NOAA Fisheries announced new steps Thursday to curb illegal fishing imports and better monitor seafood supply chains.
The plan comes after a yearlong review of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), which involved consultation with 7,000 stakeholders, including industry groups, researchers and foreign governments. Key recommendations include expanding traceability requirements to cover all U.S. seafood imports and requiring improved data from fish importers to ensure that they are not using enslaved laborers.
“Our goals are to strengthen the U.S. domestic seafood industry by promoting fair trade practices in the global seafood supply chain while building capacity to maintain and grow the Program,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement.
The majority of action items in the plan hinge on launching an official rulemaking, punting the issue to the incoming Trump administration.
