The Seafood Task Force (STF) has begun an 18-month pilot project meant to give migrant tuna fishers a way to report abuse without risking their jobs or their safety.
The initiative, unveiled after a member vote at the STF’s 2025 Summit, will be implemented by Humantics and Humanity Research Consultancy, two groups long involved in worker-rights investigations. It will be particularly aimed at Indonesians working on Taiwan-flagged vessels.
STF executive director Martin Thurley said the pilot represents a shift from box-ticking to real accountability. “We are establishing a model that can create tangible pathways for workers to be heard and protected,” he said. “This is about moving beyond compliance to genuine respect for worker dignity.”
Fishers have spent years saying that existing systems fall short. One Indonesian deckhand who asked not to be named told local advocates last month that ‘you learn quickly that speaking up can get you sent home with nothing’. The new mechanism aims to address exactly that fear, pairing a secure digital case-tracking system with in-person outreach during port calls.
According to project materials shared at the launch, the mechanism will operate on participating Taiwan-flagged tuna vessels and follow the STF Code of Conduct as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Training will be delivered in workers’ native languages, and cases will be handled by civil-society partners rather than employers, an approach the STF hopes will build trust among crews who are wary of retaliation.
The task force plans to track performance indicators throughout the pilot and produce a full evaluation, which could guide expansion to other fleets and supply-chain segments.
