Hawaii fishing deal with foreign boats ‘breaks’ law: report

Hawaii authorities may have been violating their own state law for years by issuing commercial fishing licenses to thousands of foreign workers who were refused entry into the country, The Associated Press has found.

About 700 of these men are confined to vessels in Honolulu, some making less than $1 an hour to catch premium tuna and swordfish sold at some of America’s most upscale restaurants and grocery stores.

In this unique fishing arrangement, Hawaii’s boat owners pay brokers up to $10,000 for each crew member sent from abroad. Because the workers don’t have visas, they aren’t allowed to arrive at Honolulu’s airport. Instead, they’re flown to foreign ports and put on fishing boats for long sails back to Hawaii.

Before they start working, they need a commercial fishing license. And in order to get that, Hawaii requires that they are “lawfully admitted” to the US As proof of legal admission, state officials point to landing permits issued to all fishermen by US Customs and Border Protection agents when the men arrive at the dock.

Here’s the hitch: AP has learned Customs agents stamp “refused” on all the landing permits, which voids them. So instead of being “lawfully admitted,” the fishermen are actually barred by law from setting foot in the US.

“Try taking a check to your bank that says ‘void’ on it and telling them, ‘Oh, but they wrote the check to me,’” said Hawaii attorney Lance Collins, who advocates for the workers.

Nonetheless, in a written opinion, Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said the Department of Land and Natural Resources provides the landing permits as proof the fishermen are “lawfully admitted.”

Customs sees it differently. “NO. They cannot be admitted,” spokesman Frank Falcon wrote in an email.

The Hawaii Longline Association has condemned labor abuses. Its president Sean Martin would not comment for this story, but in the past the group said the crew members are legally hired for legitimate work on the fleet’s 141 active vessels. And while the conditions and pay are often below US standards, the jobs are typically better than the bleak opportunities the men have at home, mostly in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati.

Under federal law, US citizens must make up 75 percent of the crew on most American commercial fishing boats. An AP investigation last year revealed Hawaii’s fleet—which catches about $110 million worth of seafood annually—relies on a federal loophole allowing foreign fishermen to fill most jobs.