Subcontracting and complex ownership structures obscure accountability. Vessel ownership, management, crewing and recruitment are often separated across multiple entities, making it difficult to identify responsibility for labour standards and remedy. Flags of Non-Compliance compound this.
Fishers are frequently engaged without written contracts, through crewing intermediaries or labour brokers rather than by the vessel operator and paid through share of catch arrangements rather than wages. Each of these places them outside the protections that attach to an employment relationship.
Recruitment through intermediaries introduces fees, debt and misrepresentation of terms before work begins. Where crewing is subcontracted, the operator can disclaim responsibility for recruitment and the intermediary for conditions aboard — and the fisher falls between them. Migrant fishers are the most exposed, since immigration status, language and dependence on the broker for the next placement can all be used to keep tied to employers, and often in situations of debt bondage
For more on subcontracting and precarious employment, see the Risks Across Transport guidance.