[LINK] "Nunavut shrimp interests say Thailand slave-labour stock 'taints' entire industry"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC News' Sima Sahar Zerehi notes how Nunavut's nascent shrimp fisheries are trying to make a bid for market share in the aftermath of revelations of the use of slave labour by Thai fishers.

Slave workers in factories are reportedly behind Thailand's shrimp industry, yet many restaurants and grocery stores in Canada carry this shrimp stock instead of the shrimp harvested by Nunavut's Inuit-owned sustainable fisheries.

A feature story this week by The Associated Press paints a disturbing picture of how victims of human trafficking have been used to fuel Thailand's shrimp industry, which provides peeled shrimp to many American and Canadian restaurant and supermarket chains.
"It's unfortunate because it taints the entire shrimp industry," said Chris Flanagan of the Baffin Fisheries Coalition (BFC). "Any seafood that is harvested under these kinds of conditions should not be imported into Canada."

With four vessels that fish for shrimp and turbot, the BFC is the largest harvester of shrimp in Canada's North. Half of all BFC employees are Inuit.

"I would just advise anyone who's buying shrimp, especially if it's wholesalers or restaurants, to be sure they know where it's coming from," said Flanagan.