A/HRC/55/49 whom are women, experience unique hazards associated with damp and dangerous processing facilities, and inevitably develop serious health problems. 36 33. The Special Rapporteur also received worrying reports about fish workers’ employment security and the right to a living wage. Fish workers, especially in developing countries, remain unable to pay for basic needs and services for themselves and their families. As many activities are seasonal, workers may only receive periodic income, and scheduled payments can be made late or withheld entirely throughout the supply chain. 34. Unlike the ILO standards relating to seafarers,37 the ILO framework does not include a minimum basic wage figure for fish workers.38 As a result, salaries are usually less than national minimum wages and rank among the lowest per capita income. Many fishers work informally or are self-employed, and thus are excluded from labour protections and do not benefit from social protection schemes, including social security, workers’ compensation and health insurance. In small-scale fisheries, most workers operate under oral agreements that lack fixed or enforceable terms and benefits.39 35. Fish workers, especially in small-scale operations,40 are often denied their right to freedom of association or to form labour unions because States do not legally recognize their employment and because of the remote and isolated work conditions. Employers in industrial, large and medium-size operations often refuse to recognize the labour rights of fish workers and are hostile to labour activists. 41 36. Women, children and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to the most severe forms of exploitation, including trafficking in persons, fraudulent and deceptive recruitment, forced labour, physical, mental and sexual abuse, homicide, abandonment and discrimination. The lack of protection for women fish workers is largely attributed to the prevalence of informal and “hidden” work arrangements. Women continue to face discrimination and gender-based violence throughout the industry, with more occupational risks, less secure employment than men and fewer opportunities to unionize. 37. Employing children in this dangerous sector is considered among the worst forms of child labour, yet it is prevalent in small-scale and aquaculture enterprises. Widespread poverty in fishing and aquaculture communities is conducive to child labour, as such labour is considered cheap and necessary to ensure food security for families. 42 Reportedly, of all children in child labour, about 48 per cent undertake hazardous work, about half are between 5 and 11 years old and about 42 per cent are girls.43 38. Migrant fish workers, who comprise a significant segment of the fisheries workforce, suffer the most severe forms of abuse, including contemporary forms of slavery such as forced labour, bonded labour and trafficking in persons. This is tied to illegal fishing, overfishing and unenforced labour standards.44 Trafficking and forced labour among migrant 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 8 Submissions from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF); the Finnish Food Workers’ Union; the Norwegian Food and Allied Workers Union; and the Food Federation and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe. See https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_845493/lang--en/index.htm. See ILO, “The Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188): getting on board”, document No. GDFWF/2013, p. 4. Submissions from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) and the Food Federation and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe. See also FAO, “How is COVID-19 affecting the fisheries and aquaculture food systems” (April 2020) and FAO, “The effect of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture in Asia” (May 2020). Which are specifically referenced in article 13 (5) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Submission from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations. A/HRC/40/56, para. 39. Alliance 8.7, Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and Trends, 2012–2016: Executive Summary, p. 5 See https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/policy-areas/fisheries/lang--en/index.htm. GE.23-26071