[Aktungbby]

I've been following this grim tale of the sea for a while now. For those of you who love Walmart Calimari...SHAME!

Five Thai fishing-boat captains and three Indonesians were sentenced Thursday to three years in jail for human trafficking in connection with slavery in the seafood industry.
The suspects were arrested in May in the remote island village of Benjina after the abuse was revealed by The Associated Press in a report two months earlier. The men were tried separately in Tual, an island in southeastern Maluku province, about 1,800 miles east of Jakarta.
The three-judge panel also ordered the defendants to pay fines of about $12,250 each or serve two more months in jail. In addition, the Thai captains -- Youngyut Nitiwongchaeron, Boonsom Jaika, Surachai Maneephong, Hatsaphon Phaetjakreng and Somchit Korraneesuk -- have to pay a total of $67,800 in compensation to their crew members.
"They all have been proven guilty of violating the anti-human trafficking law," said Edi Toto Purba, who led the panel. "They deserve the jail sentences as well as the fine."

http://www.semissourian.com/story/2285297.html Well I can order shrimp again guilt free! ( America is the No. 1 purchaser of Thai fish products, including tuna and shrimp. In 2011, Thai frozen and fresh exports to the US were valued at $1.8 billion.)

The men said they were deceived by labor brokers, who promised work and then sold them to the ships’ senior crew. On board they said they were detained against their will and regularly beaten.
Two of the men reported seeing at least five fellow migrant workers tortured, killed, and thrown over board for trying to escape. Another man said he saw multiple bodies tossed out to sea by crew members, who forced workers to watch as they beat them to death.

"We were shocked by the extreme levels of violence inflicted on and witnessed by migrant men held as captive workers on these boats,” said Steve Trent, executive director of EJF in a statement. “This is not an isolated case, but indicative of the widespread acceptance and use of modern slavery in an industry that feeds a global appetite for seafood."

On second thought: I'll just have New Zealand lamb ribs tonight for my birthday dinner! It's a real bummer to sit in any restaurant, anywhere on Earth, wondering who really paid the price for your supper...