In 2020, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation asked Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions to identify priorities for social sustainability in seafood supply chains. The resulting project, IKAN, is a digital platform that helps migrant fishers understand their rights, monitor contract compliance, and access support when issues occur. IKAN currently targets Indonesian migrant fishers on Taiwan-flagged tuna vessels but is built to adapt to other regions and fisheries. It emerged from collaboration among Stanford researchers, seafood firms, civil society groups including the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, and technology partner FiftyEight. Input also came from officials in Indonesia and Taiwan as well as fishers themselves. Conversations with fishers revealed repeated concerns about promised wages, contract terms, and reliable information sources during migration and employment. These insights shaped the platform, highlighting wage abuses as a common entry point for broader exploitation. Developers hope IKAN will align incentives across the supply chain to ensure timely, complete payments and contract terms consistent with international standards. Researchers note that overharvesting forces longer fishing trips, raising costs and increasing risks of wage violations, which in turn sustains overfishing and harms both workers and marine ecosystems. One account from an Indonesian fisher trafficked to South Africa years ago continues to underscore the isolation and uncertainty distant-water fishers face.
