Why teaching decent work in fishing matters
The example of the fishing industry highlights some of the drivers of forced labor in global supply chains. While forced labour happens across all industries and all countries, some activities are more at risk of forced labor and labor exploitation. This is the case of fishing where forced labor has been documented for several decades. Reasons include the hard and hazardous nature of the work, the isolation of the work on board of fishing vessels, and the difficulty of regulating, let alone monitoring fishing in global waters.
The fishing industry plays a key role in food consumption across the globe and is an important economic sector. Businesses play a key role for preventing and mitigating forced labor and modern slavery in the supply chain, as fishing operators, processing plants, or retailers.
How to use the teaching resource:
Open-source: All teaching resources are available as open-source that can be used as “plug-and-play” modules in class.
No prerequisites: The standard slide deck and teaching notes that are presented in the teaching resources can be used for all levels (Bachelor, Master, Executive Education). No prerequisites are required, although as basic introduction to human and labour rights might be beneficial.
A living document: Lecturers should feel free to adapt the resource to their needs, e.g., to different disciplines, geographic regions, or human rights deep dives.
Learning Objectives
- Industry context: Understand the importance and characteristics of global fish production.
- Human rights challenges and the role of businesses: Examine how the operations of fishing companies can lead to labor rights violations and, in some cases, to forced labor.
- Management solutions: Map the different risks for businesses related to labor rights violations, including forced labor, in fishing and discover promising solutions to address them.
How the teaching resource is structured and how to use it
This resource focuses on decent work and the elimination of forced labor in fishing, providing general information on the industry, macroeconomics data and information about the labor challenges that workers face within it. It presents several practical examples from different countries and different stakeholder perspectives as well as advice to contextualize the learning experience to different audiences.
The session outline starts with an introduction to set the stage, depending on, e.g., the course, level, and country in which the resource is used (Unit 0). The introduction is followed by three main units that introduce the fishing industry (Unit 1), discuss the human rights challenges and forced labor in particular (Unit 2), and address possible management solutions (Unit 3).
The resource is tailored to be taught during one session of a 2-to-3-hour duration but can be customized to different formats.
The teaching resource consists of core documents, background material, and examples of teaching experiences. The core documents include a standard session outline and presentation slides. The background material includes reports and media sources that can be assigned to students. The teaching experiences document adaptations of the teaching resource by business school lecturers from different countries and disciplines.
Standard slides and teaching notes
Teaching notes: On promoting decent work and the elimination of forced labor in the fishing industry.
Background material
Ian Urbina (January 2021), How fish-meal production is destroying Gambia’s waters
Documentary by Ian Urbina, investigative journalist and founder of ‘The Outlaw Ocean Project’ first published by the New Yorker.
Antonia Cundy (June 2023), The Fishermen
Investigate report about Filipino workers in the UK fishing industry.
ILO (July 2023), Labor Conditions of Fishers are Improving in Ghana
Video on progress made to improve fishers’ labor rights in Ghana.
Associated Press (April 2015- July 2016), Seafood from Slaves
2016 Pulitzer Prize winning investigation helps free slaves in Southeast Asia.
ILO (December 2022), Training and Pilot Inspection on the Detection of Forced Labor in Fishing
Video on joint port inspections of labor conditions onboard fishing vessels in South Africa.
Foreign Policy (since May 2022), The Catch
Podcast series on the fishing industry in North and Latin America.
Teaching experiences
HEC Paris (September 2022), Introduction to Business and Human Rights’ Course, Master Level
Joint class by Charles Autheman and Alison Potter from the ILO. The students were asked to develop a proposal for their company to clean up their supply chains for a hypothetical UN Year Pledge
UNDIP, Indonesia (March 2023)Impressions from the classroom
Promoting decent work in the Indonesian fishing sector.
UNDIP, Indonesia (November 2022), Human Trafficking
Forced Labour and Fisheries, country focus Indonesia
How the teaching resource was developed
The teaching resource on “decent work in the fishing industry” was drafted during a workshop in December 2022 organized at the Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva.
Participants included Jaka Aminata (Universitas Diponegoro), Charles Autheman (HEC Paris), Raymond Babanawo (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration), Dorothée Baumann-Pauly (University of Geneva), Victor Cabezas (University of Pennsylvania), Sandy Chong (Curtin University), Cécile Féront (University of Cape Town), Berit Knaak (University of Geneva), Christina Stringer (University of Auckland), Alix Nasri (ILO) and experts in the field of fishing, labour rights, and business and human rights.
The workshop benefited from field work carried out by the ILO 8.7 Accelerator Lab and the expertise of business school instructors from the three target countries of Indonesia, Ghana and South Africa.
Feedback and questions
Are you looking for an expert to join your class as a guest speaker? Did you use the teaching tool and would like to share your experiences and/or materials? Do you have feedback or questions?
Feel free to reach out:
Julianna LaBelle, bhr@gbsn.org