Workers’ conditions on fishing vessels are increasingly coming to the attention of labor and human rights organizations. Efforts to protect workers and their rights on fishing vessels include emphasizing the role flag states, port states, and market states play in ensuring safe working conditions.

This article analyses the approach international and regional organizations take to address the problem of human rights labor on fishing vessels. This article also highlights the value of the multilateral, cooperative, and coordinated approach to linking global, regional, public, and private initiatives.