Sealect
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 23 October 2026 · 9 sources
Thai Union's canned tuna, sardine and mackerel brand for Thailand.
Forced labour was found in Sealect's supply chain in 2012, which it has only partly put right, and it has no full independent audit.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 1 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 4 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, unaudited production in high-risk countries, forced or child labour and fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farm. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record: the most serious problem on its record (forced labour, last recorded in 2012) is more than 5 years old.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 1 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in countries such as Thailand and China, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Not met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listMakes its products in its own factories
- Not met: Traces its catch to the boat or farm and has crews' or farm workers' conditions checked independently
Red flags 4
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Made mostly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain
- Red flag: Forced, slave or child labour found in or linked to its supply chain
- Red flag: Relies on fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farmShown to explain the grade. It isn't one of the 3 red flags that set it.
- Red flag: Fails its category's raw-material check (means Lacks transparency)
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
From Thai Union Group's supplier list, which covers Sealect and its sister brands. Sealect publishes no breakdown of its own, so the countries shown are the group's. The rest is shown as where fish and seafood are usually processed.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| ChinaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| VietnamUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndonesiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| AustraliaUsual for the industry | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| EcuadorUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| NorwayUsual for the industry | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: fishing fleets and processing plants have some of the worst documented forced labour, including trafficked crews held at sea for years.
- Owns or runs its own production
- Relies on fish and seafood from fishing boats and farms, where crews and farm workers, often migrants recruited into debt, have been held for months or years, beaten and denied pay, out of reach of factory audits. It hasn't shown any steps to trace its fish and seafood to the boat or farm or have the conditions of the people who catch or farm it checked, so it's graded Lacks transparency until it does.
Research notes Sealect is owned and manufactured by Thai Union, which names Thailand among its canning hubs; no Sealect plant is named. Its tuna is purse-seine skipjack and a can tracker shows species, gear and catch area but not the boat. Thai Union says all its tuna is traced to a vessel or group of vessels and that it runs a vessel code of conduct with some third-party audits and crew interviews, but publishes no vessel list or share of boats independently checked. No certification covers the range. Greenpeace rated Sealect only Fair in 2020 and said fishers lack a usable complaints channel. It is sold in Thailand, not Australia.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| News reporting and NGO investigations | Listed | Scored 54.27 out of 100 (Fair) and ranked 15th of 20 in Greenpeace Southeast Asia's 2020 canned tuna ranking. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Problem found | The Resource Centre carries the 2015 AP investigation into slave-peeled shrimp in parent Thai Union's supply chain. View |
Confirmed issues 1
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Finnwatch research released in 2013 found Thai Union Manufacturing, a Thai Union tuna cannery in Samut Sakhon described as Asia's largest, had confiscated Cambodian migrant workers' passports in 2012 and hired workers as day labourers. Source · archived copy | PartlyBy 2015 Finnwatch found workers held their own passports and Thai Union Manufacturing covered extra recruitment fees, though pay stayed near the minimum wage. |
Sources and actions
Sources 9
Show all 9 sources
- AP: Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre) · search the archive · 2015 AP investigation into slave-peeled shrimp in Thai Union's supply chain; Thai Union to bring processing in-house
- Sealect aims to increase Thai tuna consumption (Bangkok Post) · search the archive · Sealect, a Thai Union brand, holds 57.1% of Thailand's retail canned tuna market
- Sealect 30th anniversary (Thansettakij, March 2022) · search the archive · Sealect owned by Thai Union; canned tuna since 1992, sardines and mackerel since 2004
- Southeast Asia Canned Tuna Ranking 2020: Sustainability and Justice on the High Seas (Greenpeace Southeast Asia) · search the archive · Sealect 'owned and manufactured by Thai Union', scored 54.27 (15th of 20); 100% purse seine skipjack; can tracker shows species, gear, area; complaint access concerns
- Thai factory accused of abuses (Phnom Penh Post via Open Development Cambodia, Jan 2013) · archived copy · Finnwatch found Thai Union Manufacturing in Samut Sakhon confiscated Cambodian migrants' passports and hired day labourers
- Finnwatch tuna supply chain report (2015) · search the archive · Passports confiscated at TUM in 2012; by 2015 workers held their documents, TUM covered extra recruitment fees, wages near minimum
Published by Sealect or its owner
- Shelf-stable seafood private label (Thai Union) · search the archive · Nine large production facilities with hubs in Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Seychelles, France, Portugal, Poland, Germany and the US
- Thai Union marks 10 years of leadership in tuna sustainability (Thai Union, June 2026) · search the archive · 100% of tuna traced to vessel or group of vessels; 99% of tuna volume covered by vessel code audits, improvement plans or equivalent programmes
- Tuna vessels demonstrate continuous improvement in social and labor standards (Thai Union) · search the archive · Third-party audits of 119 tuna vessels with over 850 crew interviewed, 2018-2020
Company details
- Owned by
- Thai Union Group
- Headquarters
- Thailand
- Last researched
- 23 October 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Sealect ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/sealect, last researched 23 October 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Other canned and pouched fish brands
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Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Sealect.