{"id":102370,"date":"2025-11-07T17:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102370"},"modified":"2025-11-07T17:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:35:09","slug":"how-migrant-fishermen-followed-their-catch-from-ghana-to-denmark-and-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102370","title":{"rendered":"How migrant fishermen followed their catch from Ghana to Denmark-and back"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>10 Minute, 18 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Ghanaian fishermen who migrated to Europe because of overfishing along Ghana\u2019s coastline have found themselves exploited in the European fishing industry. <\/p>\n

The companies that depend on their labour do little to ensure decent working conditions, a situation worsened by weak regulations and the rise of populist anti-migrant rhetoric in the global north. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, however, circumstances seem to be improving on the Ghanaian side: at least one crew has returned home, leaving Western Europe to contend with its own labour shortages in the fishing sector.<\/p>\n

Fisherman Anthony Appiah often felt he was risking his life when sent out in storms off the coast of Denmark, with waves pounding against the hull of the Dutch-owned vessel and ropes snapping across the deck like whips. <\/p>\n

A single mistake could mean being dragged overboard. Videos shared by Appiah show men straining to haul heavy baskets of crab as the sea churns perilously close. \u201cI was always afraid something would happen to us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His colleague, James Ewuah, was asleep on an Irish ship when it struck a rock and began to sink. \u201cThe captain told us to go back for our passports, but the ladder was broken. One of my colleagues nearly drowned when the cabin flooded. We barely survived until a helicopter rescued us,\u201d James recalls. <\/p>\n

A third Ghanaian seafarer, Stephen Boateng*, fell gravely ill while working on a UK-flagged vessel. \u201cI was coughing up blood and couldn\u2019t breathe. I thought I was going to die,\u201d he says in an interview. <\/p>\n

Instead of receiving medical care, however, the skipper delayed his hospital visit, then deported Boateng back to Ghana and blacklisted him from future work on UK-flagged ships.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/figure>\n

Photography by Parcival Weijnen<\/p>\n

Ice cold waters<\/h3>\n

Two of the three men recount paying Ghana-based recruitment companies for work on European and UK ships, only to end up with far less money than promised and alarmingly harsh working conditions. <\/p>\n

They describe working seven days a week, often 12 to 16 hours a day, in icy waters, for wages that fell far short of the assurances they had been given\u2014a situation they say is all too common. Ship owners routinely deducted expenses, citing \u201cinsurance\u201d or \u201cfood,\u201d which was often expired or inadequate. On one occasion, the crew was left with a single rotting chicken to share, and eventually, no drinking water. <\/p>\n

A survey by the University of Nottingham found that a third of fishermen on UK vessels worked 20-hour days, while over a third reported experiencing physical violence on board. These extreme working hours are also\u00a0corroborated by\u00a0Global Fishing Watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe workers can buy some necessities in a harbour shop\u201d<\/h2>\n

Many European ships fly under the British flag because UK laws allow companies to employ workers on so-called transit visas, effectively reducing them to little more than illegal labourers. <\/p>\n

Chris Williams, a fisheries analyst with the International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation (ITF), explains: \u201cThe Code 7 Seafarers\u2019 stamp\u00a0(commonly referred to as a transit visa)\u00a0is only valid for the vessel with which the contract was signed. <\/p>\n

Workers are allowed to walk around in the port and buy some necessities in a harbour shop, but otherwise they are only permitted to leave the ship during the contract period with the permission of the vessel owners. On shore, they are considered illegal and can be sent back.<\/p>\n

\u201d Williams confirms that his organisation receives numerous reports of injuries and exhaustion among migrant workers on fishing vessels. \u201cThey are common.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"How<\/figure>\n

Photography by Parcival Weijnen<\/p>\n

Debt bondage<\/h3>\n

A company can apply for an enhanced \u2018skilled worker\u2019 visa for staff needed for fishing within the 12-mile coastal zone, but the process is cumbersome. Beyond having to prove (1) that local staff cannot be recruited, there are numerous additional procedures involved. <\/p>\n

While the skilled worker visa provides important benefits, giving workers the same labour protections as British citizens, including the minimum wage, adequate rest hours, and occupational safety measures, fishing companies may see little incentive to navigate such a demanding process. <\/p>\n

It is often far simpler to pursue the alternative: committing to fish only outside the 12-mile zone covered by the skilled worker visa. Once a company makes that commitment, the complex procedures and requirements no longer apply, and workers can be employed on a transit visa.<\/p>\n

The International Transport Workers\u2019 Federation estimates that around 2,000 migrant workers in the UK fleet are recruited through this transit visa system, formally known as the Seafarers Transit Stamp. <\/p>\n

Many of these workers are African, particularly Ghanaians. They play a crucial role in the otherwise understaffed UK and European fishing fleet, employed as deckhands on larger vessels, especially in Northern Ireland and Scotland.<\/p>\n

\u201cMigrant earned \u00a3900 a month to pay off \u00a39000 on an eleven-month contract\u201d<\/h2>\n

The exploitation is enabled by numerous legal loopholes within both the UK and European fishing industries. <\/p>\n

The transit visa system, for instance, depends on recruitment agencies operating in migrant-sending countries such as Ghana. Contracts frequently pass through multiple layers of these agencies, obscuring accountability. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they complain, they are reminded of the debt they owe to the agency, or threatened with deportation,\u201d says Williams. \u201cThe system allows this to happen in plain sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains that the debt arises from pressure by some agencies on fishing families to hand over deposits, take out loans, or put their homes up as collateral to cover \u201ccosts.\u201d Williams says he has handled \u201ccases where a migrant earned \u00a3900 per month to pay off a debt of \u00a39,000 on an eleven-month contract,\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n

These debt problems almost inevitably occur when recruits, once employed in the UK and European sectors, are paid far less than they had anticipated.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/figure>\n

Photography by Parcival Weijnen<\/p>\n

Flags of convenience<\/h3>\n

The recruitment issues are compounded by the practice among Dutch and European vessels of using British flags. Like the UK, the Netherlands and other EU countries issue proper work visas for migrant fishers only if shipowners cannot hire local or, in the EU\u2019s case, European crew. <\/p>\n

Unlike the UK, however, the EU does not permit transit visas. Yet in the globally operating fishing industry, Dutch companies have found ways around these restrictions. <\/p>\n

The Netherlands-based company Ocean Fleet Seafood, headquartered in IJmuiden and where Anthony Appiah was employed, operated vessels registered under the British flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unclear which country or authority is responsible\u201d<\/h2>\n

It is easy for shipowners to register their vessels under the flag of whichever country offers the most lenient legal framework. The Dutch Court of Justice has sought to close this loophole with a ruling that shifts responsibility for labour law compliance from the flag state to the vessel\u2019s home port. <\/p>\n

However, the home port status of many ships is often ambiguous. The result is a growing legal vacuum in which exploitation may flourish. <\/p>\n

The now-common practice among Dutch fishing companies of using British flags has, for example, led the Dutch Labour Inspectorate to cease inspections of fishing vessels altogether since 2020. \u201cIt is often unclear which country or authority is responsible,\u201d a spokesperson admitted.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/figure>\n

Photography by Parcival Weijnen<\/p>\n

Anti-migrant rhetoric<\/h3>\n

The Scottish White Fish Producer Association (SWFPA), Europe\u2019s largest fishing organisation, has\u00a0taken notable steps in response to recent reports\u00a0of exploitation and abuse of migrant workers in the Scottish fishing industry, particularly since 2022. Spokesperson Sharon Cooper says, , for instance, that the SWFPA is carefully selecting recruitment agencies in countries such as Ghana. \u201cBut we keep learning on the job,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Regarding worker abuse on the vessels themselves, the SWFPA conducts awareness campaigns within the sector and attempts to check in with contracted migrant labourers once a month. \u201cBut sometimes they are scared to talk and only report what happened to them once they are back home. And then it is their word against the word of the employer.\u201d <\/p>\n

The situation is further complicated by the fact that vessels from EU countries now fly UK flags and sign contracts via the SWFPA. Vague agreements with Ocean Fleet Seafood, which delivered far less than what Appiah and Boateng had been promised, were signed by a British employer whose name has been withheld for privacy, and who, when contacted, denied any involvement with the company.<\/p>\n

The Minister noted \u201cconcerns about exploitation\u201d<\/h2>\n

But perhaps the most problematic factor in the situation of migrant fishermen is the anti-migrant climate in the UK and Europe. While all our sources in the fishing sector both in the UK and Europe agree that, as in other parts of the economy, the industry is severely short-staffed due to an aging workforce and a lack of interest in fishing careers among younger local generations, rhetoric against migrants is on the rise. <\/p>\n

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has already used terms such as \u201cstrangers\u201d to describe people not born in the UK (a term he later said he regretted) and has asserted that the UK has become a \u201cone-nation experiment in open borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"How<\/figure>\n

Photography by Parcival Weijnen<\/p>\n

When MP Claire Hanna raised questions in the UK Parliament regarding the exploitation of migrants working on British fishing vessels under transit visas, the minister\u2019s response, while acknowledging \u201cconcerns about exploitation in the fishing industry,\u201d focused on the \u201climited evidence of the sector\u2019s efforts to reduce\u201d\u00a0its reliance on immigration. \u201cIt is important that industry looks to the domestic workforce to fill vacancies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Overfishing in Ghana<\/h3>\n

A key reason Ghanaian fishers, and others from West Africa, seek employment further north is the dire state of the local fishing industry. <\/p>\n

Foreign vessels, predominantly Chinese, trawl the waters, prompting complaints from communities such as Elmina, Jamestown, and Tema that their boats often return half-empty while industrial trawlers haul tons of small fish to foreign markets. <\/p>\n

Adding insult to injury, these large vessels sometimes send canoes loaded with fish to shore for sale to locals, who now pay for the very fish they had hoped to catch themselves, an illegal practice known as Saiko. A 2019\u00a0Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) report\u00a0estimated that Saiko deprives Ghana of around US$50 million in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

Illegal hauls cost Ghana US$50 million per year<\/h2>\n

Ghanaian fishing communities and trade associations, along with the EJF, have long sought to persuade Ghana\u2019s government to take action against both Saiko and the broader practice of trawling, which often occurs even under Ghanaian flags.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a\u00a02025 Harvard report, fishing practices by Chinese industrial trawlers caused Ghana\u2019s total catch of small pelagic fish to drop by 59% between 1993 and 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bold act of leadership\u201d<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, the situation in Ghana itself is beginning to improve. In August 2025, a new Fisheries and Aquaculture law was passed, prohibiting fishing by foreign trawlers within an extended coastal zone. The legislation was welcomed as a victory by local civil society and trade organisations that had long campaigned for it. <\/p>\n

While these organisations caution that the law must be properly implemented and enforced by Ghanaian authorities before it can have a tangible impact, the Environmental Justice Foundation, in\u00a0a statement published on 22 August 2025, described the new law as \u201ca landmark moment for Ghana\u2019s fisheries,\u201d adding that \u201cthis bold act of leadership will help to build effective protection for Ghana\u2019s small-scale fishers, strengthen food security, and lay the foundation for marine ecosystems to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crew mutinied and steered the vessel back to port<\/h2>\n

Whether Ghana\u2019s fisheries industry can offer a better prospect to those now contemplating the cold waters of Northern Europe remains to be seen. But Western fishing companies might do well to pay closer attention to the personnel they currently employ. <\/p>\n

In February this year, the entire crew of one of Ocean Fleet Seafood\u2019s vessels, left without water and with only a single rotting chicken, mutinied and steered the ship back to port. A month later, having completed their contract, they returned to Ghana.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For instance, by demonstrating that they posted job advertisements for the position and that either no qualified local applicants responded, or that those who did apply did not meet the required qualifications.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Ocean Fleet Seafood declined to comment on this investigation.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    *Names changed for privacy reasons<\/em><\/p>\n

    \u2013<\/p>\n

    By Stijn Bakker, Parcival Weijnen, Marian Ansah, and ZAM<\/p>\n

    This story was funded by Journalism Fund Europe\/Pascal Decroos Foundation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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