Four Indonesian fishermen have filed a landmark lawsuit against Bumble Bee Foods, accusing the US tuna giant of knowingly benefiting from forced labor and abuse in its supply chain.
The plaintiffs allege they endured physical abuse, debt bondage, dangerous working conditions and denial of medical care while working on fishing vessels that supplied tuna to Bumble Bee, according to the federal complaint filed earlier this month in the Southern District of California.
One plaintiff, Muhammad Syafi’i, was allegedly denied treatment after suffering severe burns and forced to keep working while injured, the lawsuit claimed.
Syafi’i, who was hired as a cook aboard a deep-sea fishing vessel in 2021, alleged that he was denied medical care after cooking oil splashed onto his stomach and ran down his legs — causing his skin to blister and swell almost instantly.
Syafi’i alleged in the lawsuit that he encountered brutal conditions that included physical abuse and forced labor in an environment that was both harsh and hazardous.
Muhammad Sahrudin, one of the co-plaintiffs, alleged that he was subjected to a violent and abusive environment aboard his vessel.
He claimed the ship’s captain regularly struck and whipped crew members, even going so far as to jab them with needles.
According to Sahrudin, the beatings were so frequent he eventually lost track of how many times he was attacked.
Another plaintiff, Akhmad, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name, recounted being seriously injured when a heavy load of fish crashed onto his leg, tearing it open down to the bone and soaking his boot in blood.
Despite the severity of the injury, he said he was forced to keep working.
A fourth man, Angga, also using one name, alleged that food was so scarce on board that crew members sometimes had no choice but to eat the bait meant for catching fish.
The lawsuit, filed in San Diego on March 12, is the first known US case targeting a seafood company over forced labor on fishing boats.
The Post has sought comment from Bumble Bee.
The plaintiffs were recruited by agencies that withheld their wages and were trapped at sea through transshipment — a practice where boats remain offshore for long periods, cutting off access to help, the suit alleged.
In 2020, the Customs and Border Protection issued a “Withhold Release Order” (WRO) against the Da Wang, a Taiwan-owned distant water fishing vessel.
This action effectively barred imports of seafood harvested by the Da Wang due to credible evidence of forced labor practices, including physical violence, debt bondage, withholding of wages and abusive living and working conditions.
The Da Wang was linked to Bumble Bee Foods’ parent company — Fong Chun Formosa Fishery Company (FCF), a major Taiwanese tuna trader.
In January 2020, FCF acquired Bumble Bee Foods for $928 million. This acquisition raised concerns about Bumble Bee’s supply chain, given FCF’s connections to vessels implicated in labor abuses.
In April 2022, Greenpeace USA reported finding a Bumble Bee tuna can sourced from the Da Wang which was purchased in Arlington, Va.
This discovery suggested that, despite the WRO, products linked to the Da Wang had entered US markets under the Bumble Bee label.
While the 2020 WRO targeted the Da Wang specifically, it underscored broader concerns about labor practices within the seafood supply chains of companies like Bumble Bee.
Bumble Bee holds the largest market share in the US for canned and pouched tuna, offering products under brands such as Bumble Bee, Brunswick, Sweet Sue, Snow’s, Wild Selections, Bumble Bee SuperFresh and Clover Leaf.
The company employs approximately 1,300 people.
Estimates of its annual revenue vary, with figures ranging from $108.9 million to $750 million.
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