WI-FI NOW FOR FISHERS’ RIGHTS CAMPAIGN CALLS FOR MANDATORY WI-FI FOR MIGRANT FISHERS IN TAIWAN

Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights Campaign calls for mandatory Wi-Fi for migrant fishers in Taiwan to protect labour rights after industry denials. Industry association and the Fisheries Agency continue to deny serious labour violations exposed in CNN report

Taipei-The Wi-Fi Now for Fishers’ Rights Campaign responded to the Taiwanese fishing industry after employers’ associations and the Fisheries Agency (FA) downplayed a new report from CNN detailing forced labour and poor conditions for migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant water fisheries (DWF).

Taiwan’s seafood industry should stop denying forced labour and other widespread or systemic abuses in its distant water fishing sector, and instead take urgent action to address problems, including providing secure Wi-Fi access for fishers on every fishing vessel as a means for fishers to access their fundamental right to freedom of association, said the Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights Campaign.

Instead of acknowledging the abuses uncovered by CNN, however, fishing employers’ associations and the Fisheries Agency (FA) have downplayed the well-documented issues. Seafood industry groups have alleged that the cases highlighted by CNN were “isolated, resolved cases,” while the FA has claimed that the cases are not representative of the industry, ignoring the well-documented structural drivers of forced labour across the fleet.

“The fishing industry would like us to believe that what CNN exposed were isolated cases, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg,” said  Shih Yi-hsiang from Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR). “These are not one-off incidents. They are symptoms of deep-seated structural problems in Taiwan’s distant-water fishing industry, including isolation, debt bondage, inability to talk to unions or raise complaints without deportation, retaliation in real time, and no access to justice.”

“Fishers are isolated at sea for months at a time and have no way to talk to their unions, their families, check their wages, or report abuse,” said Ahmed Mudzakir, former chairman of the Indonesian Seafarers’ Gathering Forum – Pingtung Migrant Fishers Union (FOSPI–PMFU). “When fishers can’t speak up or organise to protect their rights, abuse continues unchecked.”

Taiwan’s fishing industry is characterised by a high risk of forced labour, as reflected in the U.S. Department of Labour’s ongoing inclusion of Taiwanese fish on the List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour since 2020.

Migrant fishers in Taiwan’s distant water fleet face significant labour and human rights abuses from the moment they are recruited. Indonesian manning agencies impose high recruitment fees that can lead to debt bondage, while tied visa schemes link their legal status to a specific employer, trapping them in abusive situations, with the constant threat of deportation preventing them from speaking out. Isolated at sea for months, they lack access to unions and grievance mechanisms to report violations, such as excessive hours, unsafe conditions, lack of medical care, or abuse from captains.

Migrant fishers are forced to endure exploitative conditions and keep working, while any abuses often remain hidden for months—sometimes nearly a year—if they come to light at all. Fishers who do report incidents often face immediate termination and deportation upon returning to port. This has a chilling effect on reporting formal complaints, leaving violations unaddressed and employers unaccountable.

This delay in reporting and implementing remedies contributes to the high number of health and safety violations in Taiwan’s fishing industry. Additionally, fishers suffer accidents or become ill, often due to unsanitary conditions or malnutrition, and are regularly denied medical care or unable to leave the vessels to seek care.

The Humanity Research Consultancy investigated health and safety in Taiwan’s fishing industry and found that, based on government records and media reports from 2022 to mid-2024, there were 63 deaths, 33 missing persons, 29 incidents of overboard personnel, and 18 reported injuries or illnesses. On average, this equates to a fisher dying, going missing, or falling overboard every week, and a fisher getting injured or falling seriously ill every eight days. From January to March 2025 alone, FOSPI-PMFU, a migrant fishers’ union and member of the Wi-Fi Campaign, recorded the deaths of four members who worked on board four different Taiwanese-flagged vessels.

The Wi-Fi NOW for Fishers’ Rights Campaign, along with labour and human rights allies, has called for the provision of free, accessible, and mandatory Wi-Fi on board distant-water vessels as a means for fishers to access and protect their labour rights, contact their unions or advocates, and access medical care. Maritime Wi-Fi is already widely available on distant water vessels, but migrant fishers are simply not given access.

“True reform must guarantee fishers’ freedom of association, which fundamentally includes access to communication. Wi-Fi is not a luxury. It is the bridge between rights on paper and rights in practice, “ said Valery Algaza, Deputy Director of Global Labour Justice.  “The Fisheries Agency promotes a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for fishers, but without Wi-Fi, fishers can’t enforce it. A CBA that can’t be reported or defended in real time offers no real protection. The industry and government seem focused on superficial solutions rather than real impact.”

The campaign calls on the Fisheries Agency and fishing industry to fully implement their Model Operational Guidelines for Wi-Fi Access and Fishers’ Rights, ensuring every fisher has access to Wi-Fi on board. Furthermore, the campaign has urged the government to address other root causes of forced labour, as outlined in the campaign’s proposed amendments to the Action Plan for Fisheries and Human Rights, proposed provisions in the bilateral labour migration agreement currently being negotiated between Taiwan and Indonesia, and proposed amendments to domestic regulations. However, TFA and other Taiwanese government agencies have failed to adopt these recommendations in a meaningful manner, which the campaign addressed in a follow-up letter.

“The government has been presented with clear, actionable recommendations,” concluded Lennon Wang, Serve the People Association. “It’s time to stop denying the problem and start guaranteeing the basic rights of the people who power this industry.”

The Wi-Fi NOW for Fisher’s Rights Campaign is an international campaign with U.S., Taiwanese, Japanese and Indonesian allies, including the Indonesian Seafarers’ Gathering Forum – Pingtung Migrant Fishers Union (FOSPI-PMFU), or Forum Silaturahmi Pelaut Indonesia (FOSPI), Global Labor Justice,  Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Serve the People Association (SPA), and the Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC).