The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released an action plan that recommends improvements to the United States’ Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) following a year-long review of the programme.
NOAA’s recommendations focus on:
- Enhancing NOAA’s ability to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing through improved traceability and risk detection, strengthening the sustainability of seafood globally
- Contributing to government-wide efforts to address forced labour in the global seafood supply chain
- Strengthening the integrity and fairness of global seafood supply chains by promoting fair seafood trade practices around the world
- Improving NOAA’s implementation of SIMP and building capacity to maintain and grow the programme
NOAA’s process considered input from more than 7,000 stakeholders, including the seafood industry, trade community, and non-governmental organisations. To implement the plan, NOAA will need to advance a package of regulatory updates to the programme in 2025.
The administration said that while implementing the action plan, it will continue to support industry to minimise disruptions in seafood supply chains, reduce compliance challenges, identify supply chain risks, and increase confidence in the process.
“Our goals are to strengthen the US domestic seafood industry by promoting fair trade practices in the global seafood supply chain while building capacity to maintain and grow the programme,” NOAA Administrator and Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr Richard Spinrad said.
“Once implemented, the changes to our Seafood Import Monitoring Program that we are announcing will fundamentally improve our ability to prevent and deter IUU fish and fish products from entering our market and will contribute to US government efforts to address labour abuses in the seafood supply chain.”
Responding to NOAA’s announcement, Oceana Campaign Director Dr Max Valentine stated: “NOAA’s action plan outlines important steps to improve the United States’ ability to fight illegal fishing and seafood fraud. Much of the plan relies on President Trump proposing these new rules that will level the playing field for U.S. fishermen while protecting American consumers and the oceans. These proposed actions, combined with the additional improvements to the program, will help to ensure that more seafood is safe, legally caught, and honestly labelled.”
This summer, Oceana released results of a poll revealing that American voters support stronger safeguards for our oceans, including addressing illegal fishing and transparency in the seafood supply chain. The national online poll, conducted for Oceana by the non-partisan polling company Ipsos, found that:
- 90% believe imported seafood should be held to the same standards as US caught seafood
- 88% say consumers should be reassured that the seafood they purchase was legally caught
- 88% want the implementation of harsher penalties for companies that import or sell seafood that was illegally caught
- 91% agree that seafood caught using human trafficking and slave labour should not be bought or sold in the US
US government established SIMP in 2016, requiring catch documentation and traceability for some seafood at risk of illegal fishing and seafood fraud. It currently applies to just 13 types of imported seafood and only traces them from the boat or farm to the US border.
NOAA’s latest announcement comes after it withdrew a proposed rule the agency issued in December 2022 to expand SIMP. The rule, which was directed by President Biden’s June 2022 Memorandum on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Associated Labor Abuses, would have expanded the programme to include nearly half of all seafood imports.
