Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces New Name for Its International Office

March 1, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries’ Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection is now the Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce. It remains under the leadership of Director Alexa Cole. This new name integrates the full scope of office functions and more thoroughly reflects the types of work the office carries out. The name also more accurately and comprehensively reflects the important work of the Seafood Inspection Program in support of trade and commerce.

The office’s responsibilities and efforts have expanded and evolved over the years. The proposed changes address the increasing demands related to:

  • Trade and commerce policy and analysis
  • Implementation of new and expanding statutory mandates
  • Seafood trade
  • Information technology modernization

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

World Fisheries Day: A Message from Alexa Cole, Director of NOAA Fisheries Office Of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection

November 23, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

World Fisheries Day explores moves countries are taking together to find solutions to the increasingly inter-connected problems in our fisheries. Because fish and other marine wildlife cross national boundaries, the way countries manage their marine resources affects the status of fish stocks and protected and endangered species.

NOAA Fisheries’ international affairs work builds strategic fishing partnerships with foreign nations to promote sustainable and responsible management of fisheries and other relevant marine resources. Our efforts shone this year—from tackling the scourge of IUU fishing, to setting global standards to decrease marine mammal bycatch—all while representing America’s interests.

Tackling Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing

Illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing practices damages nations’ economies, hurt fishermen who play by the rules. They threaten global food security, and rob us all of precious ocean resources. These activities can occur at various points through the international seafood supply chain. For that reason, our efforts to combat them must be multi-pronged.

​In 2018, we established the first-ever U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program. The program requires documentation from the point of harvest to the point of entry into U.S. commerce for 13 species of seafood particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing. This provides a way to trace seafood entering our domestic supply chain—deterring and combating illegal fishing activities. In 2020, we released a new accompaniment to the program—the SIMP-Compliant Importers List. The list recognizes U.S. importers with a demonstrated history of excellent audit compliance with the SIMP requirements. It reduces costs to both the government and industry while incentivizing importers to maintain the reporting and recordkeeping requirements of SIMP.

Globally, NOAA Fisheries is a leader in analyzing foreign fishing activities on the high seas. Every two years, we issue a Report to Congress that identifies nations whose vessels have been identified as engaging in IUU fishing. We then work with those nations to correct the identified problems. We will release our next report in 2021.

Read the full release here

NOAA Appoints Alexa Cole as Director for International Affairs and Seafood Inspection

November 15, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA announced the appointment of Ms. Alexa Cole as the new Director for NOAA Fisheries’ Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection. She will officially assume this role in the coming weeks and will work out of agency headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

As the Director for the Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection, Ms. Cole will lead the office’s work to ensure sound management of global marine resources. She will promote international engagement and cooperation to achieve effective, responsible marine stewardship and ensure sustainable fisheries management on a global scale. She will also oversee the office’s seafood inspection services, which support seafood safety.

“We are incredibly pleased to announce Alexa as our new director for the Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection,” said Dr. Paul Doremus, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations at NOAA Fisheries. “She is a skilled negotiator and has ably represented the agency at high stakes international fisheries science and management meetings and treaty negotiations. Her unique experience as an attorney and a negotiator gives her the perfect skill set to take on this new role and lead this office into the future.”

Ms. Cole has held various positions within NOAA for more than 15 years, winning multiple awards over the years for her leadership and exceptional performance. She has served as Acting Director of the Office since May 2019. Prior to this role, Ms. Cole held leadership positions as Acting Chief and Deputy Chief in the Enforcement Section in the NOAA Office of General Counsel. In these positions, she supervised the Section’s unified and consistent enforcement of NOAA’s marine resource statutes through international, legislative, legal, and regulatory work. She also served as Senior Enforcement Attorney in the agency’s Pacific Islands Region. In this position, she prosecuted civil and criminal cases involving international and domestic fisheries and protected resources.

Read the full release here