Correspondence
Jeffrey Renaut of customs brokerage firm A & A Ltd. emailed: "We are a Customs Brokerage firm, with several seafood import clients which one you have listed in violation of subject No. Korean labor laws.
The CN manufacturer is: Dalian Haiqing who we do not have in our database which they would be if in fact we cleared a shipment from them.
Our client thinks you’re in error and are concerned being they have national chains who saw your report and are inquiring if they are in violation.
Would you be so kind to offer proof our client has in fact received product from this Dalian Haiqing outfit.
Last thing they need is to injured due to this article, especially if it is proven you were in error. Your assistance is appreciated."
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "To answer your question and for us to check the supply-chain information possibly tying your "client" to the named plant in China we would need you to tell us who the client is. Otherwise we have no way of checking into the matter. Do advise and we will look into the issue."
Jeffrey Renaut of customs brokerage firm A & A Ltd. replied: "Thank you for your quick response.
Importer is: Eastern Fisheries, Inc. 214 Samuel Barnet Blvd. New Bedford, MA 02745
Prior to 2023 the street address was: Eastern Fisheries, Inc. 14 Hervey Tichon Avenue New Bedford, MA 02740
Thank you"
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thanks for sharing additional information about your client, Eastern Fisheries Inc.
According to publicly available trade records sourced from Import Genius, Eastern Fisheries has imported four shipments of seafood from Dalian Haiqing between 2019 and 2021. This includes imports of seafood products such as frozen flounder fillets, frozen haddock fillets, and frozen pacific cod fillets.
Two of these shipments were sent directly from Dalian Haiqing Food on August 27, 2019 and July 7, 2021. The other two shipments were sent by Dalian Far Eastern Shores Seafood, but on behalf of Dalian Haiqing Food, according to the trade records. These shipments were on July 10, 2021 and August 5, 2021 respectively. Please find the underlying data for these shipments in this spreadsheet here.
Please note that for the purposes of our investigation, the timeframe of our analysis of U.S. import data was August, 2017 to present day. August of 2017 was selected as the cut off data as it corresponds to the date on which Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was signed into effect."
Jeffrey Renaut responded: "Eastern Fisheries has reached out to Dalian Far Eastern Shores Seafood (DFE), regarding these four shipments.
DFE explained at the time of these four shipments, due to tightening of vessel space shippers were allotted weekly volumes. For each of these shipments DFE had already used their weekly allotment and their forwarder used Dalian Haiqing’s contract numbers to book with OOCL and Evergreen, being Dalian Haiqing was below their weekly allotment.
As a result, the attached bills of lading do not reference Dalian Haiqing in the shipper’s box, albeit the corresponding arrival notices do. We believe both OOCL and Evergreen’s system at this end, printed the arrival notices with Dalian Haiqing, due to the bookings being requested under their contact numbers.
Will the attached documents coupled with above explanation be ample enough to have Eastern Fisheries removed from this list or if not, what other information would you require ?
Thank you"
The Outlaw Ocean Project Responded "First of all, we'd like to thank you for being willing to engage with us and doing the work to look into these supply chain links. And for then being transparent and sharing the underlying documentation. Many in the industry have chosen to not actually respond to our inquiries and look into their own supply chains, so we appreciate that you have.
These documents and your accompanying explanation appear to make a compelling case that Dalian Haiqing was inaccurately listed as the shipper of these products on the arrival notices. As a result of the evidence you've shared with us, we will remove Eastern Fisheries from the Bait to Plate on our website.
We do plan to keep an official record of these interactions on our Discussion page, however, so others can understand exactly why we have removed Eastern Fisheries from the Bait to Plate. You can find that here.
Thanks again for your engagement on this matter."