Technologies of Transparency: The Role of Information and Communications Technologies in Promoting Labour Rights in Distant Water Fisheries

Ethical production networks and supply chains have garnered significant attention in both academia and industry. The ethical supply chain has become a topic of significant debate in the global fishing industry in particular, and especially in distant water fishing (DWF). Monitoring labour rights/abuses presents a challenge in this field, as workers are employed on fishing vessels operating in isolated and remote waters, often outside any effective oversight or regulation. This study aims to investigate the potential of various information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tracking, monitoring, and promoting labour rights in DWF. In pursuing this question, I use the intersection of global production networks (GPN) and labour regimes as a theoretical framework. While GPN theory addresses the institutions, actors and power relations in global production processes, labour regime theory provides a conceptual understanding of how workers are both disciplined and exert agency within global production systems. The study is based on qualitative interviews with stakeholders who are active in both developing and deploying various technologies in relation to migrant labour rights in fisheries, complemented by an extensive review of secondary documentation. The findings indicate that, within this framework, ICTs can be primarily classified into two distinct categories based on their approach to monitoring and observing labour conditions: a) remote monitoring and b) on-board/community-based monitoring and reporting systems. I will argue that the use of such technologies holds significant potential for advancing transparency and accountability in terms of the labour rights and working conditions of fishing crews. In this way, new possibilities for labour agency and the re-regulation of labour regimes in global production are being opened up, while, at the same time, limitations on the application of ICTs still remain.