It is a story like so many others …. a young man in Thailand takes a cab ride down to the docks to learn about employment opportunities with the local fishing industry. After realizing this was something he didn’t want to pursue but had no money for cab fare, he then became a victim of labor trafficking to pay off his debt.

Have you ever thought about where your seafood came from, how it was caught and who labored to bring it to your dinner table? Some of you may be familiar with sustainable seafood – whether it’s overfished, harmful to the environment or other wildlife. While I applaud you if you take this into consideration when purchasing seafood, I’m going to challenge you to take it a step further and consider whether slave labor is being used to provide you cheaper seafood.

Pope Francis said, “Things have a price and can be for sale. But people have dignity that is priceless and worth far more than things. Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.”

If you travel to West Africa, then to China and Thailand, you will find situations that are bleak when it comes to sourcing and processing seafood that ends up on our dinner tables. North Korean workers wake up each morning on metal bunk beds in fluorescent-lit Chinese dormitories. They have been outsourced by their government to process seafood that ends up in American stores and homes.

Privacy is forbidden. They cannot leave their compounds without permission. They must take the few steps to the factories in pairs or groups with North Korean minders ensuring no one strays. They have no access to telephones or email. And they are paid a fraction of their salaries, while the rest — as much as 70 percent — is taken by North Korea’s government.

This means Americans buying salmon for dinner at Wal-Mart or ALDI may inadvertently have subsidized the North Korean government as it builds its nuclear weapons program, an AP investigation has found. Their purchases may also have supported what the United States calls “modern-day slavery.”

Now, let’s travel over to Thailand where workers are sold as slaves by brokers and smugglers to fishing captains in Thai ports and frequently resold out at sea. They labor up to 20 hours a day with little or no pay, and are subject to beatings or even death if the work is deemed unsatisfactory. Some victims, as young as 12, leave their families and are held captive at sea. Many never set foot on land or see their families for a decade.

Fr. Bruno Ciceri a Vatican delegate for the Apostleship of the Sea, which provides pastoral care for seafarers and their families, said “We have to be educated. Frozen food here is cheap, but it’s because people are exploited, because there is forced labor, because there are trafficked people that work aboard these fishing vessels.

“We talk a lot about ‘Fair Trade.’ I don’t know the day when we will have ‘fair trade’ also in fishing. That will make a difference.”

Fr. Ciceri said it is common when a broker will contract fishermen with a promise of a certain salary. Of this, maybe only 20 percent is given directly to the fisherman and 80 percent will be held by the broker, only to be given over after the fisherman has completed a three-year contract. If he leaves before this, he loses everything.

For the average person who wants to do something, he continued, even the awareness of these practices, and why the products may be so cheap, is a good first step. It’s true that we would always like to save money, but maybe sometimes we could consider buying the more expensive product that we know pays people justly.

We are the consumers. We have the power to make changes because we drive the demand. Imagine if everyone started to demand seafood among other items produced using fair labor practices. What would happen? It would reinvent the industry. No demand. No supply — and changes would begin to happen.

I also encourage you to take it a step further and share what you have learned today with others. American Anthropologist Margaret Meade once said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Buying Fair Trade and inquiring about sustainable and humane seafood practices, may cost us a little more time and money, but we have a choice. Victims of labor and human trafficking do not. So I ask you to heed the words of Pope Francis who urged us “not to become accomplices to this evil, not turn away from the suffering of our brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings, who are deprived of their freedom and dignity. Instead, may we have the courage to touch the suffering flesh of Christ revealed in the faces of those countless persons whom (Jesus) call ‘the least of these my brethren…’

July 30 is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Here’s how you can become a modern-day abolitionist:

ASK: “Do you sell sustainable and fair trade seafood?” Encourage Companies to Sell Fair Trade Products and let businesses know this is important to you.
BUY: Use your purchasing power to buy Fair Trade products at local stores. If unavailable, look for the country of origin on products. Download the app found at www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/ to see which countries to avoid.