Current:Home > reviewsHighlights from the AP’s reporting on the shrimp industry in India-VaTradeCoin
Highlights from the AP’s reporting on the shrimp industry in India
lotradecoin fiat-to-crypto conversion rates View Date:2024-12-25 23:45:26
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — India is the top supplier of shrimp to the U.S., with Indian shrimp stocked in freezers at most of the nation’s biggest grocery store and restaurant chains.
One reason for that is the low cost for consumers of shrimp from India. But that low cost comes at a price.
The Associated Press traveled in February to the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeast India to document working conditions in the booming industry, after obtaining an advance copy of an investigation released Wednesday by the Chicago-based Corporate Accountability Lab, a human rights legal group, that found workers face “dangerous and abusive conditions.”
Here are highlights from the AP’s reporting and the CAL report:
THE U.S. DEMAND FOR SHRIMP
Americans eat more than 5 pounds of shrimp per person per year, making it the leading seafood consumed in the country. Most American consumers would rather buy U.S.-produced food. But with only 5% of shrimp sold in the country caught in the U.S., local shrimp can be harder to locate and considerably more costly.
In the 1970s, the U.S. led the world in shrimp production. Then, shrimp was considered a delicacy. Diners were served expensive shrimp cocktails with less than a dozen shellfish. Over the next two decades, the use of inexpensive shrimp-farming technologies soared in Asia, and imports flooded the market.
India became America’s leading shrimp supplier in part because media reports including an AP investigation exposed modern day slavery in the Thai seafood industry. AP’s 2015 reporting led to the freedom of some 2,000 enslaved fishermen and prompted calls for bans of Thai shrimp, which had been dominating the market.
Today, Indian shrimp accounts for about 40% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S.
WORKING CONDITIONS IN INDIA
In Andhra Pradesh, AP journalists obtained access to shrimp hatcheries, growing ponds, peeling sheds and warehouses. AP journalists interviewed workers, supervisors and union organizers.
Residents said newly dug hatcheries and ponds had contaminated neighboring communities’ water and soil, making it nearly impossible to grow crops, especially rice they depend on for food.
From the ponds, trucks hauled the shrimp to peeling sheds. In one shed, dozens of women, some barefoot, stood on narrow wooden benches enduring 10-hour shifts peeling shrimp covered in crushed ice. Barehanded or wearing filthy, torn gloves, the women twisted off the heads, pulled off the legs and pried off the shells, making it possible for American cooks to just tear open a bag and toss them in a skillet.
Some workers said they pay recruiters about 25 cents a day out of their salaries just to set foot inside the processing shed. Transportation in company buses is also deducted from some workers’ salaries, along with the cost of lunch from company canteens. Many workers have no contracts, and no recourse if they are hurt on the job.
Many people in India struggle to survive amid endemic poverty, debt and unemployment. The women AP spoke with said this work, despite the oppressive conditions, is their only chance to avoid starvation.
WHAT DO BUSINESSES SAY?
From India, the shrimp travels by the ton, frozen in shipping containers, to the U.S., more than 8,000 miles away.
It is nearly impossible to tell where a specific shrimp ends up, and whether a U.S.-bound shipment has a connection to abusive labor practices. And Indian shrimp is regularly sold in major U.S. stores such as Walmart, Target and Sam’s Club and supermarkets like Kroger and Safeway.
The major corporations that responded to AP’s queries said they deplore human rights violations and environmental damage and would investigate.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Human rights advocates say cost-cutting from U.S. supermarkets, restaurants and wholesalers squeeze producers to provide cheaper shrimp without addressing labor and environmental conditions.
CAL says Indian companies need to pay living wages and abide by labor, health, safety and environmental laws. In addition, the organization says U.S. companies need to ensure that the price they pay for shrimp is enough for Indian exporters to treat workers equitably. And, they say, both the Indian and U.S. governments need to enforce existing laws.
Ecologist Marla Valentine, who heads non-profit Oceana’s illegal fishing and transparency campaign, said consumers can help.
“You can use your dollar to make a difference,” she said. “When this isn’t a lucrative business anymore, it will stop.”
—
Mendoza reported from San Francisco and Boston. Kumar and Nagpal reported from Kakinada, India.
—
This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
__
Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/
veryGood! (14)
Related
- Stock market today: Asian stocks are mixed ahead of key US inflation data
- Which stores are open and closed Thanksgiving 2023? See Target, Walmart, Costco holiday hours
- Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner and the truth about long engagements and relationship success
- The Excerpt Podcast: Man receives world's first eye transplant
- American who says he crossed into Syria on foot is freed after 7 months in detention
- Exclusive: Projected 2024 NBA draft top pick Ron Holland on why he went G League route
- Why Hunger Games Prequel Star Hunter Schafer Wants to Have a Drink With Jennifer Lawrence
- Grammy Awards announce 2024 nominations. Here's a full list of the nominees.
- New Jersey, home to many oil and gas producers, eyes fees to fight climate change
- 2024 Grammy nomination snubs and surprises: No K-pop, little country and regional Mexican music
Ranking
- We can't get excited about 'Kraven the Hunter.' Don't blame superhero fatigue.
- Polish nationalists hold Independence Day march in Warsaw after voters reject their worldview
- Body of South Dakota native who’s been missing for 30 years identified in Colorado
- 2024 Grammy nomination snubs and surprises: No K-pop, little country and regional Mexican music
- Secretary of State Blinken is returning to the Mideast in his latest diplomatic foray
- Sam Bankman-Fried is guilty, and the industry he helped build wants to move on
- Why Spain’s acting leader is offering a politically explosive amnesty for Catalan separatists
- JAY-Z and Gayle King: Brooklyn's Own prime-time special to feature never-before-seen interview highlights
Recommendation
-
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (update)
-
How to watch 2023 NWSL championship: Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger face off in farewell
-
Union says striking workers at Down East mill have qualified for unemployment benefits
-
Grammy Awards announce 2024 nominations. Here's a full list of the nominees.
-
Travis Kelce Praises Taylor Swift For Making Eras Tour "Best In The World"
-
Body of South Dakota native who’s been missing for 30 years identified in Colorado
-
Worried Chinese shoppers scrimp, dimming the appeal of a Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza
-
4 wounded in shooting at Missouri shopping mall near Kansas City; 3 suspects in custody