Hundreds of kilometres from home, isolated with strangers on the open ocean, risking life and limb to send money to their families, and all without an employment contract – this is the average day for some Fijian men hired as deckhands on foreign fishing vessels.
While the greatest need for an employment contract for the average office worker may be in ensuring that they are given their owed leave days to spend quality time with family, for a deckhand, away at sea for months at a time, such a contract can mean the difference between life and death.
The Human Dignity Group (HDG), a Fiji-based NGO seeking to promote the rights of Fijian maritime workers, has been tracking cases of workers at sea without contracts for several years.
HDG Executive Officer Dr Patricia Kailola and Director Captain Savenaca Kadavi shared their most distressing statistics and stories with Islands Business in a recent interview.
According to a 2020—2021 survey by the group, of 70 Fijian men working in this industry, 39 claimed they had never been given a contract, and many of those who did recall signing contracts were never offered a copy to keep.
According to HDG surveys, a great number of the men, had been told their contracts would be signed once they had boarded the fishing vessels, but for most of these men, this never came to pass and there was little they could do but continue working once the vessels had hit open waters.
One former deckhand on a Spanish Longliner, demanded a contract prior to boarding the vessel and was told contracts would be signed with the captain aboard the vessel.
“I told them, first thing they have to do, they should bring the contract. That’s the first thing. If not, I’m not going to go,” the former deckhand told Islands Business.
“So the first thing they told us was that we’re going to go out and we’re going to sign the contract there,” he said. “If I knew from that time that they’d never give the contract, I would never go. I would never have gone on that boat.”
He would pay a high price for making the mistake of trusting his employers to stick to their word. Early into the voyage, the hard labour would cause him an injury he continues to suffer with today.
The man boarded the vessel under the promise of wage in November of 2023, from the Suva wharf. He says eight days into the journey, he and several other Fijian deckhands would be transferred to another vessel, crossing over on a raft on the high seas. However, both vessels operated under the same flag, so such a transfer was not unheard of.
These men were offered a raft and a 25 horsepower engine for this transfer. While this suggests endangerment already, the Human Dignity Group has come across several claims from other former deckhands of far worse conditions.
“Some of them have to swim across with one hand up in the air hanging on to their dry clothes,” Captain Kadavi shared.
“We know of such stories. One of the boys we know had whitlow, a painful throbbing on the fingers. He had that, and he had to be brought to Suva for medical attention. So he was told if he wanted to come to Suva, then he had to swim across to the other boat,” Mr Kadavi said.
“Usually when they swim, they have a life jacket, but we know of cases where some of them had to swim without a life jacket,” Dr Kailola added.
After this perilous crossing, the deckhand who spoke to Islands Business would be injured soon after boarding the second vessel, and would be denied medical evacuation to Suva.
“We were taking a fish down to the freezer in December, around Christmas time, and that day had very rough seas,” he said.
“I was carrying a big shark, about 60kg. And the boat was, you know, shaking a lot. And I was falling down. I bent my leg. And when we came back up that afternoon, I didn’t even imagine it was that bad.
“After two days, then I saw my leg was swollen and full of pain,” he said.
The former deckhand had continued his work the next two days, not realising the severity of the injury until the swelling and pain became debilitating.
“When I saw the swelling, then I went to the Captain. I asked the captain to give some medicine. I told him that maybe I got hurt when I fell down that day. And he told me, ‘No, I can’t do anything for that,’” he continued.
“So I said, ‘Okay, just give me some medicine and some cream to rub on my leg.’ They just give me painkiller. When I finished the painkiller, then again the leg was full of pain. So, I told one of the Indonesian workers to tell the captain I want to go back.
“I know my leg is not good. I wanted to come back. And the first thing the Captain was telling the Indonesian guy was that we don’t have any contract.
“They don’t have contracts. They don’t have any right to take this ship back. They’re going to wait for the day we’re going to arrive back in Fiji,” he claims he heard the Captain say.
The man remained aboard the ship for another three months and two weeks, forced to continue his work or return without a wage.
The deckhand returned to Suva on the 25th of February, 2024. He has since seen a specialist and been diagnosed with a herniated disc, a painful condition that has kept him from working since his discharge from the Spanish vessel.
While statistics gathered by the Human Dignity Group show that Fijian vessels have a significantly better track record, they also reveal that foreign vessels hiring Fijian deckhands often go unchecked for the treatment of these workers.
Regardless of local opportunities, this deckhand, and many others who have also been permanently injured while at sea, may never be able to return to work.
The Human Dignity Group has, over the past several years, provided support to many such men. A 21-year-old left partially paralysed due to developing an abscess on his back, a young man whose fingers were amputated due to frostbite from a lack of gloves while working in the freezer, one left partially blinded by a thrashing tuna tail, another who had his right eye taken out by a stray bait hook; all Fijian men injured on the job and owed compensation they will never see due to a lack of proper employment contracts.
“Over the years, I’ve heard such sad stories – inflicted by men on men, for no real reason,” Dr Kailola said to a room full of stakeholders last month.
Speaking at a workshop on labour standards on fishing vessels in October, Dr Kailola shared the plight of Fijian deckhands on foreign fishing vessels.
“If any of you folks are interested, I will show you my ‘dead and missing’ list and tell you some stories,” she told her audience.
“On a 2018 survey sheet, I saw the story of two Fijian fishers who got beaten by a Chinese man, who then stabbed them and put them in the blast freezer. Who were they? What vessel?” she asks. But how many others are enquiring? Whose job is it to ensure Fijian men are protected when working at sea? While the Human Dignity Group continues its efforts, its directors agree that large-scale change can come only from the introduction and enforcement of policies aimed at protecting maritime workers.
