I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and your supply chain.

This link concerns a Chinese squid jigger owned by the Chinese fishery company, Rongcheng Wangdao Ocean Aquatic Products. In a seven-month period, one crew member died and a second was disembarked for emergency medical treatment after suffering serious mistreatment and abuse while on board the vessel. Our reporting documents multiple indicators of forced labor among crew onboard the vessel:…

I’m reaching out to you again in light of further connections our investigation has found between The Kroger company’s supply chain and abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry.

In addition to the issues raised in my previous email regarding the Chishan Group, we have discovered that another vessel under Chishan ownership was reported for fishing illegally in Indonesian waters in 2020. As mentioned previously, Chishan processor Shandong Haidu exports squid to Rhee Bros Inc., whose Wild Sea brand of frozen squid is sold through Kroger.

The Kroger Family of Companies’ Seafood Sustainabilit…

I contacted you earlier this year regarding The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation into abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, as it related to your supply chain. I am contacting you again in light of new findings made as part of our ongoing reporting on human rights and environmental issues connected with the world’s oceans.

Further to my previous correspondence, we have uncovered a link between a company engaged in the use of Uyghur forced labor in seafood processing and a supplier in your supply chain. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., which supplies white fish products to High Lin…

I contacted you earlier this year regarding The Outlaw Ocean Project’s investigation into abuses in the Chinese fishing and seafood processing industries, as they relate to the supply chain of Kroger.

Our investigation continues to surface additional questions in relation to your company’s supply chain, specifically High Liner Foods, In addition to the supplier Yantai Sanko mentioned in our emails dated June 23, 2023, High Liner Foods has also imported shipments of yellowfin sole from Yantai Longwin Foods Co. Ltd. Yantai Longwin is linked to Yantai Sanko through corporate ownership. Our inves…

Trade records seen by The Outlaw Ocean Project show that, between 2019 and 2022, Premier Marine Canada was the consignee for at least seven shipments of seafood from processors in China that have received people from the Xinjiang region of China under a state imposed labor transfer program. The processors, Rizhao Meijia Aquatic and Rizhao Jiayuan, are both owned by the Meijia Group. The Meijia Group has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until as recently as May 2023. We have uncovered evidence of Uyghur workers in Riz…