[Photo: FILE]

Human rights advocates are sounding the alarm over allegations of systemic exploitation in Fiji’s fishing industry, where both local and migrant workers face conditions that experts say amount to forced labour.

Human Dignity Group Director Dr Patricia Kailola while speaking at a recent human trafficking discussion revealed concerns of fishing vessel captains routinely confisicating passports and certificates, stripping workers of their freedom of movement and association.

“But even for Fijians, in their surveys we say, do you get them back at the end? No, they say the captain holds them so he can find us again the next time. So that’s stopping the freedom of association. Isolation, obviously on a fishing boat they’re isolated.”

Kailola says these crew members are still prevented from reclaiming their documents even after voyages.

She says workers are also trapped in debt bondage through falsified contracts and fraudulent recruitment practices.

She explained that many are lured with promises of jobs as stewards on tourist boats, only to find themselves forced into grueling fishing work.

“They get two to three year contracts. And if they break the contract, they have to pay everything back their false documents, their false passports, and all of that. So obviously they’re caught.”

The Director stressed that the absence of oversight on high seas vessels compounds the problem and these ships operate under the “law of the flag,” meaning workers have no guarantee of legal protection or compensationm, she warned, citing cases where Fijians were recruited for fishing ended up forced into factory labour in China without pay.

Advocates say these practices highlight urgent gaps in regulation and enforcement. Without stronger monitoring of vessels and recruitment agencies, Fiji’s fishers remain vulnerable to exploitation that undermines both human rights and the nation’s reputation in global trade.