Human Trafficking as a Fisheries Crime? An Application of the Concept to the New Zealand Context

Beginning in 2011, Indonesian fishermen from several South Korean foreign charter vessels (FCVs) operating in New Zealand's waters walked off their vessels citing labour and human rights abuses, as well as illegal fishing practices. This article argues that the level of these abuses meets the criteria for human trafficking for forced labour under domestic and international law. The article further argues that the human trafficking and illegal fishing practices that occurred on board many of these vessels are intrinsically linked. This connection forms a nexus between the criminal offence of human trafficking for forced labour, and the wider category of unlawful practices termed ‘fisheries crime’. Fisheries crime is an emerging paradigm for conceptualising the range of illegal activities taking place at sea, including illegal fishing activities, document fraud and human trafficking. Full paper available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.024