Shrimp Peeled by Modern-day Slaves Being Sold To Global Markets And Restaurants

Disturbing tales of modern-day slaves forced to peel shrimps for 16 hours a day in Thailand at one of the world's biggest shrimp suppliers have surfaced in an investigation conducted by the Associated Press.

The workers were victims of human trafficking, who were sold to Gig Peeling Factory where they endured long hours of work daily, their hands aching in icy water as they peeled and deveined shrimp under the watchful eye of guards.

In the factory, they were not called by their names but by numbers assigned to them. Some workers received very little pay while others received no pay for years at a time.

The shrimp peeled by the hands of such workers reaches markets in Asia, Europe and the U.S., where they ends up on the shelves of stores like Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Petco and Kroger.

Many of these workers are undocumented. Some of them are not allowed to go out, while others are given permission provided they leave their family members behind as a guarantee of their return.

The AP report spurred businesses sourcing their seafood from Thailand to conduct their own investigations in order to ensure that their shrimp supply is not tainted by forced labor.

Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union, said the discovery was a "wake-up call" to Thailand's shrimp industry. He vowed to stop relying on contractors that utilize forced labor.

However, Greenpeace campaign director John Hocevar was not satisfied with the Thai Union's response and called for a boycott on its products, including the U.S. brand "Chicken of the Sea."

"The company does just enough to weather the PR storm while continuing to profit off the backs of the migrant workers forced to work throughout its supply chains," Hocevar said.

Southwind Foods president Buddy Galetti, who said he rarely bought goods from Thailand, suggested a quick remedy to the situation: "I guarantee you that if Wal-Mart and Kroger and Red Lobster stopped buying from Thailand until this got fixed, I think pretty soon Thailand would have no choice but to really deal with it."

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that authorities are investigating the abuses in shrimp sheds, Bangkok Post reported.

"We are dealing with the issue, aren't we?" he said. "Arrests are underway."