Seafood Task Force Launches Train-The-Trainer Programme In India: Initiative will help to combat child labour & enhance worker freedom of movement
Visakhapatnam, 10th July 2025
In a pioneering initiative to strengthen social accountability across India's seafood supply chains, the Seafood Task Force (STF) has successfully conducted its first Train-The-Trainer program focused on raising awareness to tackle restrictions on freedom of movement issues and child labor in India.
The comprehensive training session took place on 4th July at the Welcomhotel, Devee Grand Bay in Visakhapatnam. Delivered by the STF senior leadership team, the session brought together nominated trainers from the STF’s various member supply chain partners, including processors, feed mills, fish meal plants and non-member processors across India's shrimp industry, plus STF buyer members; representatives from the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA), National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NACSA) and the Network for Fish Quality Management & Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH).
The program delivered comprehensive training that equipped participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to educate others throughout their supply chains, including at farm level. The sessions featured detailed examinations of business risks, real-world examples, brainstorming exercises, and collaborative analysis of case studies. Participants engaged in discussions about best practices and common pitfalls to identify underlying causes of problems and strengthen risk management frameworks. The program specifically emphasized preventing child labor and ensuring freedom of movement for all workers.
The STF senior leadership team trained participants on how to check identity and age documents properly during the recruitment process as well as a refresher on worker personal safety guidelines vis-à-vis freedom of movement through proper dormitory access management practices. Going forward, these new procedures will be added to the STF's hiring policies and management rules. All of which represents a significant step toward creating sustainable, scalable solutions that address social accountability challenges across India's seafood sector. Putting participants through their paces by simulating real-world scenarios, equips them with essential skills that are applicable to their daily working environments as well as providing them with hands-on practical experience.
The collaborative approach involving government agencies and supply chain partners demonstrates the STF's commitment to implementing the agreed actions outlined in the India work plan with the ambitious goal of reaching 100% factory members and up to 25% farms with worker training programs.
Following the training session, the STF leadership team and India working group Co-Leads met with MPEDA representatives from NACSA and NETFISH to explore potential future collaborations aimed at building industry-wide capacity for farms, vessels, and pre-processing plants and creating positive impacts across the seafood supply chain.
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For media inquiries, please contact: stf@thephagroup.com
About the Seafood Task Force:
The Seafood Task Force (STF) was established in 2014 to restore global confidence to trade, following concerns about social and environmental abuse in global tuna and shrimp supply chains. It is made up of over 50 major retailers, brands, food service companies and their supply chain partners.
The STF drives supply chain oversight at scale, pioneering a pro-competitive approach that makes it easier for its members to meet international standards and growing due diligence requirements.
The STF is a US-based, not-for-profit trade association established for the seafood industry by the seafood industry. Its vision is a future where its members’ seafood supply chains are fully traceable, free from the risk of human rights violations and free from environmental degradation.
For more information: https://seafoodtaskforce.global/