(upbeat music) - Welcome to "The Newsfeed", formerly "Crosscut Now."

This is still the same show but with a new name.

In today's episode, a group of Filipino fishermen thought they would work the albacore tuna season to send money back home to their families.

But they say they ended up stranded and out of thousands.

We'll share their story and you'll hear what their employer has to say.

We'll also dive into a report that found the state's largest county has a lot of work to do to restore salmon populations.

We'll explain what's holding the county back.

And after a legal battle, there is a new state legislative map, creating a majority-Latino voting district in Eastern Washington.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Today's top story, two dozen Filipino fishermen spent three months stuck in the Westport Marina late last year, awaiting thousands in owed wages and missing urgent family matters.

With more on the story, I wanna introduce you to the newest member of the Cascade PBS investigative team, Jaelynn Grisso.

Welcome to the team, Jaelynn.

- Thanks, Paris.

- Now, why were the fishermen unable to go home?

- So one of the biggest issues is that they didn't have visas, so they were legally not allowed to leave their docked boats in the marina.

So that meant that for months, they were stranded on the boats, completely dependent on their employer.

That is, until Homeland Security launched an investigation.

(fishermen speaking foreign language) As he and his fellow fishermen left the Philippines, Norberto Cabrela received the news that his wife was pregnant with their second child.

But months later, while stuck on a boat in Westport, he learned that there were complications with the pregnancy.

- Good day, sir, I want to ask permission if I can go home.

My wife will give birth in an emergency.

There will be no one to watch over our little child.

- [Jaelynn] Cabrela wasn't alone in wanting to go home to take care of family.

Mickel Mendez's sister and mother-in-Law both ended up in the hospital while he was in Westport.

He said they needed his financial help, but he couldn't because he didn't have the wages he was told he would earn.

(Mickel speaking in foreign language) Neither Cabrela or Mendez were sent home when they asked.

Cabrela received a text response from the company's owner saying it was very difficult to send people home at this time.

An attorney from McAdam's said they arranged to get Cabrela home, but the offer came weeks later and after his baby had already been born.

Most of the stranded fishermen went back to the Philippines in late December.

But for Mendez, the option for him to go home came too late.

- My mother-in-law, (speaks in foreign language).

- So really, the fundamental problem here is that if you're a fisherman and you stay on board your ship, you're not required to have a visa and you can just be trapped on board.

It just blows my mind that this is allowed to happen.

You have an employee who is trapped in his work environment and is physically not allowed to leave.

(Reynar speaks in foreign language) (Mickel speaks in foreign language) It's like this childhood game, the floor is lava.

If you touch the floor, you get a $5,000 fine, you're shipped back to your country without receiving all your full wages.

- [Jaelynn] Labor experts say that people are recruited with the promise of making more money abroad than they could at home.

But the lack of visa leaves foreign workers dependent on their employer for travel and basic needs.

In a 2021 report to Congress, a Department of Justice task force noted that foreign fishing workers are in a uniquely unprotected position.

That's partly because of the lack of visa, but also in part because they don't have the same labor protections that workers in the US are granted, including minimum wage.

(Reynar speaks in foreign language) McAdam's responded to the allegations with a press release on February 14th saying, "It's difficult to be stuck on board between fishing seasons, but the crew members know that there will be times like these when they sign their annual contracts."

The press release also mentions that the fishermen can leave for home at any time and are paid in accordance with international maritime minimum wage standards.

The company's attorney said in an interview that workers could go home with good reason, which is up to the discretion of the company.

The attorney also said that any delay in payment was because of a third-party contractor.

Documents from both the fishermen and the company indicate that the men were paid just a fraction of their wages by the time they disembarked after their three-month wait.

In late December, Homeland Security agents boarded the boats and initiated an investigation.

Most of the two dozen fishermen went home after authorities arrived, but six men decided to stay to voice their concerns against McAdam's.

- I mean, these guys were brave.

They had no idea what was gonna happen when these vessels were raided by the US authorities.

- [Jaelynn] As for Cabrela, he has yet to meet his youngest child, who is now three months old.

(Cabrela speaks in foreign language) In Westport, Jaelynn Grisso, Cascade PBS.

(bright music) - A King County program to restore fish populations is coming up short, a recent report found.

We'll explain what barriers are standing in the way.

An auditing body is calling out the state's largest county on its slow-moving efforts to restore salmon habitats, warning their work may not be enough.

For decades, a decrease in Washington salmon populations has threatened orcas sacred to Native communities and to marine ecosystems.

When fish can't swim through barriers such as road culverts, they lose access to spawning sites critical for them to reproduce and complete their lifecycle.

In 2018, King County began its Fish Passage Restoration Program, aiming to remove them.

A King County auditor's office March report says the county risk failing to meet its goals of opening the best habitat for salmon as fast as possible.

It also says the county and the entire state risk violating treaties that protect tribal fishing rights.

Auditors say that even if all county-owned barriers are removed, more investment will be needed for salmon populations to rebound.

(lighthearted music) Washington now has a majority-Latino voting district on the east side of the state.

We'll explain the legal fight that made it happen.

A new Washington legislative map creates a majority-Latino voting district on the east side of the state.

The change comes three years after the political redistricting process began, but just in time for the 2024 election.

The decision of what to do with the map was left to US District Court Judge Robert Lasnik, who ruled that the original map diluted voting power for Latinos in the region.

In an unusual move, and despite objections from Republicans, the Legislature did not reconvene the redistricting commission, leaving the court to oversee the process.

In a court order, Lasnik instituted what's known as Remedial Map 3B, which unites Latino communities from East Yakima in Yakima County to Pasco in Franklin County.

Republican State Senator Nikki Torres of Pasco called the new map a "mockery of the Voting Rights Act."

An emergency notice of a appeal has been filed.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching "The Newsfeed," your destination for nonprofit Northwest news.

Go to crosscut.com for more.

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