PIoWRPacific Institute of Workplace RelationsFair Conditions At Work

Fishers

Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations (PIoWR) — Fair Conditions At Work

This page is for: Fishers and fishing-vessel crew.

Fishing is some of the hardest work in the Pacific. Crew are far from home, often for months, on vessels where it is hard to speak up. This page sets out, in plain words, what fair conditions at sea look like, what to check before you sail, and where to find help. Fiji is PIoWR's first harbour, and fishers are where our work begins.

On this page: Know your rights · Checklist · Find help near you · Short lessons · Worker voices · Meetings and publications

Share this page: WhatsApp · Facebook

How these rules apply

  • ILO Convention C188 (Work in Fishing, 2007) is the global standard for decent work on fishing vessels. It is binding law only in countries that have ratified it. In the Pacific, Solomon Islands ratified C188 on 8 January 2026 (not yet in force, per ILO NORMLEX). Fiji has not ratified it. Check your country on the ratification tracker.
  • ILO Conventions C87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948) and C98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, 1949) protect your right to join a union and to bargain collectively, at sea and on shore. Fiji ratified C87 on 17 April 2002 and C98 on 19 April 1974; Vanuatu ratified both on 28 August 2006 (ILO NORMLEX, checked 7 October 2026).
  • WCPFC CMM 2024-04 (Crew Labour Standards) was adopted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission at its 21st regular session (WCPFC21) in Suva, Fiji, in 2024. It takes effect on 1 January 2028. It covers vessels authorised to fish in the WCPFC Convention Area that fish on the high seas, or in the waters of two or more coastal countries. It does not apply in territorial seas or archipelagic waters.
  • Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members also apply Harmonised Minimum Terms and Conditions (HMTCs), which include crew employment conditions, to vessels licensed in their waters.
  • Your own country's law, and the law of the vessel's flag country, still apply. These cards are general information, not legal advice.

Know your rights

Each card can be saved as a PDF to print or share. All rights cards.

Your work agreement (contract)

Before you go to sea, you should have a written agreement that you understand and that you have signed.

What you should get

  • A written work agreement, signed by you and the vessel owner (or their authorised representative), that you can understand (ILO C188, Art. 16 and 20).
  • A chance to read it and get advice before you sign (C188, Art. 17).
  • Your own copy. A copy must also be carried on board (C188, Art. 18).
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by WCPFC CMM 2024-04: a written contract, in a form and language that helps you understand it, agreed before the fishing trip starts and signed by you and the owner or operator (CMM 2024-04, para. 7c).

Check for

  • Your name, the vessel name and registration number, and the owner's name and address
  • Start date and how long the agreement lasts
  • Your job on board
  • How your pay or share is worked out, and how often you are paid
  • Rest periods, leave, repatriation, health cover and how to complain

What you can do

  • Never sign a blank page or a contract in a language you cannot read. Ask for a translation or for someone you trust to explain it.
  • Take a photo of every page and keep it on your phone and with your family.

Sources: ILO C188 Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04 Crew Labour Standards (measure page) · CMM 2024-04 full text, incl. Attachment 1 — crew agreement particulars

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Your pay

You have the right to be paid regularly, and to send money home without paying for it.

What you should get

  • If you are paid a wage: a monthly or other regular payment (C188, Art. 23).
  • A way to send all or part of your pay, including advances, to your family at no cost (C188, Art. 24).
  • No recruitment or placement fees taken from you, directly or indirectly (C188, Art. 22).
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: decent and regular pay (for example monthly or quarterly) that you can actually access, and appropriate insurance (CMM 2024-04, para. 7e).

Check for

  • The amount, or how your share is calculated, is written in your agreement
  • Every deduction is explained in writing
  • You get a record each time you are paid

What you can do

  • Keep every payslip, transfer receipt and message about pay.
  • If someone asks you to pay to get the job, say no and report it.

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 22–24 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, para. 7(e)

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Hours of work and rest

Tired crew get hurt. The rules set a minimum amount of rest.

What you should get

  • Regular rest long enough to keep you safe and healthy (C188, Art. 13).
  • On vessels that stay at sea for more than three days: at least 10 hours of rest in any 24 hours, and at least 77 hours of rest in any 7 days (C188, Art. 14). Countries may allow limited, temporary exceptions, but then you must get extra rest as soon as possible.
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: rest periods and sleeping quarters as part of decent living conditions (para. 7d).

Check for

  • The minimum rest periods are written in your agreement
  • You have a proper place to sleep

What you can do

  • Write down your hours each day in a notebook or on your phone. Your own record helps if there is a dispute later.

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 13–14 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, para. 7(d) and Attachment 1 item 18

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Safety and medical care on board

Your life is worth more than the catch.

What you should get

  • Training on the fishing gear you will use and the work you will do (C188, Art. 31).
  • A vessel that carries medical equipment and supplies, with at least one crew member trained in first aid (C188, Art. 29).
  • Proof you are medically fit before you work — this protects you too (C188, Art. 10).
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: a safe working environment, safety training for all crew, and a record of your next-of-kin contact on board (paras. 7a and 8).
  • If a crew member is seriously ill or injured, CMM 2024-04 requires the vessel to stop fishing as soon as practicable, give available care, tell the flag authority, and move the crew member to medical care where directed (para. 10).
  • If a crew member is missing or falls overboard, the vessel must stop fishing, alert the rescue centre and search for at least 72 hours unless the person is found sooner (para. 11).

Check for

  • Life jackets and safety gear you can reach
  • Someone on board trained in first aid
  • Your family's contact details are recorded by the vessel

What you can do

  • Report every injury, even a small one, and ask for it to be written down.

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 10, 29, 31–33 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, paras. 7–11

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Accommodation, food and water

You live where you work. It must be fit to live in.

What you should get

  • Accommodation of sufficient size and quality, with attention to hygiene, ventilation, lighting, noise, sleeping rooms, toilets and washing water (C188, Art. 26).
  • Food of sufficient nutritional value, quality and quantity, and enough safe drinking water (C188, Art. 27).
  • Food and water provided by the owner at no cost to you — unless a share-system collective agreement or your work agreement allows the cost to be recovered as an operating cost, under national law (C188, Art. 27).
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: clean or drinking water and food that meets your dietary needs, is free from harmful substances and is culturally acceptable (para. 7d and footnote 4).

Check for

  • What food, water and supplies are included is written in your agreement

What you can do

  • If water or food is unsafe, tell the skipper and write down the date. Take photos if you can do so safely.

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 25–28 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, para. 7(d)

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Getting home (repatriation)

You have the right to get home when your agreement ends or if you can no longer work.

What you should get

  • Repatriation when your agreement ends, is ended for justified reasons, or you can no longer do the job — including when you are taken off the vessel in a foreign port for these reasons (C188, Art. 21).
  • The cost paid by the vessel owner, unless you are found, under national law, to be in serious default of your agreement (C188, Art. 21).
  • From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: regular chances to go ashore, free access to your own identity documents, the ability to end your contract and seek repatriation, and unmonitored access to communication devices to ask for help (para. 7f). Where the owner ends the contract early, the owner covers repatriation costs except for a serious breach by the crew member (para. 7g).

Check for

  • Your passport and seaman's book stay with you
  • Your agreement says how and when you will be sent home

What you can do

  • If someone takes your passport and will not give it back, that is a warning sign. Ask for help (see 'Who to call').

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 21 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, para. 7(f)–(g)

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Making a complaint

Speaking up is your right. There are safe ways to do it.

What you should get

  • A way to settle disputes about your work agreement (C188, Art. 17).
  • When a port country receives a complaint that a vessel does not meet C188, it may report to the flag country and act on conditions that are clearly hazardous to safety or health (C188, Art. 43).
  • From 1 January 2028, under CMM 2024-04: if the flag country has reason to believe a crew member faces forced labour or mistreatment, the owner must act immediately to keep that person safe, report it, and allow safe disembarkation with any needed medical treatment at the owner's cost (para. 12).
  • If you report forced labour or mistreatment to the port country after leaving the vessel, that country must notify the flag country and the WCPFC Secretariat in writing, and the flag country must investigate (CMM 2024-04, para. 13).

Check for

  • Your agreement explains how to complain and where to get legal support (CMM 2024-04, Attachment 1 item 17)

What you can do

  • Keep your evidence safe: photos of your contract, payslips, your hours notebook, dates and names.
  • Talk to a union before you act, if you can. You do not have to do this alone.
  • Read the lesson 'Raising a complaint safely' on the Learn page.

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 17 and 43 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, paras. 12–15

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Who to call

If something is wrong on board or in port, these are places to start.

What you should get

  • Your national labour ministry or department — see 'Find help near you' for verified contacts.
  • A maritime or fishers' union. The ITF Seafarers union lookup lists affiliated unions by country, including in the port where your vessel calls.
  • In Fiji: the Fiji Trades Union Congress (+679 331 5377), and PIoWR (piowr.org/contact) if you want to talk about joining the FMU Fishers Branch, which is being established.

Check for

  • Save at least two numbers in your phone before you sail
  • Give your family the vessel name and the owner's contact details

What you can do

  • If someone's life is in danger, contact the skipper, the coast guard or local emergency services first.

Sources: PIoWR Find help directory · ITF Seafarers union lookup · FTUC contact page

Save this card as PDF · Share on WhatsApp · Share on Facebook

Checklist

Before you sail, and on board. Print it, tick it, keep it.

Before you sign

  • Get your work agreement in writing, in a language you understand.
  • Read every page. Ask a union or someone you trust to check it with you.
  • Make sure you have not paid any recruitment fee — the vessel owner or agency should pay these costs.
  • Get proof you are medically fit to work.
  • Keep your own copy of the agreement and send photos of every page to your family.

Before you sail

  • Give your family the vessel name, registration number, flag country, the owner or agent's name and phone number, and your expected return date.
  • Keep your passport, ID and seaman's book with you.
  • Agree how your pay will reach your family, and check it costs you nothing to send it.
  • Save at least two help numbers in your phone (see 'Find help near you').
  • Look up the union in the ports you will visit on the ITF Seafarers union lookup.

On board

  • Ask for safety training on the gear you will use. Learn where the life jackets and first-aid kit are.
  • Write down your work and rest hours every day.
  • Keep every pay record.
  • Report every injury and ask for it to be written in the log.

At the end of your trip

  • Check your final pay and any deductions before you sign off.
  • Confirm in writing how and when you will travel home, and who pays.

Find help near you

Choose your country to see verified contacts. Every contact links to the page where we checked it.

  • In Fiji: Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Workplace Relations · Fiji Trades Union Congress (+679 331 5377) · PIoWR — Write to us
  • Maritime and fishers' unions by country and port: ITF Seafarers union lookup
  • Verified ITF-affiliated unions are listed for Fiji, Kiribati, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Open the full Find help directory

Short lessons

About five minutes each, with a short self-check quiz. The answers are shown after you check.

See all lessons · Glossary

Worker voices

Have you worked on a fishing vessel? Your experience can help other crew know what to expect and what to ask for.

Stories from fishers

Stories are summarised from the published sources linked; PIoWR did not collect them.

Read these stories in full on the Worker stories page · Video coming soon

Share your story

PIoWR has not yet published any stories collected by us. When you share yours, these rules apply:

  • Your consent first. Nothing is published without your written consent. You can say no at any time before publishing, and ask us to take your story down later.
  • You choose your name. Stories are anonymous unless you ask to be named. We will not show your face unless you want us to.
  • You check it first. We send you the final text before it goes up.
  • Your safety comes first. We remove details that could identify you, your employer or your vessel if that could put you at risk.
  • Under 18? We need a parent's or guardian's consent too.
  • No payment, no pressure. Sharing is voluntary and does not affect any help you receive.

Share your experience: Write to PIoWR with the subject line "Worker voices — Fishers". You can write in English or your own language.

Meetings and publications

Meetings to follow

  • WCPFC23 — Regular Session of the Commission · 30 Nov–4 Dec 2026 · Port Vila, Vanuatu · Highlight — the Commission can keep or weaken CMM 2024-04. PIoWR will follow the published papers and outcomes.
  • WCPFC Technical and Compliance Committee (TCC22) · 23–29 Sep 2026 · Pohnpei, FSM (hybrid) · Watching
  • FMU Fishers Branch set-up, supported by Conservation International — Fiji Programme · Ongoing · Suva · PIoWR attending

See all meetings

From the library

Search the full library · Ask the Library

Share this page: WhatsApp · Facebook

Join PIoWR on WhatsApp — link coming soon

Join PIoWR on Viber — link coming soon

Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations — Fair Conditions At Work