300659 Exploitation in the global fisheries (S) (WiSe 2022/2023)

This class investigates the role the state, supply chain actors and activists play in protecting the human and labour rights of commercial fishers. It is widely acknowledged that fishing work results in rights violations and undermines environmental protection. But seafood products account for a significant portion of global trade (USD 156 billion in 2017), and employment (820 million people). These facts pose a significant challenge to design global institutions and laws that effectively prevent the labour exploitation of commercial fishers, who are largely from Southeast Asia and widely reported to work in forced labour situations. This course is divided into three parts: 1) the first part covers the full range of issues that confront policy-makers tasked with designing effective institutions and laws; 2) the second part focusses on two human rights abuses that are commonplace in the fisheries; and 3) the third part applies acquired knowledge to the European and Southeast Asian contexts to identify specific policies to more effectively regulate and reduce labour exploitation in commercial fishing globally.