In November 2024, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) and the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) submitted a petition to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enjoin Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) for its misleading and deceptive advertising practices.
BAP is a third-party certification scheme that claims to certify each step of the aquaculture production chain, including farm, feed, hatcheries, and processing facilities. BAP touts itself as being one of the “easiest ways to know that your seafood was produced in a safe, responsible, and ethical way.” In reality, BAP-certified shrimp production processes are rife with labor and environmental abuses.
As part of a three-year investigation into the Indian shrimp industry, documented in Hidden Harvest, CAL found that working conditions at BAP-certified facilities were indistinguishable from those at uncertified facilities. In short, the petition argues that BAP has failed to provide workers in the Indian shrimp industry with economic opportunities and has not stopped human rights and environmental abuses from occurring in this industry.
As part of CAL’s investigation, numerous labor rights abuses were documented at BAP-certified facilities, including: excessively long work hours, restrictions on worker movement, hazardous working conditions, gender-based violence and discrimination, child labor, excessive threats and intimidation, and abusive living conditions. CAL also found that workers were not paid a minimum wage as required by Indian law and BAP standards.
Environmental harms were also uncovered at these facilities. Communities near BAP-certified processing facilities, hatcheries, and farms have reported increased rates of cancer, liver, and kidney problems. Drinking water was contaminated by improperly released effluents, leading to underpaid workers spending significant portions of their hard-earned money on a once freely accessible resource.
The petition also alleges that these shrimp farms have destroyed the environment enough that traditional forms of agriculture, such as rice and coconut farming, are no longer viable, leaving workers without any other economic alternatives. As one worker in a processing plant explained, “[T]here are no job opportunities outside here in my village. However, the current job is not honoring our rights. We are low-paid and exploited.”
Furthermore, the FDA prohibits the use of antibiotics in shrimp farming, as it can lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans. BAP’s own standards prohibit the use of antibiotics that are banned in the shrimp’s producing or importing country. Yet, an analysis conducted by the Southern Shrimp Alliance found that a significant portion of the shrimp rejected at the U.S. border in 2024 for antibiotic contamination originated from BAP-certified facilities.
Despite this evidence, and other reports of environmental and labor abuses from the Associated Press and The Outlaw Ocean Project, BAP continues to claim that “most shrimp processors in India do uphold best practices.” BAP also continues to market itself as “[e]nsuring safe, responsible and ethical farm-raised seafood.”
On paper, BAP’s standards appear to be stringent and contain protections for workers and the environment. These standards promise social auditing, environmental monitoring, and a plethora of other seemingly helpful safeguards. In practice, however, BAP certified facilities fail to comply with BAP’s own standards and these standards are not helpful in combating forced labor. Social audits are not helpful in detecting forced labor conditions and periodic monitoring, without third-party oversight, can be prone to corruption and falsification of records.
Unfortunately, many consumers are unaware of the failures of these certification processes, and take these claims of sustainability at face value. BAP, like so many other certification schemes, profits from deceiving consumers into believing that they are buying sustainable and ethically produced goods. Consumers care about buying sustainable goods. Certification schemes are aware of this – that’s why they engage in greenwashing and represent themselves as socially responsible.
BAP’s existence and prevalence in the seafood industry also discourages retailers from exploring alternative tools for ensuring their seafood is responsibly sourced. By granting retailers with an easy stamp of approval, companies are dissuaded from taking genuine steps toward sustainability. Certifications like BAP allow companies to get away with subpar practices under the guise of legitimacy; they make it easy to appeal to consumer’s desires for ethical goods without having to undertake real due diligence.
The purpose of the Federal Trade Commission Act is to prevent companies like BAP from engaging in ‘‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.’’ On September 4, 2024, four members of the House Committee on Natural Resources sent a letter to the FTC expressing concerns about BAP misleading consumers. CAL and the SSA’s petition joins Congress in asking the FTC to enjoin BAP from deceiving consumers any further.
Nikki Santos is a Legal Fellow at CAL.
