TENDER SPECIFICATION FOR THE EU CO-FUNDED ACTION
Pillars of the Sea 3: Project implementing part of the SSDC Work Programme roadmap towards socially sustainable fishing
Grant Agreement Project 101051878
External contractor: Development of guidelines on the recruitment of migrant fishers
Background
Sea fishing is a remote and challenging professional activity, yet for many years the attention of the
legislators and policy makers has been focused on the environmental side of the sector. The ratification
level of international conventions dedicated to working conditions in fisheries is terribly low. Lack of
coordination between different units of national administrations and international bodies dealing with
fisheries seems to be one of the key reasons behind the current state.
For instance, the overarching International Labour Organization Convention Work in Fishing (ILO C188)
has been ratified by only 20 countries, out of which 7 EU Member States. The Social Partners for Sea
Fisheries have been promoting the ratification of the Convention for years. To that end, we concluded
in 2012 the Agreement on implementing the ILO Work in Fishing Convention, transposed into EU law
by the Council Directive (EU) 2017/159. However, this Directive still has to be implemented by many
Member States.
This negligence in promoting decent working conditions in the fisheries sector leads to reduced
interest in joining the profession by EU citizens. This in turn contributed to the increased employment
in the EU waters of migrant fishers (from non-EEA countries) who often end up working in precarious
conditions or even fall victim to labour abuse. Due to the specificities of the fisheries sector, like
working offshore for long periods of time, it is often overseen by the regulatory and enforcement
bodies, making migrant fishers especially vulnerable.
The Social Partners would like to draw particular attention to the issue of the international recruitment
and placement of migrant fishers, as cases of abusive and fraudulent practices are still a reality in the
sector. There is therefore need for practical guidelines for the vessels owners on how to ensure that
the private employment agencies that they engage comply with human rights and international and
EU labour regulations.
The action is a continuation of the previous project, were the Social Partners reached a milestone, but
further work is needed on the model contracts. The guidelines should be practical to ensure that the
private employment agencies that vessel owners engage with, comply with human rights and
international and EU labour regulations. The deliverables therefore ought to be drafted in the legal
and technical language used by international organisations and in particular ILO, with cross-referencing
to ILO and IMO texts. This will facilitate the submission of the deliverables to ILO to possibly inspire
future guidelines on the matter.
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