Shrimp farmers in Asia are being exploited by US supermarkets for huge profits, a study has found

A new investigation into the world’s three biggest shrimp producers released on Monday says that as Western supermarkets turn a profit, their pursuit of ever-lower prices is causing misery for people at the bottom of the supply chain.

A regional analysis of the industry in Vietnam, Indonesia and India, which provides almost half of the shrimp in the top four markets in the world – the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan – is based on a study by an alliance of NGOs. It has experienced a 20%-60% drop in wages from pre-pandemic levels as producers struggle to meet price demands by cutting labor costs.

In many places this has meant unpaid and underpaid work during long hours, wage insecurity as prices fluctuate, and many workers not even earning minimum wages.

Supermarkets affiliated with facilities where exploited workers have been reported include Target, Walmart and Costco in the United States, Sainsbury’s and Tesco in Britain, and Aldi and Co-op in Europe.

The regional report included more than 500 in-person interviews with workers in their native languages, India, Indonesia and Vietnam – published separately as country-specific reports – supplemented by secondary data and interviews from Thailand, Bangladesh and Ecuador.

In Vietnam, researchers at the Sustainability Incubator of Hawaii found that workers who peel, dissect and devein shrimp often work six or seven days a week, often in rooms kept very cold to keep the produce fresh.

About 80 percent of those involved in shrimp farming are women, many of whom wake up at 4 a.m. and return home at 6 p.m. Pregnant women and new mothers are an hour earlier than that, the report found.

In India, researchers from the Corporate Accountability Lab found that workers face “dangerous and abusive conditions.” Salty water from newly mined areas and lakes, contaminated with chemicals and toxic algae, also contaminates the surrounding water and soil.

Unpaid workers are at work, including wages below the minimum wage, unpaid overtime, wage deductions for labor costs and “significant” debt bondage, the report found. Burials of children were also found, girls aged 14 and 15 were recruited for peeling work.

12-hour days below minimum wage

In Indonesia, three non-profit research organizations found that wages have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic and today average $160 per month for shrimp workers, below the Indonesian minimum wage in many of the largest shrimp-producing states. Shrimp peelers are often required to work at least 12 hours a day to meet minimum standards.

The Swiss Co-op said it has a “zero tolerance” policy for labor violations and that its producers “receive fair and market-driven prices.”

Germany’s Aldi did not directly comment on the pricing issue, but said it uses independent certification systems to ensure the availability of farmed shrimp products, and will continue to monitor the allegations.

“We are determined to fulfill our responsibility to respect human rights,” said Aldi.

Sainsbury’s referred to comments from industry group the British Retail Consortium, which said its members are committed to sourcing products at “fair, sustainable prices” and that the welfare of people and communities in the chains is central to their purchases.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers issued a statement calling the allegations in the report “baseless, misleading and damaging to the reputation of Vietnam’s shrimp exports,” citing government employment policies.

The NGO report emphasizes that using middlemen to buy shrimp interferes with the real sources of shrimp found in western supermarkets, so many sellers may not follow the ethical commitments they have made regarding the purchase of shrimp.

Only about 2,000 of the 2 million shrimp farms in the world’s largest producing countries are certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices ecolabel, making it “statistically impossible for certified farms to produce enough shrimp per month to supply all the supermarkets that boast of their commitment to purchasing shrimp.” confirmed,” said the report.

US policymakers could use antitrust and other existing laws to establish oversight to ensure fair prices from western sellers, rather than imposing punitive tariffs on suppliers, said Katrin Nakamura of the Sustainability Incubator, who wrote the regional report.

In July, the European Union adopted a new directive requiring companies to “identify and address the negative human rights and environmental impacts of their actions within and outside Europe.”

Officials from Indonesia and Vietnam met with the authors of the report to discuss their findings and consider solutions.

Given the imbalance between retail and supermarket prices, paying farmers more will not mean higher prices for consumers, says the Sustainability Incubator report, but it will mean lower profits for supermarkets.

“Labor exploitation in shrimp aquaculture industries is not company, sector, or country specific,” the report concluded. “Instead, it is the result of a hidden business model that exploits people for profit.”

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This story was supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.