Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Piscopo's.
The email said: "I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns China’s seafood industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and your supply chain. Piscopo's sells squid products from the Hottlet Frozen Foods’ ‘epic’ brand. Hottlet Frozen Foods ‘epic’ squid products are supplied by two Chinese seafood processors owned by the Chishan Group, a large seafood conglomerate based in Shandong province.
The Chishan Group has received multiple groups of workers as recently as 2023 from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program. The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrollment.
Our investigation has also uncovered Chishan Group ties to ships engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Fishing vessels owned by the group have been observed fishing in North Korean waters in contravention of UN sanctions and fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The group also owns at least two reefer vessels which have transshipped with dozens of other fishing ships tied to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as human rights abuses.
Does Piscopo's have any comment or statement to make in light of the above information? Please respond to this email by close of business May 15, 2023."