Saving Seafood

ARA BUAKAMSRI: Major change for the Thai and global seafood industry

July 27, 2017 — Thailand is on the brink of making real progress toward the elimination of destructive fishing and human rights abuses in its seafood supply chains. As a potential yellow card de-listing from the European Commission looms, it remains to be seen whether the country will take the steps needed to fully meet the standards to eliminate human rights abuse in the seafood industry.

It’s fair to say that Thai authorities have made progress in key areas, including reforms to the legal and regulatory framework for fishing that was drawn up in 1947, along with improvements to and the enforcement of labour regulations. At the UN Ocean Conference in New York this year, Thai delegates announced a voluntary commitment to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by rigorously controlling, monitoring, and inspecting all Thai-flagged fishing vessels operating inside and outside Thai waters. A key piece of this commitment is to eliminate all IUU fishing in Thai fishing fleets by 2019.

Understandably, this progress has been met with criticism, seen by some as insufficient and cosmetic.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangkok Post

A High-Tech Solution to Seafood Slavery and Illegal Fishing

July 20, 2017 — Inexpensive seafood can come at a high price. To make as much money as possible, it’s not uncommon for fishing vessels to spend more than a year at sea, fishing continuously, without supervision; some vessels spend as much as 525 straight days at sea, and others have logged 503 continuous days. This practice is only possible due to transshipment—the high-seas transfer of seafood catches between ships—and global fish stocks and human rights are taking the hit.

The U.S. is the world’s second largest market for seafood. Americans eat almost 16 pounds a year each, spending $96 billion (and that doesn’t include fish used in pet food). But 90 percent of that seafood is imported, and the odds are good that it was passed from one ship to another in international waters, where a whole range of illegal things may have happened.

Transshipment takes place when large fishing boats unload their catches to refrigerated cargo vessels, also known as reefers. It’s technically legal, and provides a cost-effective method for fishing boats to remain at sea and prolong their fishing trips without needing to head to port between catches. But because transshipment often happens far from monitoring eyes, it has also been linked to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (commonly referred to as “IUU”) fishing, along with human trafficking, slavery, and other criminal endeavors, including drug and illegal wildlife trade.

IUU fishing encompasses a grab bag of activities, not all strictly illegal. Fishing is illegal if it breaks national fishery laws or international fishing agreements—examples include fishing in prohibited areas or using illegal equipment. Unreported and unregulated fishing activities aren’t necessarily illicit—it might mean fishing in unregulated waters, or not reporting discarded fish. Illegal fishing can be difficult to accurately assess, but estimates say it’s responsible for $23 billion in economic losses.

In an effort to curb IUU, safeguard sovereign fish stocks, and strengthen ecological protections, NGOs and governments have taken an increasing global focus on transshipment practices in recent years. And several new projects are using technology to create the biggest and most accurate picture of transshipment to date.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

ABOUT THE U.S. SEAFOOD IMPORT MONITORING PROGRAM

July 13, 2017 — The following was released by the National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud:

The Seafood Import Monitoring Program establishes for imports of certain seafood products, the reporting and recordkeeping requirements needed to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)-caught and/or misrepresented seafood from entering U.S. commerce, thereby providing additional protections for our national economy, global food security and the sustainability of our shared ocean resources. NOAA Fisheries published the final rule establishing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) on December 9, 2016.   This is thefirst-phase of a risk-based traceability program—requiring the importer of record to provide and report key data—from the point of harvest to the point of entry into U.S. commerce—on an initial list of imported fish and fish products identified as particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing and/or seafood fraud.  January 1, 2018 is the mandatory compliance date for this rule.

Upcoming Public Meetings

Tuesday, July 18, 2017 – 10:00 AM PDT
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Seattle Airport / Southcenter, Seattle, Washington
 
Thursday, July 20, 2017 10:00 AM EDT
Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel, Newark, NJ
 
Tuesday, July 25, 2017 10:00 AM EDT
Hilton Miami Airport, Miami, Florida

To view transcripts and/or recordings of previous meetings, please click here.

Overview of the Final Rule

  • The final rule reflects and responds to numerous public comments and campaign messages received on the proposed rule and underscores NOAA Fisheries’ extensive efforts to establish an effective program that minimizes the burden of compliance on industry while providing the necessary information to identify illegal and/or misrepresented seafood imports before they enter the U.S. market.
  • The Seafood Import Monitoring Program establishes permitting, data reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the importation of certain priority fish and fish products that have been identified as being particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing and/or seafood fraud.
  • The data collected will allow these priority species of seafood to be traced from the point of entry into U.S. commerce back to the point of harvest or production to verify whether it was lawfully harvested or produced.
  • The collection of catch and landing documentation for these priority seafood species will be accomplished through the International Trade Data System (ITDS), the U.S. government’s single data portal for all import and export reporting.
  • The Seafood Import Monitoring Program is not a labeling program, nor is it consumer facing. In keeping with the Magnuson-Stevens Act authority (under which the regulatory program has been promulgated) and the strict information security of the ITDS–the information collected under this program is confidential.
  • The importer of record will be required to keep records regarding the chain of custody of the fish or fish product from harvest to point of entry into U.S.

Read the full release here

Thai Union Commits to Tuna Fishing and Labor Reforms

July 11, 2017 — Thai Union Group PCL has committed to measures that will tackle illegal fishing and overfishing, as well as improve the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the company’s supply chains.

Thai Union’s new commitments build upon its sustainability strategy SeaChange, including efforts to support best practice fisheries, reduce illegal and unethical practices in its global supply chains and bring more responsibly-caught tuna to key markets.

Thai Union has agreed to a comprehensive package of reforms, including commitments to:

* Reduce the number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) used globally in its supply chains by an average of 50 percent by 2020, while doubling the amount of verifiable FAD-free fish available in markets globally in the same period. FADs are floating objects that create mini ecosystems and may result in the catch of marine species, including sharks, turtles, and juvenile tuna.
* Extend its current moratorium on at-sea transshipment across its entire global supply chain unless new strict conditions are met by suppliers. Transshipment at sea enables vessels to continue fishing for months or years at a time and has the potential to facilitate illegal activity.
* Ensure independent observers are present on all longline vessels transshipping at sea to inspect and report on potential labor abuse, and ensure 100 percent human or electronic observer coverage across all tuna longline vessels it sources from.
* Develop a comprehensive code of conduct for all vessels in its supply chains, to complement the existing and strengthened Business Ethics and Labor Code of Conduct, to help ensure workers at sea are being treated humanely and fairly, and third party independent audits with publicly accessible results and clear timelines to ensure its requirements are being met.
* Shift significant portions of longline caught tuna to pole and line or troll-caught tuna by 2020 and implement strong requirements in place to help reduce bycatch. Longline vessels present a risk for catching non-target species like seabirds, turtles, and sharks.
* Move to full digital traceability, allowing people to track their tuna back to the vessel it was caught on and identify the fishing method used.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Blue Boat Captains Held In Solomons Claims They Are Trafficking Victims

July 6, 2017 — The three captains of the blue boats who entered our waters and stole our marine resources say they are victims of human trafficking.

This was revealed yesterday by their lawyer Public Solicitor Douglas Hou in the High Court during the mitigation and sentencing submissions of their case.

Mr Hou also told the court upon the instructions of Do Van Va, Vo Van Vi, and Nguyen Nguyen that they are not captains of the three blue boats but were merely operating the vessel at that time when they were caught.

“The whole team could actually navigate the vessel,” Mr Hou said in mitigation.

“These three accused are the unfortunate ones tasked to operate the vessel when they were caught.”

He submitted that the period served in custody should not be long as it would be unfair on the three accused now victims as other crew members of the blue boats had already went home.

He said all 40 crew members who have already returned to Vietnam and these three accused have equal roles in operating the boats and it would be unfair for the three accused if they served long period in prison.

Mr Hou said the three accused are victims of human trafficking used by the owners of the blue boats.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

HÉCTOR SOLDI: Clear waters, clear hearts: Now is the time for more transparency in our oceans

July 5, 2017 — Last month, leaders from around the world gathered in New York City for the United Nations’ Ocean Conference. The UN Ocean Conference was an opportunity for countries to discuss how we will implement one of the organization’s key conservation goals — how to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”

As Peru’s vice minister of fisheries and aquaculture, I came to the UN Ocean Conference to announce a major new transparency measure we are undertaking to demonstrate our commitment to sustainable management of our marine resources.

Peru is making its national vessel tracking data publicly available through Global Fishing Watch, an organization that provides the first global view of commercial fishing activity. Global Fishing Watch already uses public broadcast data collected by satellite and terrestrial receivers to show the movement of vessels over time and identify fishing activity. The addition of our government’s data to the platform will provide the world with an even clearer view of fishing activity in our oceans.

We are also pleased to have been joined by Indonesia, which fulfilled a similar transparency commitment the country made in 2015. Indonesia’s vessel tracking data is now public and available for the first time through Global Fishing Watch.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

Selling for as high as $2,600 a pound, baby eels have changed fortunes for Maine’s fishermen — and brought trouble

July 5, 2017 — On tidal rivers and streams that course through coastal Maine, where salt- and freshwater collide, people wearing headlamps are flocking to the water’s edge in the middle of the night like 19th-century miners sifting the earth for specks of gold. They’re searching for baby eels, better known as elvers, pound for pound one of the most expensive live fish in the world.

The first time Julie Keene caught $33,000 worth of baby eels in a single night, she started crying because she thought she’d done something wrong. She hauled her bucket of eels up the riverbank in the darkness and handed it off to a buyer, who tried to give her a thick wad of cash in exchange for the squirming pile of translucent sea creatures, which look like long, skinny tadpoles. At first, though, she was too frightened to take the money.

“We’re really poor and stuff. We dig clams,” she explains. “You see something like that and you go — I mean, you can’t fathom it. It’s like they told you you just won the Powerball or something. You think, Oh my god, you know, I’m gonna be able to make some money.”

Keene is smoking a cigarette and pacing the muddy banks of the Penobscot River, where everybody says the eels are running so thick at night they look like a blue oil slick in the light of the moon. It’s early evening at the end of May, and the river is a dull gray, tipped with white where the current churns up through the middle. Across the water, up on a hill, is the red-brick silhouette of downtown Bangor, Maine.

Keene, who is 58 years old, has a weathered, weary face and reddish-blond hair tucked under a baseball cap. She’s spent her entire life on the water, working as a harbormaster, clam warden, shrimper, scallop dragger, and fish cutter, among other jobs. She paces anxiously in her muddy rubber waders, stealing glances at the river, fretting that we haven’t seen any eels yet. Earlier this afternoon, she told me to drive down a private dead-end road that led to this secluded fishing spot and warned that I could not, under any circumstances, put the specific location in writing. Elver fishermen are notoriously secretive about where they fish, for reasons both competitive (why give up the map in a treasure hunt?) and cautious (you never know who might creep up behind you in the dark).

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Can Sustainability Commitments Get Slavery Out of Seafood?

June 30, 2017 — In 2015, more than 2,000 enslaved fishermen were rescued from brutal conditions in the seas around Indonesia. Some had been savagely beaten while others had been kept in cages. Slave labor was found off these fishing boats as well: In one scenario, seafood workers were forced to peel frozen shrimp for 16 hours a day.

Wracked by these and other stories in the Pulitzer Prize-winning series from the Associated Press chronicling slavery, abysmal working conditions, and restricted freedoms, the extent of the abuse was shocking given the seafood industry’s recent global focus on environmental sustainability. However, existing seafood labels—most notably, the blue Marine Steward Council label—focus almost exclusively on the management and environmental impact of fisheries. These traceability standards largely neglect workforce concerns.

Early actions from the complex web of seafood suppliers, distributors, and retailers to address human rights abuses were fragmented and ineffective at best. For example, a European Union threat to ban seafood imports from Thailand led Thai authorities to enact legislation to combat illegal fishing and prevent underage labor, and arrest more than 100 people on human rights violations. But watchdog groups continued to find abuses months later.

Over the last year, members of social responsibility and environmental non-governmental organizations met with leading academics and business leaders to hash out key elements necessary to achieve socially responsible seafood. The primary objectives—protecting human rights, ensuring equitable production, and improving food security for resource-dependent communities—were detailed at the beginning of June in the journal Science.

“It’s not enough to be slavery-free,” said Jack Kittinger, senior director of the Global Fisheries and Aquaculture Program at Conservation International and co-author of the paper. “There are other social issues—notably gender equity and livelihood security—that need to be tackled as well,” he added.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

Portland seafood company fined over $550,000 for illegally importing urchins

June 29, 2017 — A Portland seafood company has been fined more than $550,000 for violating import laws.

ISF Trading Company, located on Hobsons Wharf at 390 Commercial St., was also ordered to forfeit nearly $300,000 and was put on probation for a year by federal District Court Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. for violating the Lacey Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland said.

The Lacey Act prohibits trading in wildlife that has been illegally caught, owned, transported or sold.

According to federal prosecutors, ISF bought sea urchins from a supplier in Canada that wasn’t allowed, under Canadian law, to export seafood. ISF then brought the urchins into the U.S., using labels from another Canadian supplier which, at times, was allowed to export the urchins, prosecutors say.

ISF was charged with illegally importing about 48,000 pounds of sea urchins between Dec. 31, 2010, and Feb. 1, 2011. Prosecutors said the processed roe from the urchins was worth at least $172,800.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Seafood Traceability Rule to Remain in Place, Says Court

June 28, 2017 — As reported previously on this blog, concerns about illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) seafood fraud, led to a proposed rule to establish a traceability program for certain seafood species. The final rule establishing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Department of Commerce, in the December 9, 2016 Federal Register.

The Program established permitting, data reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the importation of certain priority fish and fish products—including abalone, several types of cod and tuna, red snapper, shrimp and swordfish—that were identified as being especially vulnerable to seafood fraud. The rule requires seafood importers to trace the origin of the fish they import to either the specific boat that caught the full fish or a “single collection point,” to the day the fish was caught, and to the sector of the specific ocean where the fish was caught.

On January 6, 2017, the National Fisheries Institute, Alfa International Seafood, Inc. and others filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging what they called a “Midnight Final Rule.” In the suit, the plaintiffs questioned whether the Department of Commerce cut corners by, among other things, refusing to disclose for public comment the data that it relied on to identify the seafood species subject to the rule and by allowing “a low-level bureaucrat to issue a binding final rule absent a valid delegation of authority from the Secretary.”

In a June 22, 2017 ruling, Judge Amit P. Mehta did not overturn the final rule establishing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Rather, Judge Mehta wrote: “The proper course at this juncture—just months before the rule goes into effect—is to defer ruling on Plaintiffs’ broader challenge to the agency’s authority to engage in rule-making and, instead, afford the federal defendants an opportunity to submit a signed statement from a principal officer within the Department of Commerce that ratifies the rule.”

Read the full story at The National Law Review