Listen: The shrimp factory whistleblower (Episode 5)
What started off as a dream job, slowly revealed itself to be a nightmare. Josh Farenello moved to southern India to oversee a shrimp-processing plant, but it soon dawned on him that he’d really been hired as an American face to 'whitewash' a forced-labour factory. The largely female employees were in effect trapped on the compound, routinely underpaid and forced to live in inhumane, unsanitary conditions. Over several months, Josh meticulously gathered evidence that he brought to The Outlaw Ocean team for this exclusive exposé.
Joshua Farinella, formerly the general manager of the plant in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship / The Outlaw Ocean Project)
Averaging one dead body every six weeks, mostly Chinese fishing vessels have been dropping their deceased off in Uruguay’s coastal capital for years. But in 2021, an Indonesian deckhand named Daniel Aritonang arrives clinging to life. He’s conscious enough to say he’d been beaten, tied up by the neck and starved for days.
We learn Daniel’s story is shockingly common in the world’s Chinese-run fish-processing infrastructure. It’s a realm where health and human safety are secondary to meeting quotas, and where forced labour and human rights abuses are rampant. We learn how vulnerable people like Daniel are recruited and how routinely they never make it home.
The team is convinced that they need to speak directly to the crew on one of these vessels. They themselves are shocked when a captain agrees to let them aboard. Even more surprising, a minder briefly leaves host Ian Urbina alone with the crew and immediately some men plead to be rescued.
An aerial view of Choice Canning's Amalapuram shrimp processing plant in India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) The Choice Canning shrimp processing plant in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) Workers in full PPE wait for the shift to begin outside the main processing floor of Choice Canning's Amalapuram facility in India in February 2024. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) At Choice Canning plant #4 in Amalapuram, India, in a hidden, off-books men's dorm located on top of an ammonia compressor shed, some workers were forced to sleep on the floor becuase of a lack of beds. (Photo: Joshua Farinella) Workers peel shrimp at an off-books peeling shed for Choice Canning in Amalapuram, India, in February 2024. (Photo: Joshua Farinella) Local workers arrive to work to process shrimp at Choice Canning Plant #4 in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) Access in and out of Choice Canning's Amalapuram plant was strictly controlled. A large metal gate was the only entrance, and the plant grounds were surrounded by a high wall, preventing workers from leaving on their own. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) The shrimp processed at the plant came from nearby aquaculture farms like this one. Farinella said it was often unclear which farms supplied the plant because deliveries from certified and uncertified farms were routinely commingled. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) The shrimp processed at the plant came from nearby aquaculture farms like this one. Farinella said it was often unclear which farms supplied the plant because deliveries from certified and uncertified farms were routinely commingled. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project) Choice Canning hired a firm, SGS, to conduct daily audits for internal purposes to help police hygienic conditions. These audits often detailed sanitary concerns such as the smell of decay, flies, slime, sludge, lack of ice, broken refrigerators, machines contaminated with algae and fungus, hair and black spots on shrimp, and a spitoon full of chewing tobacco on the factory floor. Annually, auditors from the same firm, SGS, also produced a public-facing audit where the plant was given a clean bill of health. (Photo: Joshua Farinella)
Joshua Farinella, formerly the general manager of the plant in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship / The Outlaw Ocean Project) 
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DJI_0901-copy.jpg "An aerial view of Choice Canning's Amalapuram shrimp processing plant in India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DJI_0950_00252-copy.jpg "The Choice Canning shrimp processing plant in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-02-06-INDIA-SHRIMP-HIDDEN-CAMERA-EXTERIOR-OF-PROCESSING-AREA-WORKERS-IN-PPE-AMMONIA-COMPRESSORS_00824-4x.jpg "Workers in full PPE wait for the shift to begin outside the main processing floor of Choice Canning's Amalapuram facility in India in February 2024. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Photo-of-male-dormitory-1.jpg "At Choice Canning plant #4 in Amalapuram, India, in a hidden, off-books men's dorm located on top of an ammonia compressor shed, some workers were forced to sleep on the floor becuase of a lack of beds. (Photo: Joshua Farinella)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Photo-of-external-peeling-shed-2.jpg "Workers peel shrimp at an off-books peeling shed for Choice Canning in Amalapuram, India, in February 2024. (Photo: Joshua Farinella)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-02-06-INDIA-SHRIMP-HIDDEN-CAMERA-WALKING-ALONG-PROCESSING-AREA-LOCAL-LABOR-WOMEN-ARRIVING-AND-MILLING-ABOUT_01058.jpg "Local workers arrive to work to process shrimp at Choice Canning Plant #4 in Amalapuram, India. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-02-06-INDIA-SHRIMP-HIDDEN-CAMERA-WALKING-INTO-MAIN-GATE-SECURITY-GUARD_00251.jpg "Access in and out of Choice Canning's Amalapuram plant was strictly controlled. A large metal gate was the only entrance, and the plant grounds were surrounded by a high wall, preventing workers from leaving on their own. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-02-20-CHOICE-ADJACENT-SHRIMP-FARM-AERIAL-VIDEO-DJI_0964_00401.jpg "The shrimp processed at the plant came from nearby aquaculture farms like this one. Farinella said it was often unclear which farms supplied the plant because deliveries from certified and uncertified farms were routinely commingled. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-02-20-CHOICE-ADJACENT-SHRIMP-FARM-AERIAL-VIDEO-DJI_0958_00077.jpg "The shrimp processed at the plant came from nearby aquaculture farms like this one. Farinella said it was often unclear which farms supplied the plant because deliveries from certified and uncertified farms were routinely commingled. (Photo: Ben Blankenship/The Outlaw Ocean Project)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/23-10-16-day-shift-pan-masala-spitoons.png "Choice Canning hired a firm, SGS, to conduct daily audits for internal purposes to help police hygienic conditions. These audits often detailed sanitary concerns such as the smell of decay, flies, slime, sludge, lack of ice, broken refrigerators, machines contaminated with algae and fungus, hair and black spots on shrimp, and a spitoon full of chewing tobacco on the factory floor. Annually, auditors from the same firm, SGS, also produced a public-facing audit where the plant was given a clean bill of health. (Photo: Joshua Farinella)")