Byline: By Jenna Lyons c. 2016 San Francisco Chronicle ADVERTISING Byline: By Jenna Lyons c. 2016 San Francisco Chronicle SAN FRANCISCO — A San Jose tuna boat captain was sued Thursday by two Indonesian fishermen who said they were forced
Byline: By Jenna Lyons c. 2016 San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Jose tuna boat captain was sued Thursday by two Indonesian fishermen who said they were forced into high-seas slavery aboard a Honolulu-based fishing vessel for several months before escaping when the boat docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
Abdul Fatah and Sorihin, who goes by a single name, filed a human labor trafficking lawsuit at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Thoai Van Nguyen. They are seeking unspecified damages for purportedly being held captive on the Sea Queen II in late 2009 and early 2010 while fishing for tuna, swordfish and other seafood prized by U.S. stores and restaurants.
Efforts to reach Nguyen were unsuccessful.
The suit alleges the men were barred from leaving the ship, where they were victims of abuse and wage theft while working under dangerous conditions in breach of a contract both men had signed.
Their story echoes those of other men from Southeast Asia and Pacific island countries who say they were misled into working on vessels off Honolulu under poor and exploitative conditions — a situation affecting as many as 140 boats in the area, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.
The investigation found that, due to a loophole in federal law, men desperate for work made as little as 70 cents an hour without basic labor protections. The men are literally adrift, unable to set foot on shore since they don’t have visas.
“There’s been a lot of reports about how prevalent human trafficking has been in the fishing industry,” said Agnieszka Fryszman, one of the attorneys on the suit. “It’s a bit of a surprise to have a case that’s right here in our backyard.”
Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association, which advocates for fishermen’s interests in the state, said the organization became aware of the trafficking problem only through recent reporting by the Associated Press.
“Right now, we’re doing our own internal review of what’s going on,” he said. “We don’t have specific knowledge of human trafficking going on here. We’re trying to investigate to see if there’s any substance to the allegations.”
In a telephone interview Thursday conducted through a translator, Sorihin said he endured 20-hour shifts fishing in harsh conditions without access to proper protective gear or medical treatment, and was coerced into staying on the boat under threat of being jailed.
“I had to do it. I had to get out,” he said of his escape into San Francisco in April 2010. “Otherwise, I think I would have died there.”
Sorihin said he had worked on Japanese fishing vessels under better conditions. When he heard of a U.S. boat offering work, he said he thought, “It’d be better, because it’s America. … The reality is that it was much worse.”
The lawsuit alleges Fatah and Sorihin were recruited in 2009 to work on a different U.S. vessel, the Knowledge, under a two-year contract that promised them starting wages of $300 a month and $350 a month, respectively. They were to earn a bonus of $10 per ton of fish.
The men said they were paid their wages but were cheated out of the bonuses.
They departed in August 2009 from Jakarta, Indonesia. After several days at sea, they said, they were transferred to the Sea Queen II at an unknown location in the Pacific Ocean, which was not mentioned in their agreement. The suit claims the new captain, Nguyen, cursed at them and that Nguyen’s family members often slapped and kicked the men.
They fished for tuna and swordfish, docking in both Honolulu and San Francisco. There was a bathroom on the ship, the lawsuit states, but Nguyen often forced the crew to relieve themselves on the deck in a bucket.
When Sorihin asked to leave the ship, he said Ngyuen told him he would have to pay $6,000 to reimburse him for fees he had paid to acquire him.
Fatah and Sorihin said they fled the tuna boat after eight months, grabbing their confiscated passports and sneaking away after Nguyen left to visit his San Jose home and other family members passed out after drinking.
According to their attorneys, the men jumped on BART and rode it to the end of the line, then took a taxi to San Jose and met a contact who a friend said could help them. Both men now have visas and live in San Francisco.
Sorihin, 38, said he now works two jobs as an Uber driver and a liquor store cashier to provide for his wife and children, who have joined him in San Francisco. In filing the suit, he said he wants to help other fishermen avoid a similar fate.
“I hope that there is no case like mine,” he said. “I hope the seamen do not go through what I’ve gone through.”
