There have been no confirmed cases of human trafficking among a fleet of about 140 Hawaii-based longline fishing vessels, and recent interviews with crew on about 30 of the boats revealed zero complaints about working conditions, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters gathered off a Honolulu pier for a quarterly meeting involving commercial fishing vessel owners.
Federal officials opened the usually private meeting to reporters following media pressure and growing concerns about labor conditions aboard the boats, which are crewed by hundreds of undocumented foreign workers from countries such as the Philippines, Kiribati, Vietnam and Indonesia.
“We wanted to bring full transparency to what we do every day,” said Brian Humphrey, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s regional director for field operations. “This is a matter that we have been involved with for nearly 20 years. We’ve made adjustments over time trying to bring the right balance to protecting the border, but still doing so in a compassionate and humanitarian way because we realize that the individuals that perform this very difficult work are human beings first and foremost, and they are worthy and deserving of respect.”
Federal law requires that U.S. citizens compromise
75 percent of the crew on fishing vessels; however,
a loophole implemented in the late 1980s exempts Hawaii’s longline fishing industry from this requirement.
The crew of about 700 fishermen is composed largely of foreign workers with no legal standing in the United States. When they dock at Honolulu’s piers, bringing in fresh ahi and swordfish, they aren’t supposed to leave the boat.
There is a small area off of one of the piers where federal officials allow them to use the restroom and shower, but federal officials keep close tabs on the workers to ensure that they don’t escape the area. This past year, officials say they caught 11 fishermen who had left their piers. They were deported back to their home countries.
Homeland Security has the dual role of ensuring that the undocumented workers don’t enter the U.S., while also investigating allegations of human trafficking and smuggling.
Joanna Ip, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Hawaii, said that her agency hadn’t had a case that met the threshold of constituting human trafficking under state or federal laws, but she said that there have been ongoing complaints.
“We are looking into allegations,” she said. “I can’t confirm whether there are any active investigations.”
While federal officials assured reporters that they are working to ensure safe working conditions aboard the vessels, they acknowledged that they largely lack jurisdiction over some of the larger concerns brought to light recently by an Associated Press investigation published last month.
The foreign workers, who lack visas and usually sign two- to three-year work contracts, have minimal labor protections. If they get sick or have an emergency at home, they must rely on the vessel owner to buy them a plane ticket and contact Customs and Border Protection so that they can depart from the airport.
There is also little recourse for a worker who isn’t paid or treated for injury, according to the terms of their contract.
Humphrey said that issues such as pay disputes or poor working conditions often “self-police themselves.”
“These are small boats with very small numbers of crew. So even one disgruntled fisherman, whether it is a pay dispute or they feel that they are not being treated as well as they should, is not a very productive crew member. And that hurts everyone,” he said. “And it is just not something that is widely tolerated by the captain of a vessel because if they have an unproductive crew because the captain doesn’t treat the fishermen properly, they are not productive. If they are not productive, they don’t make money, the captain doesn’t make money, the vessel owner is unhappy.”
Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, as well as state lawmakers, have signaled that they are looking at ways to improve oversight of labor conditions aboard the boats, but have yet to officially propose any fixes.
