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 in that industry and Walmart’s calamari supply chain. On the Ocean Disclosure Project website, Walmart lists a fishery in the South China Sea as a source of its mitre squid. The squid is processed at the Shantou Haimao Foodstuffs Factory and packaged for Walmart under the Great Value brand; plant codes on Walmart Great Value branded seafood products also correspond to Shantou Haimao. Satellite data shows that some…
Thank you for contacting Walmart. I wanted to get clarification on your findings. Are the allegations environmental or human rights related? Can you share more details about the nature of abuses you’re uncovering in the squid fishing industry and the allegations specific to Shantou?
Thank you very much for your quick reply to my message, I really appreciate your engagement on this. Through our research on the Chinese squid fishing fleet, we have identified two primary areas of concern:
- illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and, 2. human rights abuses. We have uncovered a wide range of abuses under each category, to the extent that a quarter of the vessels in the total squid fleet have a history of human rights and/or environmental abuses in the past five years. For example, one brand called PanaPesca (which is stocked by Walmart) is connected to Chinese squid fi…
In addition to the PanaPesca squid supply chain concerns raised in my last email, I wanted to highlight further findings in our Chinese squid investigation that pertain to companies whose products are carried by Walmart in different countries.
We have found connections between vessels involved in labor abuses and/or IUU and the following brands: Searay Foods Inc, who produce the Searay Seafood Medley stocked by Walmart Canada ██████████ Rhee Bros, who produce the Assi range of products, several of which are carried by Walmart in th…
Walmart expects all our suppliers to comply with our standards and contractual obligations, including those relating to human rights. From what you’ve shared, we don’t have sufficient information to address these allegations. If you can provide more detail on specific allegations, we can look into them.
Thanks for your email and continued interest in this. I’m happy to provide you with additional information on these supply chain issues in as much detail as we can provide at the moment: Rongcheng Guangrun Aquatic Food Co., Ltd. is linked to 3 squid jiggers which have disembarked dead crew at South American ports, and one vessel which turned off its vessel tracking. Trade records show that this processor has supplied squid to Searay Foods Inc and to Sea Relation.
Rongcheng Xinhui Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. is linked to a jigger on which crew were subject to physical abuse as well as forced la…
I'm emailing to check in for a response to our previous email of February 13, and I also wanted to add one additional follow-up.
We have identified another company that is a Walmart supplier which owns vessels on which crew were subject to forced labor, physical abuse and neglect. The company is called Shandong Baoma Fishery Group, and it says on its website that it is a supplier of Walmart in China. This gives a total of five companies in Walmart's supply chain where there are documented concerns or actual instances of IUU and/or labor abuses.
One note to point out: We want to be sure we cl…
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 Li…
Our investigation continues to surface additional questions in relation to your company’s supply chain, specifically your supplier High Liner Foods.
In addition to the supplier Yantai Sanko mentioned in our email dated June 23, 2023, High Liner has also imported shipments of yellowfin sole from Yantai Longwin Foods Co. Ltd. Yantai Longwin is linked to Yantai Sanko through corporate ownership. Our investigation has also found Uyghurs working at Yantai Longwin, since August 2020 and until as recently as March 2023.
Walmart stocks High Liner products containing sole at stores nationwide.
Our i…
We last emailed you on August 23, 2023, to highlight additional findings from our investigation into abuses in China’s seafood industry, as they related to Walmart’s supply chain. Our ongoing investigation has further findings which we want to bring to your attention. We have uncovered evidence that a Chinese seafood company called Donggang Haimeng Food Co. Ltd. used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under United Nations Security Council sanctions. This evidence shows North Korean labor at Haimeng’s factory in Lia…