Saving Seafood

EU IUU Coalition warns bloc is leaving its borders wide open to illegal seafood imports

November 24, 2025 — The European Union is failing to keep illicit seafood products from entering its borders, despite having some of the strongest illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing restrictions on paper, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).

The NGO – along with Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF EU, all of which comprise the E.U.’s IUU Fishing Coalition – has warned in a new report – “Beyond CATCH: Why E.U. import controls still fail to keep illegal seafood out of the market” – that this flow of IUU products into the bloc is creating “dangerous loopholes” that threaten consumer trust, fair competition, and global efforts to combat fisheries crime.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Embrace ‘blue’ foods as a climate strategy at COP30, fisheries ministers say (commentary)

November 12, 2025 — As two coastal countries connected by the Atlantic Ocean and five centuries of shared history, Brazil and Portugal have long appreciated the value of “blue” or aquatic foods, including our shared love of bacalhau, or salted cod.

Portugal ranks third in the world and first in the EU for per capita fish and seafood consumption, while in Brazil, aquatic foods support more than 3 million livelihoods, with consumption of whole, raw fish reaching as much as 800 grams (28 ounces) per day in the Amazon, which is hosting the U.N. climate talks for the first time in its gateway city of Belém.

But as our global food system comes under increasing pressure, from climate change to shifting diets, we also share the recognition that blue foods play a crucial role in building more resilient, adaptive, and nutritionally balanced food systems.

Read the full article at Mongabay

Fisheries management and Greenland

September 9, 2025 — Greenland has been much in the news since the Trump administration announced its desire to control the world’s largest island. While geographically part of North America (as is western Iceland), Greenland is a semi-autonomous region under the control of Denmark and is politically and economically aligned with the European Union. The EU pays Greenland over $20 million annually for access and support of Greenland’s fisheries.

While seafood products including halibut, shrimp, and mackerel account for well over 90 percent of Greenland’s exports, Greenland seldom makes the fisheries news in North America. Yet several North American stocks migrate to Greenland waters, most notably Atlantic salmon and bluefin tuna.

Bluefin tuna have been reported as bycatch in the Greenland mackerel fishery, and Atlantic salmon from Maine and Canada can be caught in the island’s subsistence salmon fishery. Salmon bycatch in Greenland’s commercial fisheries is deemed insignificant.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Trump adds EU, Mexico to list of trading partners threatened with 30 percent tariffs

July 14, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has added the European Union and Mexico to the list of trading partners the U.S. is threatening with 30 percent tariffs as of 1 August.

Trump sent letters to both Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatening tariffs as of 1 August – with differing reasons for implementation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EU open to extending lobster deal in package on Trump tariffs, FT reports

May 28, 2025 — The European Union is open to extending a deal which allows the duty-free import of U.S. lobsters as part of a broader package aimed at removing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing two officials.

The EU’s current regulation eliminating customs duties for fresh and frozen lobsters from the U.S. expires on July 31. The lobster deal between the U.S. and EU was struck in 2020 during Trump’s first term.

Read the full article at Reuters

EU tightens the net on illegal fishing with restructuring of fisheries control rules

July 12, 2023 — On 27 June, five years after the European Commission’s initial proposal to modernize the European Union fisheries control system, a preliminary agreement on new regulation received approval from the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee.

The 20-8 vote advances a planned overhaul of E.U. fisheries control rules with the goal of strengthening measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with compulsory measures introduced on electronic tracking and traceability that aim to boost supply chain transparency, which have been long-sought goals of marine-focused environmental NGOs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EU fishing fleet losing profitability in 2022

November 2, 2022 — A sharp increase in energy costs and inflation in 2022 will result in E.U. fisheries struggling to maintain profits, and the fleet could end 2022 in a loss-making position, according to the “2022 Annual Economic Report on the E.U. Fishing Fleet” published by the European Commission Scientific, Technical, and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).

STECF’s projection doesn’t consider E.U. financial support and the national state aid that could be provided to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of rising energy prices and inflation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EU’s new Russia sanctions package includes ban on seafood

April 6, 2022 — A fifth round of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on imports of Russian seafood, has been proposed by the European Commission, amid fresh allegations Russia has committed war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, 5 April, she expected seafood to be among EUR 5.5 billion (USD 6 billion) worth of specific import bans, along with wood, cement, alcohol, and other products. Von der Leyen said the move would seek to “cut the money stream of Russia and its oligarchs,” and also close financial loopholes that currently exist between Russia and Belarus.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

UK, EU settle row over fishing licenses

December 13, 2021 — Weeks of negotiations aimed at settling a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses have ended with the United Kingdom issuing 18 licenses for European Union replacement vessels in U.K. territorial waters and five licenses for E.U. vessels to access Jersey waters, the European Commission has confirmed.

French vessels have performed a series of protests, including a blockade of the British island of Jersey, arguing they were not issued a sufficient number of permits to cover all the fishing vessels that historically fished in U.K. waters before Brexit.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

NOAA releases report identifying seven countries engaged in IUU

August 12, 2021 — NOAA has cited seven countries as engaged in IUU fishing, including Mexico, and an additional 29 countries or entities as lacking effective regulatory programs to combat bycatch, including the European Union.

The latest report, the “2021 Biennial Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management,” determined that China, Costa Rica, Guyana, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Senegal, and Taiwan all had vessels engaged in IUU fishing activities during 2018-2020. Mexico’s presence on the list makes it the second report in a row where the country has been listed among those engaged in IUU fishing.

Read the full story at Seafood Source