Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Weee! January 17, 2023: A letter with the same text as the email dated January 10 was sent by certified mail.
The email said: "I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and your supply chain.
This link concerns a Chinese squid jigger owned by the Chinese fishery company, Rongcheng Wangdao Ocean Aquatic Products. In a seven-month period, one crew member died and a second was disembarked for emergency medical treatment after suffering serious mistreatment and abuse while on board the vessel. Our reporting documents multiple indicators of forced labor among crew onboard the vessel: recruitment linked to debt, deceptive recruitment, enforced isolation, degrading living conditions, physical violence, wage withholding, the retention of personal identity documents and strong financial penalties for leaving employment.
We have traced squid caught by that vessel to a Chinese fisheries company in Shandong province called Rongcheng Xinhui. Catch transshipped from that vessel was landed at Shidao and transported to Xinhui for processing. Import records show that C&D International imported 915 tons (829,900 kg) of squid from Xinhui between August 2021 and August 2022. C&D International’s trademarked ‘QF’ squid neck product is listed for sale on the Weee! website.
A second link concerns the company, Fortuna Sea Products, whose West Bay brand squid is sold by Weee! Fortuna is supplied by the Chinese processing plant, Shantou Haimao, which processes squid caught by Chinese vessels fishing in waters Taiwan claims as its own.
Does Weee! have any comment or statement to make on the record in response to this information?"
Monica Wallace of the communications agency Ruderfinn replied by email with this statement from Weee!: "We have removed all products from the suppliers in question from our website while we investigate this matter further. We have a strict supply code of conduct. If we find that any of our suppliers are in violation, we take immediate steps to address the concerns and/or stop selling the products in question."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Monica Wallace of the communications agency Ruderfinn: "Thanks so much for the comment from Weee! We really appreciate their engagement on this, their responsiveness is very helpful and constructive. We also want to be as open as possible with Weee! about our investigation and findings to date, and have additional information to share with Weee!
Overall, we’ve heard from multiple stakeholders at all levels of the squid industry – importers, exporters, squid fishing fleet owners, cold storage owners, processing companies – that there are many places where the catch can get commingled. At the reefer level, after squid is caught by multiple ships, it can be commingled. At the docks level, it can get commingled as it comes off the ships. At the processing level, it can get commingled in the plant. The added reason that there are concerns by industry analysts about the possibility of comingling is that much of the squid from the Chinese-processed supply chain is being off-loaded at sea from squid jiggers to transshipment vessels that then bring it back to processing plants in China, and the owner of the transshipment vessel and the processing plant is the same company, which increases the likelihood of topping-off of catch.
For all of these reasons, we’re hearing that it’s impossible to be sure what specific ship squid/calamari comes from because there’s such a high likelihood that it has been commingled with another ship’s catch. Further to the supply chain connections raised in our initial correspondence, there are additional concerns we would like to raise with Weee! about squid product ranges carried by Weee! whose suppliers have connections to vessels who have a history of IUU and/or human rights concerns:
- Pacific American Food Co. Ltd. squid products sourced from Shandong Haidu Ocean Food Co. Ltd., Rongcheng Haibo Ocean Food Co. Ltd., Roncheng Runtong Aquatic Products Co. Ltd., and Shandong Lanrun Aquatic Products Co., Ltd.
- Jack & King’s, distributor of J&J Seafood who imports squid from Shandong Haidu and Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food Co. Ltd.
In terms of greater specificity on the above connections: Rongcheng Haibo Ocean Food Co. Ltd., Shandong Haidu Ocean Food Co. Ltd. and Rongcheng Runtong Aquatic Products Co. Ltd. are all under the Chishan group of companies. At least three of Chishan’s squid jiggers have been observed fishing in North Korean waters despite UN sanctions between 2017 and 2019, while a fourth vessel was reported for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters in 2020. Shandong Lanrun is part of the Xinfa group of companies, one of whose reefers has transshipped multiple times with a squid jigger called the Fu Yuan Yu 7897. In December 2022, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added that squid jigger to its list of ‘Specially Designated Nationals’ due to its operator’s (Pingtan Marine Enterprise, Ltd) record of serious human rights abuse and IUU.
A reefer owned by Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food Co., Ltd. has repeatedly transshipped with a Chinese squid jigger which was caught illegally fishing in Argentinian waters by Argentinian authorities in 2020.
We acknowledge that Weee! is carrying out its own inquiries into the brands we raised in our previous correspondence. Could Weee! please send us an update on the progress of that investigation no later than close of business on February 3, 2023."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Monica Wallace of Rudderfin and the PR team at Weee!, saying: "We were in contact with you earlier this year with media queries for Weee! regarding our investigation into China’s seafood industry. We’re reaching out to you again now with further findings of our research, which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between a company engaged in abuses and a supplier in Weee!’s supply chain called Dragon Link Ltd.
We have uncovered evidence that the Chinese company Dandong Omeca Food Co. Ltd. used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under UN Security Council Resolutions. The import to the U.S. of goods produced by North Koreans is prohibited under United States sanctions. Trade data shows that Dragon Link Ltd. was the consignee for several shipments of seafood products from Dandong Omeca since 2021. According to our research, Weee! stocks Dragon Link seafood products for retail. While we recognize that Weee! may not be aware of the above problem, we wanted to ask you if Weee! has any comment to make in light of this email?"
Email sent to the PR team at Weee! saying: "We last contacted you on September 22, 2023, to highlight findings from our investigation into abuses in China’s seafood industry, as they related to Weee!’s supply chain. In that email, we said: “We have uncovered evidence that the Chinese company Dandong Omeca Food Co. Ltd. used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under UN Security Council Resolutions. The import to the U.S. of goods produced by North Koreans is prohibited under United States sanctions.” Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed in 2017, the U.S. prohibits the import of any goods produced by North Korean nationals unless clear and convincing evidence is provided that indicates the materials were not made with forced labor. Since then, our ongoing investigation has uncovered further evidence of North Korean labor in Chinese seafood processing plants: We have found evidence of North Korean labor at Dandong Taifeng Foodstuff’s factory in Liaoning, China, as recently as 2023. Trade data shows that Pacific American Fish (PAFCO) has imported dozens of shipments of seafood from Dandong Taifeng Foodstuff since 2017. We understand that Weee! stocks PAFCO seafood products under their Pacific Surf and Oceankist brands. In testimony to the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China in October 2023, the non-government organization the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea identified Donggang Luyuan Food Co., Ltd. as using North Korean labor. Trade data seen by The Outlaw Ocean Project shows that the U.S. food distributor Lam Sheng Kee International Group has imported over a dozen shipments of clam meat from Donggang Luyuan since 2017. According to our research, Weee! stocks Lam Sheng Kee-branded cooked razor clams. Does Weee! have any comment to make in response to this, or our previous, email? Please let us know by close of business on December 11, 2023, noting that all interactions remain on record. "
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "As we haven't heard back from you on this, we wanted to check if Weee! had any comment or statement to make at this time? Please let us know by close of business on February 9, 2024."