Fishers of Men: Uyghur Forced Labor Taints the World’s Seafood Industry
Food safety auditors, Marine Stewardship Council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council, approve green labels to seafood companies and suppliers tied to the forced labor of Chinese Muslims, the Uyghur people, and environmental harm.
For many of us, saving the planet means ensuring that the products we purchase do not damage to the environment or contribute to the exploitation of workers. Therefore, we seek to depend on eco-labels or products that bear the green seal stamp of approval.
Sustainability certifications provided by food auditors have become a major tool for consumers to have confidence that the products they buy are ultimately ‘good’. This is because this characteristic, the way in which something has been produced, is not obvious to the purchaser in the way that price is.
It goes without saying that sustainability certifications have played an important role, and continue to do so, in promoting sustainable economies worldwide. However, when specifically observing the seafood industry, it is also clear that the complexity of supply chains amongst other reason, have made it challenging for auditing companies to deliver on their promises, the result being greenwashing, and the misrepresentation of products being sold to consumers.
