Americans are eating seafood from countries with a history of illegal fishing and human rights violations at sea, determines new analysis from Oceana, with the ocean conservation organisation insisting that US authorities are failing to protect seafood consumers while allowing American dollars to drive illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labour around the world.
The report highlights US government trade data for seafood imports from 10 countries recognised internationally for IUU fishing offenses or human rights abuses, including China and Russia. Other countries included in the analysis are Taiwan, Cameroon, Mexico, Costa Rica, Senegal, Panama, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Oceana found that only about 30% of the total volume of seafood imports from these countries are subject to traceability requirements by the US government.
In 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established the US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), which requires catch documentation and traceability for some seafood at risk of IUU fishing and seafood fraud. But Oceana has pointed out that the programme only covers 13 species and species groups – representing about 40% of US seafood imports, and the traceability requirements only apply from the fishing vessel or farm to the first point of entry into US commerce — the country’s border.
Oceana’s analysis found that in 2022, the United States imported over $30 billion worth of seafood from 150 countries, and the top contributor was China, which exported almost $2 billion of seafood products to the market. Only about 13% of the total volume of US imports from China were covered by SIMP and subject to documentation and traceability requirements, while vessels flagged to China have consistently been cited by international authorities for illegal fishing and human rights offenses at sea.
Between January and June 2022 (before the temporary ban on Russian imports), Russia exported nearly $1 billion of seafood products to the United States and only 48% were covered under SIMP. Russia is the second top offender for IUU fishing and human rights abuses, according to the IUU Fishing Index.
“No one wants their seafood dinner coming with a side of forced labour or illegal fishing. But the bottom line is Americans are eating seafood from nations known for the most egregious behaviours at sea,” Oceana Campaign Director Dr Marla Valentine said. “Oceana’s analysis exposes just how much seafood crosses our borders and goes onto our plates without any traceability requirements. The good news is the US government has the tools to ensure all seafood sold in the United States is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced, and honestly labelled.”
Valentine continued, “The Seafood Import Monitoring Program can shed light on notoriously opaque seafood supply chains and give the government enough information to proactively prevent illegally sourced seafood from entering the United States – but only if it is expanded to cover all seafood imports, instead of just a small handful. It’s time for NOAA to reject seafood sourced from IUU fishing and forced labour.”
Oceana added that according to the Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud established in 2016, the original goal of the US government was to eventually expand SIMP to all seafood, but in the seven years since NOAA implemented SIMP, this goal has not been met.
The international organisation is therefore recommending the US government takes the following actions:
· Expand catch documentation and traceability requirements of SIMP to all seafood
· Improve SIMP implementation by updating the key data elements and critical tracking events collected to better allow NOAA to analyse the data and inform risk-based screening, audits and enforcement
· Extend traceability from the boat or farm to the dinner plate and provide consumers with basic information about the seafood they purchase
· Build in mechanisms to address forced labour and other human rights abuses
The United States imported $2.4 billion worth of seafood derived from IUU fishing in 2019, according to a report by the International Trade Commission. Meanwhile, a 2021 nationwide poll conducted by Oceana found that 89% of voters agreed that imported seafood should be held to the same standards as US-caught seafood. Additionally, 81% of voters said they support policies that prevent seafood from being sold in the US that was caught using human trafficking and slave labour. Eighty-three percent agreed that all seafood should be traceable from the fishing boat to the dinner plate, and 77% supported requirements for all fishing vessels to be publicly trackable.
