SAFE Seas

Project outcomes included:

• Improved and strengthened legal, policy and regulation frameworks to address forced labor and trafficking in persons in fisheries.
• Improved procedures, mechanisms, implementation and quality of labor-inclusive inspections on fishing vessels.
• Improved understanding among government, private sector, local communities and fish workers of acceptable work conditions in the fishing industry.
• Improved ability of fishers and their families to report exploitative working conditions on fishing vessels.
• Improved resolutions of forced labor and trafficking in persons and/or exploitative working conditions on fishing vessels.

Project impact:

• 199 survivors of forced labor/trafficking reached.
• 107 cases of forced labor/trafficking reported.
• 8 community protection groups created.

SAFE Seas used a rights-based approach in its programming, which embraced the inalienable rights of citizens and advocated for the legal obligations of governments to realize those rights. These rights include the ability to live in freedom and safety, free from trafficking and torture, and the right to decent work, among others.

The project included engagement from the private sector to strengthen the safety of workers, along with global supply chains. A Safe Fishing Alliance was created with major fishing industry companies, as well as key government and civil society actors, which helped eliminate exploitative and unfair competition.

Innovative uses of technology strengthened the impact of hotlines and reporting methods, and provided centralized portals for information and communication. Collaboration between governments, fish workers, the private sector, civil society and communities were critical to achieve this holistic approach.