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| Ending the Abuse of Laws, Workers and the Environment at Sea | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| How might we better manage the world’s oceans? | How might we better manage the world’s oceans? |
| This question came up often during the reporting of The New York Times’s series about lawlessness at sea. Labor, human rights and environmental abuses are widespread largely because the oceans are so sprawling, jurisdiction is complicated and policing is rare. To address these problems, maritime and law enforcement officials have proposed a variety of measures, some of them already being put into effect. They emphasized, though, that far more needs to be done. Among their recommendations: | This question came up often during the reporting of The New York Times’s series about lawlessness at sea. Labor, human rights and environmental abuses are widespread largely because the oceans are so sprawling, jurisdiction is complicated and policing is rare. To address these problems, maritime and law enforcement officials have proposed a variety of measures, some of them already being put into effect. They emphasized, though, that far more needs to be done. Among their recommendations: |
| Track abuse and violence at sea. To avoid the abuse or disappearance of seafarers, governments should make more spot checks on ships returning to port and levy heavier penalties for incomplete crew lists. Shipowners and crews should be legally obligated to report crimes at sea. Port officials and insurers should limit the fines imposed on ships found with stowaways that create incentives for killing or abandoning stowaways at sea. The programs that grant ships the right to fly a country’s flag should collect detailed crime data on crew members and captains and make the information public. Flag programs should also agree to help create and maintain an international database for tracking missing mariners. | Track abuse and violence at sea. To avoid the abuse or disappearance of seafarers, governments should make more spot checks on ships returning to port and levy heavier penalties for incomplete crew lists. Shipowners and crews should be legally obligated to report crimes at sea. Port officials and insurers should limit the fines imposed on ships found with stowaways that create incentives for killing or abandoning stowaways at sea. The programs that grant ships the right to fly a country’s flag should collect detailed crime data on crew members and captains and make the information public. Flag programs should also agree to help create and maintain an international database for tracking missing mariners. |
| Require more frequent visits to shore. Forced labor is more common on boats that stay at sea longer. Many of these boats avoid docking for years by relying on transshipment, a system where supplies are carried to the fishing boats and the catch is transported back to shore. Maritime researchers and fisheries management officials say that transshipment at sea should be banned or limited. They also argue that countries should impose requirements on how often boats return to port. | Require more frequent visits to shore. Forced labor is more common on boats that stay at sea longer. Many of these boats avoid docking for years by relying on transshipment, a system where supplies are carried to the fishing boats and the catch is transported back to shore. Maritime researchers and fisheries management officials say that transshipment at sea should be banned or limited. They also argue that countries should impose requirements on how often boats return to port. |
| Expand the financial safety nets. Starting in 2017, an International Labor Organization rule will require shipowners to show proof of funds to cover four months of crews’ wages and the costs to repatriate them. They will also have to prove they can cover costs that result from death or long-term disability of seafarers due to occupational injury and hazard. Those rules should be expanded to fishing boats, which are currently exempt from most of the labor organization’s major protections. | Expand the financial safety nets. Starting in 2017, an International Labor Organization rule will require shipowners to show proof of funds to cover four months of crews’ wages and the costs to repatriate them. They will also have to prove they can cover costs that result from death or long-term disability of seafarers due to occupational injury and hazard. Those rules should be expanded to fishing boats, which are currently exempt from most of the labor organization’s major protections. |
| Support the Maritime Labor Convention. By ratifying this measure, the American government could enforce higher standards of paid leave, wages, medical care and safety rules on foreign-flagged vessels as part of Coast Guard inspections during visits to American ports. | Support the Maritime Labor Convention. By ratifying this measure, the American government could enforce higher standards of paid leave, wages, medical care and safety rules on foreign-flagged vessels as part of Coast Guard inspections during visits to American ports. |
| Create marine reserves. In March, the British government announced that it was creating the world’s largest contiguous reserve around the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific. Last year, the Obama administration added nearly a half million square miles of protected United States waters. In the past five years, the Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Palau have tripled the size of their protected waters. Increasingly popular, marine reserves and no-take areas where all marine life is protected are widely seen as the best hope for restoring fish stocks. | Create marine reserves. In March, the British government announced that it was creating the world’s largest contiguous reserve around the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific. Last year, the Obama administration added nearly a half million square miles of protected United States waters. In the past five years, the Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Palau have tripled the size of their protected waters. Increasingly popular, marine reserves and no-take areas where all marine life is protected are widely seen as the best hope for restoring fish stocks. |
| Increase monitoring. The vastness of the oceans make it easy for poachers to thwart government quotas, enter forbidden areas and pillage sanctuaries. As a result, pirate fishing boats are responsible for over 20 percent of the wild-caught seafood imported into the United States, according to one major study. Large organizations like Google and the Pew Charitable Trusts are using satellite data to better police the sea. This technology holds great promise particularly when used to monitor reserves where no boats are allowed. | Increase monitoring. The vastness of the oceans make it easy for poachers to thwart government quotas, enter forbidden areas and pillage sanctuaries. As a result, pirate fishing boats are responsible for over 20 percent of the wild-caught seafood imported into the United States, according to one major study. Large organizations like Google and the Pew Charitable Trusts are using satellite data to better police the sea. This technology holds great promise particularly when used to monitor reserves where no boats are allowed. |
| Make seafood traceable. The technology exists to better track fish as they move from bait to plate. Governments and large seafood sellers could mandate the use of bar codes on packaging, DNA field kits for identifying species and algorithms that flag suspicious imports. The European Union is already pushing such requirements. Some grocers like Whole Foods Market and Wegmans are also starting to embrace these measures. The Obama administration is pressing Congress to pass legislation tightening rules at ports to block illegally caught fish from being offloaded. | Make seafood traceable. The technology exists to better track fish as they move from bait to plate. Governments and large seafood sellers could mandate the use of bar codes on packaging, DNA field kits for identifying species and algorithms that flag suspicious imports. The European Union is already pushing such requirements. Some grocers like Whole Foods Market and Wegmans are also starting to embrace these measures. The Obama administration is pressing Congress to pass legislation tightening rules at ports to block illegally caught fish from being offloaded. |