I understand you handle media queries for Lund’s Fisheries and so 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 Lund's 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…

Eight members of staff from Lund’s and three from The Outlaw Ocean Project had a group video call. The Outlaw Ocean Project discussed the findings of the investigation into China’s distant-water squid fishing fleet. Lund’s said that the squid they received from Chishan was only sourced from Spanish- or Agentinian-flagged vessels, while the squid that is processed for them at Zhonglu is squid that Lund’s caught in U.S. waters, freezes at their facility, and then sends over to China for processing and to be exported back to Lund's. The company also said they have two people working full-time for…

Thank you again for taking the time to meet with us on Monday to discuss our squid investigation findings and to talk through the concerns it has raised.

As we said during the call, we do have some follow-up questions and points on which we’re very interested to hear your input. To reiterate, we are very aware that Lund’s has a positive track record in holding its supply chain to a very high standard and in pushing for greater sustainability in the seafood industry. That’s a big part of why we want to be as open as possible with you about the kinds of things our investigation has found.

1.…

In response to your email late last week please see our comments below:

"1. Correct there is no MSC certification within the Argentine fishery, but the Argentine EEZ fishery is a limited access fishery supported by catch and export documents managed by their government. In addition, each of the factories we work with are BRC certified as well. Like MSC, BRC and SQF audits contain Trace and Mass Balance exercise of unidentified items which is limited to 4 hours to complete and satisfy the audit.

Most countries require each block of squid (or seafood item) to be labelled with associated catch…

Thank you again for your continued engagement on this, we really appreciate the time and care you are taking to go through the issues raised in our research. In continuing our conversation on this, we have some follow-up questions:

1. Our understanding of the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard and Safe Quality Food (SQF) Edition 9 certifications is that they are primarily a site- and product-specific standards. Please could you clarify whether Rongcheng Haibo Seafood’s SQF certification is multi- site, whether all fishing vessels supplying raw material to Rongcheng Haibo are within scope of SQF…

Please see our follow up to your questions below. We would appreciate a response back to question 4 at your earliest convenience.

In light of our ongoing cooperation, we have received similar copies of your letter from others outside the US. The letters specifically call out Lund’s Fisheries, Town Dock, and Ruggerio seafood but leaves out other major importers of Todarodes? Does your research and reporting cover additional known importers of Todarodes and Argentine Illex?

Thanks

1. Rongcheng Haibo is not a BRCG multi-site certificated site. The GFSI certification covers squid products, the…

Thank you again for your cooperation on this. We really appreciate that you have been tireless in responding to our questions and engaging with us at length on these issues. In response to your query re. if our research and reporting covers additional known importers of Todarodes and Argentine Illex - yes, our project spans dozens of squid importers in the US.

We have just two further questions:

1. Our impression is that Lund’s considers itself - and has been shown through your interactions with us - to be a cut above competitors in how you go about tackling the supply chain issues we’ve been…

We wanted to update you on the most recent findings of our investigation, which has focused on the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry.

Further to our previous correspondence regarding your supplier Rongcheng Haibo, our research has found evidence that Uyghurs have been transferred to Rongcheng Haibo from China's Xinjiang province under a state-imposed program. Goods produced by forced labor from Xinjiang cannot be imported to the United States under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

This evidence includes materials produced by the Chishan Group about meetings be…

Thanks very much for your email and for the points you raised. We’re not in a position to provide documentation, but we can say that the materials referenced in our previous email were produced and published by Chishan companies themselves since 2021, in Chinese. They include details on meetings involving Rongcheng Haibo, the Chishan Group, and the persons and agencies that operate the Xinjiang labor transfer programs. You previously mentioned that Lund's requires its suppliers comply with an Ethical Audit standard scheme, specifically SMETA. Can you disclose who carried out the requisite SMET…

Lund’s CEO Wayne Reichle provided a letter and statement to The Outlaw Ocean Project’s publishing partner, The New Yorker: "This letter is in response to your questions pertaining to an upcoming piece by Ian Urbina about forced labor issues in the seafood industry in China. Since last January, when we were first contacted, Lund's Fisheries has fully cooperated with Ian Urbina and other staff of Outlaw Oceans to respond to their questions to the greatest extent possible, including participating in several online video conferences. We have checked in with Outlaw Oceans several times since first…

Thank you for your letter dated October 6, 2023, and for continuing to engage with regard to our ongoing investigation.

We have been in ongoing conversation with Lund’s since January 23, 2023, when we had a Zoom meeting with the company’s CEO and seven of its staff, during which we explained our findings and methodology, and fielded your questions. In the subsequent eight months, we replied fully to your company’s emails seeking further input from us, and sent you additional questions. We took a similar approach with Haibo, which we contacted by registered letter on February 2, 2023, to deta…

In light of recent articles presented in the media naming 98 seafood companies, including Lund's Fisheries, Lund's Fisheries would like to issue a statement condemning IUU fishing as well as human right violations.

CAPE MAY, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2023 / Lund's Fisheries takes allegations of this type seriously, which is why we engaged in numerous productive discussions with Ian Urbina and the staff of the Outlaw Ocean Project beginning in January 2023. In good faith, we conscientiously shared documentation, procedures, policies and industry knowledge surrounding domestic and internati…

I am writing in response to your email of October 8, 2023, which asked questions regarding our response to the inquiry from the New Yorker magazine fact checking department.

Our October 6 letter was written to the New Yorker, in response to their fact-checking inquiry. It was not directed to, nor was it a response to the Outlaw Ocean Project. It is a mischaracterization to infer that we “only began [our] investigation into the issues [Outlaw Ocean Project] raised when [we] were contacted by The New Yorker.” What we said in that letter is we began our investigation into the New Yorker’s f…

I’m writing in response to your letter of October 20, 2023, which informed us that you have severed ties with Haibo on the heels of the evidence we presented to you pertaining to the existence of forced labor in Rongcheng Haibo, which was previously a part of your supply chain. Thank you for continuing to engage. Your willingness to answer difficult questions has been distinct within the industry and seems to show a genuine desire to confront and correct admittedly very challenging problems facing the global seafood supply chain.

Allow me to start by trying to ensure that we are using the sa…