Do more to protect isle fishery crews

Self-regulation of Hawaii’s longline fishing industry is a reasonable first step, but, inevitably, only changes in federal law can ensure that foreign fishermen receive fair treatment and wages for work on American-owned vessels that dock in Honolulu.

It’s a noteworthy move for the Honolulu Fish Auction to ban any longline vessel from selling catch at its Pier 38 location starting Oct. 1 if the boat owner or captain is not using a new universal crew contract designed by the local fishing industry. The contract, unveiled earlier this week, is meant to protect against illegal working conditions — and pressing owners to comply can only help.

However, the contract in and of itself cannot guarantee that the undocumented workers will receive adequate medical care, be paid an appropriate wage and not live in squalor. The industry’s contract announcement followed Whole Foods Market’s move to suspend purchases at the fish auction — so it could be viewed as a mere superficial fix intended to keep others from joining the boycott.

The two-page contract designed around United Nations standards is meant to demonstrate that neither slavery nor human trafficking is taking place on a vessel — but beyond that, does little to address other deplorable practices.

The appalling conditions that some of these workers endure — including 20-hour work days, pay as low as 70 cents an hour, scant medical care and the lack of essentials such as toilets — were outlined in a recent Associated Press investigation, which pointed to a loophole in federal law that exempts Hawaii’s fishery from a requirement that U.S. citizens must make up 75 percent of the crew on most commercial fishing vessels.

That loophole also exempts commercial fishing boats in Hawaii from federal labor and wage rules enforced nearly everywhere else. Clearly, abuses have festered — so it should be a priority to close the loopholes, which were backed by influential lawmakers, including the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

A course correction is in order, and federal protections, as well as industry-imposed improvements, will have to be implemented.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, in an email to the Star-Advertiser, said she appreciates the industry’s steps to address some of the concerns raised in the AP investigation.

“However, we need to work together to ensure foreign fishermen on Hawaii’s longline vessels have federal safeguards to protect them from exploitation,” Hirono said, acknowledging the “unique challenges our longline fleet faces to operate as a business and remain economically competitive.”

Hirono reiterated her commitment to “addressing these issues at the federal level by working with federal agencies and local stakeholders, and leading this process until we achieve a solution.”

These longstanding issues might take time to resolve, but the recent media spotlight affords the best opportunity to ensure that actual progress is made steadily.

For now, the universal contract offers some worker protections — but only if honored by vessel owners and captains. And it remains unclear who exactly will check for compliance.

The contract stipulates that any worker recruitment fees be paid by the vessel owner, not the worker; it addresses access to workers’ passports; and it specifies that fishermen must be paid in U.S. dollars and paid within four days of landing. The second page of the contract contains a record of payment, where fishermen are to sign each time they get paid.

An industry task force said it is also creating a vessel inspection checklist to assess working conditions, as well as a checklist for interviewing crewmen.

Those steps are well-intended, but self-regulation is, after all, self-imposed. To truly have substantial, industry-wide protections for undocumented workers in Hawaii’s longline fishing industry, the threat of federal sanctions will have to hold water.