Charities condemn 'abuse and exploitation' amid Scottish fish firm 'modern slavery' investigation

A maritime charity has condemned alleged “abuse and exploitation” after a three year-long investigation by the BBC found that foreign nationals working for a Scottish fishing firm have been recognised by the Home Office as victims of modern slavery.

A joint investigation by BBC Scotland’s Disclosure and BBC Radio 4’s File on Four has alleged that workers from around the world may have been trafficked to work for a trawler fishing business in Dumfries and Galloway. 

The investigation has revealed that men from the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Sri Lanka were recognised as victims of modern slavery by the Home Office after they were referred to it between 2012 and 2020.

Maritime charity Stella Maris said the investigation had revealed a “tragic case of abuse and exploitation”.

The firm at the centre of the investigation, Annan-based TN Trawlers, has refused any allegations of modern slavery and human trafficking, and said the “overwhelming experience” of its workers was that they were “well treated and well remunerated.” 

The BBC’s three year-long investigation, which airs on BBC One Scotland at 9pm tonight and at 8pm tomorrow on BBC Radio 4, reports that in 2012, police in Dumfries and Galloway launched Operation Alto, an investigation into human trafficking and labour abuse at TN Trawlers, which was owned by the Nicholson family. They said 18 former TN Trawlers employees passed into the Home Office's national referral mechanism, a system which identifies and supports victims of human trafficking.

The BBC reported that under the Home Office’s definition of human trafficking as a situation where a person is “coerced or deceived into a situation where they are exploited,” the men were all given recognition by the Home Office that they had been trafficked.

They included Joel Quince from the Philippines, one of several former TN Trawlers workers who were interviewed as part of the broadcaster’s investigation. He claimed that instead of the 48-hour week he had been told about, he ended up working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for a monthly wage of £660. 

Mr Quince said there was not enough drinking water on board, with the crew reduced to eating tomatoes from stores to wet their throats. He added that he struggled to work due to exhaustion, but did not complain because his colleagues were also suffering. 

“If I stop working, there’s three people suffering, not getting their rest, because the operation keeps continuing,” he told the BBC. “They won’t stop.”

In August 2012, Mr Quince was working on a TN Trawlers vessel, the Philomena, in rough weather, when the towing bar swung up as he was fixing a broken link in the nets. He leapt out of the way but fell and hit his head on the decks, with his crewmates estimating he was unconscious for up to 15 minutes. 

When the sailor awoke with a bandage on his head, he asked his skipper, Tom Nicholson, if they were going to hospital. “He said, ‘No, we're not going to the hospital. We continue fishing’,” Mr Quince said. The Philomena didn't turn around and head for the port of Troon in South Ayrshire until 11 hours after the accident.

In October 2022, company director Thomas Nicholson Sr and TN Trawlers pleaded guilty at Hamilton Sheriff Court to failing to get adequate care for Mr Quince. The Crown accepted a not guilty plea to withholding some of the Filipino crewmen's passports without reasonable excuse. Despite the Home Office’s conclusion that the men were trafficking victims, the case did not involve charges of trafficking or modern slavery. Nicholson senior was fined £13,500 and ordered to pay Mr Quince £3,000 in compensation.

Stella Maris, said its chaplains had supported fishermen highlighted in the BBC’s investigation. Its chief executive, Tim Hill, said: “This is a tragic case of abuse and exploitation for which there is no place in this world. Our commitment is never ending, and we continue to support these fishermen and other more recent cases, with friendship, pastoral care, and financial support. 

“It is our goal to ensure that all fishers are treated equally with respect and dignity, so that people can live happy and prosperous lives, free from exploitation and abuse.”

Meanwhile, marine charity, Oceana UK, said the investigation had detailed “devastating” human rights abuses. Iit said: “We stand with these brave individuals in their fight for justice and fairer seas. Fishers around the world deserve dignity, safety, and fair treatment, not these horrific conditions.”

Only last month, the International Transport Workers' Federation, which represents international mariners, issued a report warning of the potential trafficking and abuse of foreign nationals in the UK scampi fleet, most of which is Scottish. It said it had uncovered forced labour or human trafficking issues estimated to have affected at least 138 crew members in UK waters.

According to statistics released by Police Scotland under freedom of information legislation, the issue of human trafficking in the fishing industry has remained ongoing in recent years. Between 2019 and 2021, a total of 11 people - five Filipinos, two Ghanaians, two Indians, two Indonesians, and one Sri Lankan - entered the Home Office's national referral mechanism.

A spokesman for TN Group said it disputed suggestions that workers were mistreated. It said the company always provided food and accommodation to workers and that they were “always free to come and go when ashore.”

He said: “The overwhelming experience of our workers was that they were well treated and well remunerated. We dispute many of the accounts put to us, in some cases over a decade on.

“We absolutely refute any allegation of modern slavery or human trafficking and our many testimonials and long-term employees are testament to that."

The spokesman said the company regretted the delay in bringing Mr Quince ashore for medical treatment, stating that it “fell short on that occasion.” 

“We have accepted responsibility, compensated and we apologise to that individual,” he added. Working conditions on the high seas, sometimes in dangerous waters and in a confined environment, are extremely difficult.”