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[upbeat music] From NJ PBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News," with Briana Vannozzi.

- Good evening and thanks for joining us.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Tonight, a special edition of "NJ Spotlight News."

Looking at a recent investigation in rampant forced labor and human rights abuses in the Chinese fishing industry.

How that taints much of the fish imported around the country and ultimately what lands on your dinner plate here in New Jersey.

The reporting was done by the Outlaw Ocean Project.

And focused on the Chinese squid fishing fleet, following the vessels and their crews around the world's oceans.

We'll speak with Ian Urbina, who led the multi-year reporting project shortly.

But first, here's a look at how one fish in particular, the squid, became such a popular product here in the U.S. [upbeat music] - [Ian] From millennia, from Japan to Portugal, people have eaten squid.

But Americans arrived late to the feast.

Up until the early 1980s, most Americans viewed squid as fish bait.

A slimy, unappetizing sea creature, unfit for human consumption.

But in just a few years, the popularity of squid exploded in the U.S.

It went from relative obscurity, served mostly in niche restaurants, predominately in cities along the American East and West Coast.

But just three years later, becoming a widely popular appetizer on the menus of hundreds of chain restaurants across the entire country.

- Wow!

- [Ian] This was a rapid transformation.

And it offers several important stories.

What took place in the minds and tastes of the American consumer, is a wondrous tale about the magic of marketing.

Behind that, there's a parable about a conversation campaign gone awry.

And the perils of mass-produced food.

And along the way, we also get a broader history lesson about China's emergence as the global super-power of seafood, operating the largest fishing fleet the world has ever known.

[reflective music] By the 1970s, U.S. fish stocks were on the verge of collapse.

Over-fishing had wiped out most of the fish near shore.

Raising the alarm for conservationists and the U.S. government.

While stocks of traditionally targeted fish like cod, menhaden, tuna and swordfish had plummeted, squid remained abundant.

Because most Americans had not developed a taste for it.

Alarmed by the looming crisis, Congress, universities, and conservationists began a rebranding campaign, the likes of which never seen before or since.

Its goal, to convince Americans to eat this slimy creature.

The federal government paid universities to figure out how to persuade fisherman, chefs, and American restaurant patrons that squid was delicious.

MIT published a report calling on restaurants and grocery stores to stop calling it squid.

And instead, use its more exotic name, calamari.

Bread it, deep fry it like onion rings, and American consumers will gobble it up, the report concluded.

They couldn't of been more correct.

[lively music] [gentle music] One hurdle standing in the way of squid going mainstream in the U.S. was the time, difficulty, dirtiness and cost of cleaning squid.

In 1981, two engineering professors from the University of California Davis, Paul Singh and colleague, Daniel E. Brown, developed and patented the first automated squid cleaning machine.

They were convinced by automating this process, the cost of squid would go down, and demand would go up.

But, the machine failed to sell in the U.S. for two reasons, one small and one big.

The small one was bad timing.

That year, El Nino decimated squid landings off the California coast.

The bigger factor, however, was China.

[upbeat music] Cheap labor, and lax regulations on worker's rights and environmental protections, transformed China into the world's sweatshop.

The U.S. reliance on China to do this dirty job has only increased since then.

Most of the squid eaten by Americans is imported from China.

And most of that squid is fished from the high seas off both coasts of South America.

It's then packed into refrigeration vessels called refers and sent to China for processing.

Even squid that's caught just off the coast of California is sent on a 12,000 mile round trip to processing plants in China, before being sent back across the Pacific to U.S. consumers.

[gentle music] As our oceans and marine life continue to be threatened by the climate crisis, squid are uniquely resistant to these threats.

Ocean acidification which is fast destroying many of the world's coral reefs, is meanwhile having limited effect on squid.

Rising ocean temperatures from global warning are not killing off squid, but causing it to reproduce faster.

Whereas most other fish stocks globally are crashing, squid numbers are going up.

Largely because over-fishing has removed most squid predators like sharks, tuna and whales.

Compared to other animal protein sources, squid has a smaller carbon footprint, making it even more appealing to environmentally-minded chefs and climate conscious foodies.

For these reasons, many experts point to squid as being a food for the future.

But at what cost?

Fishing is ranked as the deadliest job in the world.

And by many measures, Chinese squid ships are widely viewed as the most brutal.

They are ranked as the largest purveyor of illegal fishing in the world.

Death, bondage, human trafficking, violence, preventable injuries and death are common in this fleet.

U.S. and U.N. officials say that China's squid ships are more than any other type, the most prone to using forced labor.

As the popularity of calamari grows, what toll will it have on the planet?

And to the people that do the work?

[gentle music] - And joining me now is Ian Urbina.

He is the Director for the Outlaw Ocean Project.

Ian, welcome back to the show.

Much of your reporting focuses on the fact that China is this global, has a global dominance on the fishing industry.

But it really relies on forced labor, other human rights abuses.

Why are Chinese fishing fleets most prone to this?

- Well I think the Chinese are most prone because number one, China is generally an opaque place.

And so, it's very difficult for outsiders to find out what's going on land, and even more so, on their vessels.

Because they're not as willing to answer questions as maybe other countries are.

I also think it's a country that has scaled everything up so hugely.

And in so doing, it has cut a lot of corners when it comes to human rights and environmental concerns that we might have.

So as to become the market super-power.

- So a real lack of oversight.

How are these workers ending up on these boats?

And, how common is forced labor in Chinese fleets?

- So Chinese distant water fishing vessels, those vessels that are on the high seas, or in foreign waters, tend to be the most brutal.

Before COVID, most of the Chinese vessels were using foreign crew.

So you might have a fishing ship that had 40 males on it, and five of them would be Chinese officers.

And the rest would be typically Indonesian, African, or Filipino crew.

A lot of those guys are trafficked.

They don't speak the language of their Captain.

They've flown across the world to get the job.

They have their passport confiscated.

And, they're signing a two-year contract when they have to stay on the ship.

- Given any type of guidance, Ian, to even follow that contract, I'm guessing it's not in their native language.

Is there any assistance for these workers?

- No, these jobs are so sought after.

And those that are getting them tend to rural, sometimes illiterate.

Often never having left their village, much less their country.

So they're easily bamboozled.

And for sure, they're not really having advice of counsel as they sign these contracts.

They're just sort of signing papers that they don't know what they say, and then getting onboard the ships.

- Your work highlighted how the U.S. is really driving demand in this industry.

And I'm curious as to whether that makes it even more difficult for the workers to get out of these situations.

Is it even possible for them to get out?

- Yeah I mean historically when workers have sought to leave the ships, they've either asked the Captain, and in rare cases have been allowed off the ship before their contract is over.

Or, they've jumped ship when they come near a port.

And attempted to escape that way.

That usually doesn't go too well, because they're in a foreign country.

And they have no way of getting help to get back to their home country.

They don't speak the language.

Or, they stage mutinies and strikes, which draw attention sometimes of press in foreign countries.

These are often the ways that these crews escape.

This next documentary we're going to share, Ian, really looks at the plight of one man's death aboard one of these ships.

Can you take me inside your reporting and set it up for me?

- Yeah, this is a young man named of Fadhil.

He was on a ship called Wei Yu 18.

In many ways, this is sort of a textbook Chinese squid vessel.

Traverses the globe, stays at sea for sometimes two to three years.

A mother ship comes and picks up their catch, and brings it back to China.

But the crews stay on board.

They're cut off from family, they can't communicate.

They stay on the water the whole time.

Violence is endemic.

They make very, very little.

We're talking hundreds of dollars per month during the time they're there, with huge deductions.

It's 16, 18 hour days, six days a week, rain or shine.

Sick or healthy.

It's really sort of Dickensian type of workplace.

- All right, let's take a look.

[rapid music] [wind howling] [rapid grim music] [rapid grim music] [digital beeping] - In July of 2018, a young man named Fadhil, left his home in Indonesia to work as a deckhand on a high seas fishing vessel.

A Chinese squid jigger called the Wei Yu 18.

He was 25-years-old venturing out to sea for the first time.

[speaking in foreign language] Fadhil boarded Wei Yu 18 at the port of Busan, South Korea.

Where he joined a crew of nine other Indonesians and 20 Chinese.

[waves rippling] From Busan, the rusty red and white steel-hulled ship traveled for several weeks to South America, to work the high seas fishing grounds off the coast of Peru and Chile.

Working in 12 to 24 hour shifts, the men typically slept during the day and worked at night, since squid fishing requires using extremely bright light bulbs to lower the animals toward the surface.

[speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] On the ship the men slept four to a room in wooden bunk beds.

Each with one blanket on a soggy foam mattress made wet by walls that sweated with condensation.

The Indonesian crew was provided drinking water that was rust-colored and tasted like metal.

While their Chinese counterparts drank bottled water.

Indonesian deckhands were only given salt water for bathing and washing their clothes.

And for rations, they were given rice and instant noodles.

Violence on board the Wei Yu 18 was common.

The men described the foremen and the captain hitting them on the head and slapping and kicking them, usually for not understanding instructions given in Chinese.

Taking too long to untangle a fishing line, or dropping squid on the deck.

By August of 2019, after being at sea for over a year, the Wei Yu 18 was gripped by an outbreak of Beriberi.

A debilitating and painful form of malnutrition caused by a lack of vitamin B1, also known as Thiamine.

Symptoms include full body swelling, intense fatigue, and if left untreated, death.

Experts say that allowing workers on fishing ships to contract and die from Beriberi constitutes criminal neglect.

Because the disease is so easily prevented through proper nutrition, or vitamin pills.

And can be treated when it occurs.

As over a third of the world's fish stocks have collapsed, or are on the verge, fishing fleets have begun traveling further, and staying at sea longer.

In hopes of catching the minimum needed to remain profitable.

This is especially true of Chinese squid ships that typically travel further than other vessels, and stay at sea for up to two years.

Chinese captains rely heavily on trans shipment, where catch is offloaded to refrigeration vessels at sea.

Allowing boats to remain on the fishing grounds indefinitely.

This practice greatly increases the risk of Beriberi among long-range fishing vessels.

[speaking in foreign language] Too weak to work, Fadhil stayed in his quarters, while the other Indonesian deckhands took turns checking on him.

He became too tired to sit up, and he vomited any food or water he consumed.

For treatment aboard the Wei Yu 18, Fadhil was given the Chinese equivalent of Ibuprofen.

In packaging indicating that the medication had expired.

[speaking in a foreign language] The captain said Fadhil could not go home, because he was on a two-year contract with the manning agency that had recruited him.

But the truth was that Fadhil's contract was only for 12 months.

A term he had completed just before falling ill. [reflective music] For the next two weeks, Fadhil's condition quickly deteriorated.

He had trouble breathing.

And he could not stand or urinate.

Then came the seizures.

The other Indonesian deckhands decided to move Fadhil into Ramadhan's room.

Who was doing all he could to comfort his dying friend.

[speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [machinery churning] [reflective music] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [reflective music] Several days after Fadhil died, the captain ordered that his body be buried at sea.

Claiming to had received permission from Fadhil's family back in Indonesia.

[speaking in foreign language] The captain ordered the men to build a wooden coffin for Fadhil's body.

They filled the casket with metal weights, and wrapped it in anchor chain to ensure it would sink.

[reflective music] Fadhil's body was then buried at sea.

[sea rippling] [waves rippling] [speaking in foreign language] [speaking in foreign language] [machinery clattering] Fishing is the most dangerous profession on the planet.

Each year over a 100,000 workers like Fadhil die on the job.

What remains unclear is how many of those deaths are from forced labor, or neglect.

Fadhil's story is just one example of the larger problem of captivity on distant water fishing ships.

And of a disease that should of been irradiated a century ago.

[reflective music] - Ian, it's really a harrowing journey for these workers.

And watching Fadhil's story there, it's dark and disturbing to say the least.

Is anything being done to end these abuses?

- The abuses vary, right?

So you've got debt bondage and wage theft.

You have violence on crew.

You have captive crew.

You have crew that are not allowed to leave when they get sick, or injured.

All different types of abuses, and different efforts are being made based on the different types of abuses.

Not enough is being done.

And if things are going to be done, it's probably gonna be most effectively done by the companies themselves.

Governments applying pressure on the companies that benefit from these practices and sell the seafood.

But things are starting, the last couple of months especially, you're seeing a lot more Congressional figures, including from New Jersey, apply pressure on companies to clean up their act.

- And that was Representative Chris Smith, who you mentioned there.

But aside from probing and holding hearings, what else can the American government be doing?

- Well I mean, there are a couple of things.

One, there are laws on the books that allow customs and border patrol to stop the import of things that are tied to forced labor.

And so one clear tool on the table would be to apply that to these types of imports.

Seafood coming from China, in general, or seafood coming from the Province in particular, of specific companies.

There are other things.

There are sanctions called global magnitsky, which can put essentially individuals or companies on a treasury blacklist.

And that freezes assets.

And then lastly, there are NOAA has the ability to put certain types of seafood on a special list that requires any import of that seafood to produce more paperwork that shows where it came from, and what the conditions were, and behavior-wise.

And so adding more names to that list would also be a step in the right direction most likely.

- And is there anything that you can do as a consumer?

Or even as, I'm thinking, a local mom and pop shop and eatery here in New Jersey?

- Yeah I mean, we're all multiple things, right?

So we buy seafood at the grocery store, or at the restaurant.

We could ask questions in both of those places.

Is this seafood local?

What's the company?

Have you ever looked to see if it's processed, or caught in China, et cetera.

Asking smart, pushy questions about what you eat.

Looking online, there are organizations that rank better and worse players, and checking that information out as well.

Stepping back from seafood in general, is some option that some folks have chosen.

These are all things that you can do to sort of help crack the problem.

- Yeah, the power of purchasing, and what you purchase.

Ian Urbina, thanks so much for sharing these really important stories and documentaries with us.

- Thanks for having me.

- That's gonna do it for us tonight.

But, you can find more of Ian's reporting online at The Outlaw Ocean Project.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire "NJ Spotlight News" team, thanks for being with us, we wish you a happy new year.

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