September 18, 2025 — In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an import alert on frozen breaded shrimp from Indonesia due to the presence of radioactive isotope Cesium-137 (Cs-137).
That alert has since wreaked havoc on some U.S. importers, processors, and retailers.
August 22, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a voluntary recall of frozen shrimp products due to possible contamination with Cesium-137 (Cs-137), a man-made radioisotope that can elevate cancer risks through longer term, repeated low dose exposure.
The announcement comes shortly after U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP) detected Cs-137 in shipping containers at the Ports of Los Angeles, Houston, Savannah, and Miami, with agents finding evidence of the radioisotope in a single shipment of frozen bread shrimp. The discovery led the FDA to issue an alert for frozen shrimp supplied by Indonesia-based PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati to Walmart and sold under the “Great Value” brand name.
August 8, 2025 — New tariffs ranging from 15% to 20% take effect this week on a wide range of imported goods, including fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and fish.
While shoppers may feel the pinch at the checkout, some in the U.S. seafood industry see an opportunity.
Nearly 85% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, according to Galveston fisherman, Scott Hickman. Major seafood suppliers including Vietnam and Indonesia both now facing new tariffs of up to 20%. The changes, part of the latest round of President Donald Trump’s trade war, are prompting renewed focus on sourcing food domestically.
For longtime Galveston fisherman Hickman, this is a welcome shift.
“America’s become addicted to cheap seafood that’s raised in ways they wouldn’t approve,” Hickman said. “Most Americans, I think, would rather spend a little bit more for the shrimp po’ boy or the crab fingers if they know it’s American-produced.”
Hickam says tariffs level the playing field for fishermen. He’s also pointing to new legislation in Congress looking to expand seafood production in the United States.
July 23, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced the country reached a trade deal with Japan on 22 July, granting the country a reprieve from the potential 25 percent tariffs he was threatening just weeks earlier.
Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social that Japan will now face a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff in the U.S. and claimed Japan will invest USD 550 billion (EUR 469 billion) in the U.S., “which will receive 90 percent of the profits.” Trump later said that the country agreed to buy billions in military and other equipment.
July 21, 2025 — Indonesia’s seafood industry is grappling with uncertainty following a new reciprocal tariff announced by U.S. President Donald Trump – a move likely to accelerate the country’s ongoing efforts to diversify its export markets and reduce reliance on the U.S.
On 16 July, Trump announced that the U.S. will impose a 19-percent tariff on Indonesian goods starting 1 August, a reduction from the 32-percent rate initially floated on 2 April. The announcement – made via Trump’s social media platform Truth Social – was later confirmed by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
July 16, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a tariff deal with Indonesia that will set tariffs for the Southeast Asian nation at 19 percent.
The new deal reduces tariffs from the planned 32 percent initially announced in April 2025. Trump announced the deal on his social media website Truth Social, and it was later confirmed by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. The new rate will go into effect on 1 August.
June 9, 2025 — U.S. canned tuna producer Bumble Bee Foods has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it knowingly benefited from its suppliers’ use of forced labor by Indonesian workers.
Earlier this year, four Indonesian men filed a complaint in federal court in San Diego, California, against Bumble Bee, alleging the company was aware of and profited from labor abuses and forced labor that they and other migrant sea workers endured aboard fishing vessels supplying the iconic U.S. tuna brand.
On June 2, the company submitted a motion to the court to dismiss the case on legal grounds in an effort to end it before it reaches trial. In the motion, the company argued the plaintiffs lack standing for their claims, that they failed to state a proper claim under the law in question, and that the court lacks jurisdiction over certain aspects of the case.
“Plaintiffs allege horrible mistreatment at the hands of vessel captains and crew on distant-water fishing vessels owned by two Chinese companies, operating in international waters, that supplied albacore tuna to Bumble Bee Foods, LLC (Bumble Bee),” the company stated in the motion. “Bumble Bee unequivocally condemns forced labor and takes allegations of forced labor in its supply chain seriously. Indeed, when Bumble Bee learned of the allegations in the Complaint, it promptly instructed its suppliers to cease purchasing from the vessels at issue. Plaintiffs nonetheless seek to hold Bumble Bee—a U.S. company—liable under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and state negligence law for allegations of forced labor committed abroad by third parties somewhere in the supply chain. That limitless theory of liability would allow any manufacturer or retailer to be sued based on conduct by independent foreign actors anywhere in a global supply chain. This and other defects in the Complaint necessitate its dismissal.”
Bumble Bee declined Mongabay’s request for comments due to the pending litigation.
The Indonesians launched their historic lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind against the seafood industry in the U.S., on March 12 under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The law, first passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000, has been expanded over the years to strengthen efforts against human trafficking and forced labor. In 2008, it was updated to allow survivors to sue individuals or corporations that knowingly benefited from forced labor or related abuses.
“Americans need to know the cruelty and exploitation that is behind the tuna they buy and eat,” Angga, one of the four plaintiffs, told Mongabay in an email sent by their lawyers.
Angga alleged in the complaint that he was promised a job in 2020 on the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 268, a Chinese fishing vessel. But after arriving at the fishing grounds, he was moved to another vessel, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 878, where he worked until returning home. He said he endured harsh conditions and abuse on board, including routine beatings and being stabbed with a needle, while he and other fishers were so underfed they ate bait fish. The ship’s captain denied their repeated requests to go home until a collective work stoppage forced the officers to allow them to leave, according to Angga.
“When I got home, I learned that I hadn’t been paid for the months I worked on the vessel,” he said in the email.
February 13, 2025 — U.S. Representative Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) recently sent a letter to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump that offered simple advice on Trump’s tariff policies: To save American seafood, tax imports from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Higgins shared the letter he sent to the president on social media platform X with the caption, “Protecting the American seafood industry requires aggressive action.”
April 22, 2024 — The western coast of Java in Indonesia is popular with surfers for its world-famous breaks. There’s a majestic underwater world to explore, too. But it’s impossible to surf or snorkel without running into plastic water bottles, single-use cups and food wrappers.
The garbage sometimes forms islands in the sea, and much of it washes ashore, accumulating as mountains on the beach.
The world produces around 400 million metric tons of plastic waste each year. Every day, 2,000 truckloads of it is dumped into the ocean, rivers and lakes.
April 17, 2023 — India, Ecuador, and Indonesia remained the top three shrimp exporters to the U.S. in February 2023 but numbers continue to decline.
India sent 19,566 metric tons (MT), or 43 million pounds, of shrimp to the U.S. in February 2023, down from February 2022, when it exported 22,868 MT, or 50 million pounds. India has been the top exporter of shrimp to the U.S. for the past nine years.