Leaders in Hawai'i's Micronesian community yesterday organized a group of longline fishermen to shed light on working conditions and employment terms they consider "immoral" — but not illegal.

More than a dozen fishermen and church leaders from the Federated States of Micronesia said that some of the 100 to 200 Micronesian fishermen in Hawai'i have had their passports improperly confiscated by their ship captains as a form of control and intimidation, earn pay of $100 per month for the first five months of work and are often abandoned in Honolulu when their employment contracts expire — with no way to pay the estimated $750 airfare to go back home.

"I complete my contract but (they) say I have to pay my own way back," said Nishima Asher, 38, of Kosrae, who is now living with his uncle on O'ahu. "At first we trust them ... and follow their directions on the boat. I complete my contract, but I still remain."

Perdus I. Ehsa, the owner of the Pohnpei Employment Services Co. in Kolonia, Pohnpei, that drew the fishermen's complaints yesterday, said he has heard the accusations — but has been unable to verify them.

Ehsa said he would welcome a third party that could resolve the differing reports he receives from the families of Micronesian fishermen, Honolulu ship captains and his own Honolulu representative.

"We're doing everything we can do to help these fishermen who want to work in Honolulu," Ehsa said. "I really don't know who's telling me the truth."

NEED FOR FOREIGNERS

Tuang Nguyen of Honolulu, who owns the Blue Dragon, said he would be driven out of business if he had to pay American crew members $2,000 each per month or more.

Imported fishermen "are happy — they work hard and no cause any trouble with the captain," Nguyen said.

Ronald Fujiyoshi, staff member for the Hawaii-Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries of the United Church of Christ, said, "There are only about six people on each boat so the federal laws and the state laws do not apply to them. There's no minimum wage for fishermen. ... We couldn't find exactly what is illegal about what is going on. We just feel it is immoral. It's just clear exploitation. We, as a church, felt we had to step in."

The employment contracts that fishermen sign back in Micronesia are always written in English in "sophisticated, legal language" that is difficult for lay fishermen to understand, Fujiyoshi said.

Once in Hawai'i, the fishermen's cultural upbringings prevent them from complaining about their working conditions, said Edwin Tom, 37, of Pohnpei, whose cousin, Esiron Judas, was lost in Hawaiian waters.

'NO PLACE TO GO'

Last year, Rep. Anne Stevens, R-23rd, (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako), was called by Kewalo Basin tour-boat operators complaining that Micronesian fishermen from the longline fleet were harassing customers and vandalizing and robbing tour boats.

Honolulu police caught several Micronesians "red-handed," Stevens said. But the complaints also alerted Stevens to the larger employment situation that sometimes results in groups of Micronesian fishermen hanging around the docks.

"They're stuck here with no place to go and no money," Stevens said.

The Compact of Free Association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands allows residents of the two former Trust Territory nations to freely move anywhere within the United States. Frequent destinations are Hawai'i and American-flag islands such as Guam and American Samoa or the Mariana Islands.

Stevens, who had been a Hawai'i shipping agent for 10 years, said she had never seen an employment contract like the ones the Micronesian fishermen signed that requires them to pay their way home when their contracts expire.

"That is truly outrageous," Stevens said. "That really needs to be changed."

Fujiyoshi said Micronesian church leaders and members of the Hawaii-Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries of the United Church of Christ hoped that highlighting the situation would lead to voluntary changes by the employment company that recruits and hires the fishermen in Micronesia.

PAYING WAY HOME

Ehsa, 54, who also owns the Sea Breeze Hotel in Kolonia, said he only began the fishermen employment company 16 months ago at the urging of his Honolulu representative, who told him there were business opportunities supplying low-wage workers for the Honolulu fleet.

Since then, the employment business has been filled with headaches, Ehsa said.

Although Stevens, the fishermen and ministers yesterday emphasized the clause in the Pohnpei Employment Services Co. contract requiring workers to pay their own way home, Ehsa said none of the nearly 60 fishermen he has hired has faced return costs.

"I have not seen anyone who has had to pay his own way to come back home," Ehsa said. "Those who returned were paid already by the ship owners. None have returned on their own so far. All of those who have returned came back with their way paid by the ship owners."

Ehsa also said he knew of no fisherman who has been paid only $100 per month. For the first five months, they are supposed to receive half of their $400 monthly pay — with the remaining $200 to be kept in an account that they will receive when they return home.

"I have not seen anyone with a $100-a-month salary," Ehsa said.

'BE FAIR WITH US'

Rev. Godaro M. Lorrin, of Pohnpei and Central Union Church, said he tried to visit Ehsa in Kolonia recently but instead had a two-hour meeting with an Ehsa assistant that produced no changes.

"What the kids need is, 'Be fair with us,' " Lorrin said.

Federal officials from the Department of Immigration and Naturalization and Customs and Border Protection say the practice of using alien crew members on the longline boats and paying them less than minimum wage is not illegal.

Environmental watchdog Carrol Cox and others say that while bringing in foreign nationals to fill jobs that would otherwise go to U.S. citizens may be legal, they question whether it is ethical and a form of worker exploitation.

ABLE-BODIED WORKERS

Ostendorp estimated that 80 percent to 90 percent of the Honolulu fleet is crewed by foreign nationals.

Wages of $400 a month or even less may sound extremely low, but boat owners also have to pay upward of $1,500 in transportation costs for each of the foreign workers, a procurement or finder's fee to the agency that recruits the foreign workers and other administrative costs.

"We would have no fish to take to market were it not for these 'foreign workers,' '' Ostendorp said. "We should be thankful that they are willing to take a year away from their families to work here. They also make very good wages compared to what they would make at home.

"Without that, there would be no more fish — no more sashimi for grandma," Ostendorp said.

"It's not like the industry is at the breaking point," Aila said. "They're making money. One good fish, two at the most, is enough to pay the monthly salary for each of the foreign crew members, and the typical boat is out there catching thousands of fish each month."

Aila, who is harbormaster at the state's Wai'anae Small Boat Harbor, said the average longline boat brings in 20,000 pounds of fish per trip. The fish wholesales for about $2 a pound, he said.

"That's $40,000 a trip minus the fuel bill and ice bill," Aila said. "You get what you pay for. If you paid crew members decently and treated them decently, they would go back to having local crews again."