"While forced labour and slavery in the fishing industry in Thailand and other parts of the world have been brought to light in recent years, the fishing industry in Myanmar has received less attention. This is because fish caught there is mostly sold to local markets, but this may be about to change. Myanmar’s seafood businesses are increasingly seeking export markets, including the EU. And unless the EU responds to the clear evidence of widespread slavery and brutal conditions in Myanmar’s fishing industry, Europe could face another slavery scandal. Fishing in Myanmar’s Gulf of Mottama is dangerous business. Hours are long and conditions are harsh. Thousands of people died during Cyclone Nargis in 2008. But even outside such catastrophic events deaths are not uncommon. One fisherman we spoke to told us he has seen two colleagues decapitated with nets during his working life. But it’s a lucrative business too. Between September and May up to 50,000 men work to catch around 10,000 tonnes of fish, mostly shrimp. The owners are believed to yield a healthy profit – especially when the raft is crewed using slave labour. We spoke with raft workers in five communities in the Irrawaddy Delta as they waited ashore for the weather to calm. They told us about physical confinement on the rafts for months at a time and excessive working hours, with fishermen working 16 hours, every day, for nine months. We heard about routine use of violence, including rumours of murder of fishermen by supervisors. The employment conditions of all of the raft fishers that we spoke to fitted the international definition of slavery..."