Labour regimes in industrial tuna fisheries: exploitation, ecology and global production networks

Abstract Labour exploitation in marine fishing industries has received considerable negative publicity. Yet, is there something specific about marine fishing that makes it highly exploitative? We compare work on purse-seiners catching tuna for canning with work on longliners catching tuna for sashimi. We explain difference through a comparative analysis along three axes: (1) tuna population dynamics, fishing technologies and resource access; (2) industrial organization and governance of global production networks; and their relationships with (3) workplace labour regimes on vessels. The article contributes to labour regime analysis by demonstrating the relative material significance of ecology in shaping labour regimes.