# Is Your Christmas Seafood Free From Slavery?

> With Christmas fast approaching, Stop the Traffik are calling on Australians to consider whether their seafood on their table was caught using slave labour.

By Jonathan Foye · 19 December 2017 · News

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/is-your-christmas-seafood-free-from-slavery/

With Christmas fast approaching, Stop the Traffik are calling on Australians to consider whether their seafood on their table was caught using slave labour.

The anti-slavery not for profit has launched a new website to inform Australians about supply chain issues in the seafood industry.

In 2016, Associated Press journalists won a Pulitzer Prize for **[reporting on abusive practices](https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/)** in the Southeast Asian fishing trade. Their investigation found that thousands of fishermen had been trafficked and were kept in cages. The reports led to **[more than 2,000 fishermen being freed](https://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/more-than-2,000-enslaved-fishermen-rescued-in-6-months.html)**.

“In 2015, the European Commission put Thailand on formal notice for taking insufficient measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing,” **[Buyslavefree.org](https://www.buyslavefree.org)** explains.

“The seafood industry leaders, who have strong business links in Thailand, formed the Seafood Task Force to lead Thailand’s seafood supply chain towards a more sustainable passageway.”

Stop The Traffik recently started **[an online petition](https://stopthetraffik.com.au/)** to this Thai Seafood Task Force, asking them to establish a Sustainable and Slave Free Fishing Standard.

The site also features Fuzz Kitto’s Christmas seafood recipes.

Insights’ **[Ethical Gift Guide](https://www.insights.uca.org.au/features/insights-ethical-gift-guide-2017)** is also available now.

**Jonathan Foye is Insights’ Editor.**