Many people around the world have been horrified by reports of human rights abuses in the seafood industry. A 2014 article in the Guardian sounded alarm bells that all seafood purchasers large and small should answer. But the issue of slavery in the seafood supply chain is larger and more complex than consumers or even companies can tackle alone. Large multinational companies have had to band together to form the Seafood Taskforce, and yet government action is still needed.

Update as of September 26th, 2016:

The day after this blog was posted, Andy Hall was found guilty and sentenced to a three year suspended sentence and a fine of 150,000 Thai baht. You can take action to defend Andy and call for a change to the laws under which he was convicted by signing our petition here.

The State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) is a potent annual assessment of governments’ efforts to combat human trafficking that subjects the worst offenders to sanctions. At its best, it provides human rights organizations, unions, and others committed to the fight against human trafficking with a tool to hold governments accountable for their efforts to prevent this egregious crime, protect its victims and prosecute the offenders. It is designed to be a balanced standard against which all governments, including the United States, can be judged on their progress on this one issue of vital importance to humankind. The 2015 TIP Report released Monday fell far short of those expectations.