U.S. seafood giant turns a blind eye to human trafficking in its supply chain, a landmark lawsuit has alleged

Get the Full StoryTime to rethink that tuna fish sandwich you eat every day for lunch, because San Diego seafood giant Bumble Bee Seafoods sources product from supply chains where forced labor and human trafficking are involved, according to a lawsuit Indonesian fishermen filed in a California federal court in March. According to the Associated Press, the suit accused industry-leading Bumble Bee of violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act by sourcing product from overseas companies where forced labor and human trafficking are prevalent. The legal action is the first suit of its kind against a U.S. seafood company, and underscores labor abuse in the international seafood industry. Beatings, injuries, and no medical care San Diego-based Bumble Bee Foods has been sued by Indonesian fishermen who allege labor abuses. https: t.co hvM6w6DKqt FOX 5 San Diego fox5sandiego March 13, 2025 The four men in the suit say they left their Indonesian villages and worked on Chinese-owned longline fishing boats where Bumble Bee sources tuna. While working on the boats, the men allege they were frequently beaten and often severely injured, and were denied medical treatment and forced to go back to work or they couldn t eat. The men say they tried to organize a strike and tried to leave the vessels, but the boats often stayed out at sea while supply ships offloaded their catch, trapping them onboard. The men say they were charged a debt for the food that they ate, and they were threatened with fees and fines if they quit. In 2016, six Cambodians filed a similar suit in a California court against four seafood companies, including companies that supply product to Walmart, and some with U.S. offices, alleging they were lured from their homes to work at a Thai seafood factory, Reuters reported. Once there, the plaintiffs said they were forced to work up to six days a week in poor conditions, for less pay than promised, and they were forced to pay rent. Their passports were also confiscated. Two years later, in 2018, a federal judge dismissed the human trafficking suit, because companies involved in the case claimed they did not buy products or had minimal involvement with the seafood factories where the defendants worked, SeaFood Source reported. A lawyer for the defendants said at that time, If plaintiffs are right, then the litigation floodgates would open, since virtually every U.S. company benefits, to some degree, from commerce with companies in developing countries. As for the more recent suit, Bumble Bee Seafood has said it does not comment on pending litigation, but has also recently vowed to improve its supply chain oversight. The fishermen in the Bumble Bee suit seek compensation for their unpaid wages and alleged abuse, and for companies like Bumble Bee to contractually require companies in their supply chain to return to port to offload their catch, have adequate medical facilities on board, and Wi-Fi service to contact help. Referring to the complaint, human rights attorney Agnieszka Fryszman representing the Indonesian fishermen said Bumble Bee has had years and years and years to address this, but they haven t. She added, There is almost literally no chance that they didn t know that forced labor was pervasive in their supply chain, given the level and volume of reporting over the last 20 years about this exact problem.

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