Thailand will soon find out whether its fishing industry will be redcarded by the European Union for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, a decision that could cost the country billions of baht in lost trade. In this climate of uncertainty, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released a report on migrant and child labour in the country's shrimp and seafood supply chains.
The seafood industry in Thailand is huge and worth more than US$7 billion (250 billion baht), with canned tuna representing $1.1 billion in revenue per year, or 53% of the global trade. It employs 200,000 people in the supply chain, 60% of whom are migrants. The shrimp industry employs another 700,000, 80% of whom are migrants. These migrants are mainly from Myanmar.