.



At an event co-organised by the Vatican and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), on Monday, the Vatican secretary of state urged action from the international community and governments to prevent the “chain of exploitation” of vulnerable individuals.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin presented a new message from the Holy See, in which the Pope described human trafficking as a “crime against humanity”.

The message, released for World Fisheries Day, highlighted the “exploitation and abuses” of fishermen and condemned “the tragic reality that, within the fishing industry, there are hundreds of thousands of internal/transnational migrants who are smuggled/trafficked for forced labour on board of fishing vessels”.

More than 38 million people work in the capture fisheries industry around the world, recognised as one of the most dangerous types of employment.

In a speech in Rome, Parolin said action was needed across three broad fronts: providing aid to exploited fishermen to facilitate their reintegration; ensuring compliance with existing international rules on fishing; and fighting against trafficking and smuggling to impose the rule of law and human rights standards.

“Only by working together and coordinating our efforts will we be able to break the chain of exploitation that affects the fishing industry in many countries,” he said.

José Graziano da Silva, the director general of the FAO, said that although fishing provides food and income for millions of people, “sadly, the same industry that offers so many opportunities also victimises the most vulnerable”.

Graziano da Silva said: “We have seen increasing media attention focusing on human abuses in the sector, in both developed and developing countries. These include instances of labour abuse, forced labour, trafficking, child labour and slavery. FAO and the Holy See are calling for collaboration between all partners to work together in order to end human rights abuses along the entire fisheries value chain.

“We have to guarantee that the seafood reaching our plates has been produced not only in an environmentally sustainable manner; but also in a manner that supports the socio-economic wellbeing of those who harvest and process it,” he said.

The Guardian has been in the forefront of exposing exploitation within the fishing industry worldwide.

Fisheries support the livelihoods of one out of every 10 people in the world.

Father Bruno Ciceri, a representative of the Apostleship of the Sea International at the Holy See’s pontifical council for the pastoral care of migrants, said: “There are many people who are trafficked by criminal organisations, brought by slavery to work on fishing vessels. Many of them don’t get paid. Many of them end up killed and thrown into the ocean. This is a fight. Pope Frances called this a crime against humanity. The church is calling for all international organisations and governments to be united to fight against this.”

The FAO and the Vatican highlighted two international agreements, the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), the first ever binding treaty targeting illegal and underreported fishing, which has been linked to human rights abuses, as illegal vessels are often the ones involved in exploitation, as well as convention 188. Both of these are designed to help improve conditions for fishing workers.

Last week, in what the International Labour Organisation described as a “milestone” for the fishing industry, Lithuania ratified convention 188: the agreement now has ratification by the 10 countries required for the agreement to come into force, from 16 November 2017.



Fishermen globally work on vessels that are typically less than 12m in length. The provisions of the convention aim to ensure that vessels are constructed and maintained so that workers have decent living conditions on board, suitable for the long periods they often spend at sea.