Saving Seafood

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Applaud US and Russia for Historic Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unregulated, & Unreported (IUU) Fishing

September 11, 2015 — PORTLAND, Ore. –– The following was released by Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers:

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC) is pleased to announce the signing of a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russia to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The agreement was signed earlier today as part of the 26th U.S.- Russia Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on Fisheries meeting. This agreement has been several years in the making and signifies a new era of cooperation between the two nations in combating Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing.

ABSC President Edward Poulsen issued the following statement: “For far too many years the Alaskan crab industry has faced stiff market competition from illegally harvested Russian king crab. The blatant poaching on the Russian side has impacted not only Alaskan crab fishermen and Alaskan coastal communities, but also legitimate Russian producers and Russian citizens. We welcome this historic agreement and are hopeful that it will result in meaningful action being taken to halt this illegal activity.”

Today’s agreement includes provisions for increased coordination and cooperation between our two nations and should improve the ability for US customs agents to detect illegal crab shipments into the US as well as aid in the investigation and eventual prosecution of suspected criminals. The Alaskan crab industry has lost an estimated $600 million in revenue since 2000 due to illegally harvested Russian crab. In addition, Alaskan coastal communities have also lost millions more in tax revenue. As such, the agreement has broad support from within the industry.

View a PDF of the release here

 

Consumers and Lawmakers Take Steps to End Forced Labor in Fishing

WASHINGTON — September 13, 2015 — Federal lawmakers, State Department officials, fishing and pet food companies, and class-action lawyers are stepping up efforts to combat forced labor at sea.

Last week, a group of consumers filed a class-action lawsuit in California against Mars, accusing the company, among the biggest producers of seafood-based pet food in the world, of failing to disclose its dependence on forced labor. A similar lawsuit was filed in late August against Nestlé, also a major producer of seafood-based pet food.

Several lawmakers have also begun trying to address the problem. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, proposed legislation in August aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in corporate supply chains. The bill requires larger companies to report in their financial filings what they are doing to prevent the use of trafficked workers.

Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, who introduced similar legislation in the House,  sent a letter last week to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which monitors the oceans, urging the agency to focus not just on illegal fishing but also on preventing “trafficking and slavery in the fishing industry.”

MARY BETH TAYLOR: Seafood Companies Bolster the President’s Fight Against IUU Fishing

September 9, 2015 — Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration set its sights on preserving America’s seafood and the global supply chain by launching the Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud. The global companies that put seafood on the tables of millions of Americans have been a part of this important effort to fight back against IUU activities. The Task Force has identified many popular species of seafood on its proposed list of the most “at risk” species for illegal fishing and seafood fraud – including, recently, tuna.

Fortunately, many of the world’s tuna companies are already taking proactive steps aimed at combating IUU fishing within the industry. These companies are part of an innovative public-private partnership that has committed the world’s leading seafood companies to transparency and accountability by way of 21 conservation measures and commitments aimed at improving the sustainability of the world’s tuna fisheries and the greater marine ecosystem – including commitments designed to combat IUU fishing.

Compliance and transparency are basic tenets of business operations the world over. Companies of every shape and size – from financial institutions to energy firms to consumer packaged goods companies and more – serve their customers and the general public best when they put a premium on transparency and accountability. At the most basic level, companies are legally bound to comply with numerous national and international environmental regulations. And many businesses take the next step by publishing an annual report on their corporate sustainability and responsibility activities (CSR).

Read the full opinion piece from Mary Beth Taylor at Triple Pundit

Fishing pirates flee Thailand in black-listed boat

Bangkok, Thailand — September 9, 2015 — A notorious black-listed fishing vessel has broken free of Thai naval authorities off the Thai resort island of Phuket and sailed into international waters.

Thai officials say the rusting and decrepit 625-ton Taisan has left behind unpaid bills of  $US66,000 ($94,000) and has on board millions of dollars worth of illegally caught fish.

Thai authorities met on Wednesday to decide whether to send a navy ship in pursuit.

“We blinked and the ship was gone,” Charoen Chamniklang, chief of the Royal Thai Customs and investigation suppression bureau told Phuketwan​ news.

In January the New Zealand navy said the ship, then called the Kunlun, used “evasive tactics” to thwart boarding attempts in Antarctic waters.

Read the full story from The Sydney Morning Herald

Pew Environment Hosting Live Webcast on IUU Fishing

Live Webcast: Progress in the Fight to End Illegal Fishing
Sept. 2, 10:30 a.m. to noon EDT

In just a few weeks, world leaders will address the planet’s most pressing marine issues at the Our Ocean conference in Chile. Will they land a blow against illegal fishing and other crimes—and protect more of our global ocean?

For an exclusive preview of the conference, Pew has gathered an all-star panel of experts and insiders—and you’re invited.

Learn more about the webcast and view the agenda from Pew Environment

JOHN VIRDIN: We can end illegal fishing in the ocean

August 31, 2015 — The killing of Cecil the lion has thrust the issue of wildlife crime into the international spotlight. And for good reason: wildlife crime is a highly profitable form of global organized crime that imperils precious natural resources and, at a minimum, offends our sense of equity and fair play. Far less publicized is that some of the largest volume of such crime happens not on land but in the sea through illegal fishing.

Overfishing is a key environmental challenge of our time. Experts estimate that, globally, 29 percent of assessed fish stocks are biologically overfished—up from 10 percent in 1970. Illegal, unregulated, or unreported fishing is a large contributor to this problem.

I’ve been working with governments to improve fisheries management for more than 10 years and have seen the devastating effects of illegal fishing, particularly by large vessels, on fish stocks, the environment, and the economies of coastal communities in places like Sierra Leone. However, in the past six months, I’ve noticed a convergence of improved surveillance technology, public awareness, and government interest that has given me hope that we can turn the tide on illegal fishing.

Read the full opinion piece from John Virdin at The Hill

Justice Department Cracks Down on Fish Fraud

August 21, 2015 — WASHINGTON, DC – A North Carolina seafood processor and wholesale distributor faces a felony conviction, a $100,000 fine, forfeiture of more than 20,000 pounds of shrimp and three years’ probation after Federal prosecutors exposed the company’s shrimp mislabeling scheme.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina joined forces to investigate and prosecute Alphin Brothers Inc., in a case that saw the company admit to falsely labeling tens of thousands of pounds of shrimp.

Read the full story at PerishableNews.com

MSC piloting innovative seafood traceability tool

August 17, 2015 — The following has been released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The MSC is exploring new ways of providing additional protection from seafood fraud in its supply chain. Over the past two years we have been piloting a new traceability tool, the MSC Online Transaction Solution (MOTS), and are seeking feedback to shape its continued development.

Pioneering tool

To date there has been no online tool available that can securely handle and verify information about seafood supply chain transactions on a global scale.

The new tool cross-checks and verifies sales and purchases of seafood products made by processing, distribution and retail companies as they move through the complex global supply chain.

Since its development in 2012, the online verification tool has been trialled in seven European and fifteen Chinese companies. The current plan is to roll the tool out to over 3,000 supply chain companies handling certified products in over 34,000 sites around the world.

Invitation to help shape the tool

This is the second and final opportunity for industry partners to offer their expertise, and help shape an effective tool that meets current and future industry demands.

How to take part in consultation

The public consultation is open from 17 August to 18 September 2015.

If you are a seafood industry professional, you can:

Share your insights in our online consultation >

Join our online interactive MOTS workshop > (2 and 3 September)

The workshops are designed for supply chain companies to offer practical solutions on seafood transaction and verification. Spaces are limited, so please register your interest by email to standards@msc.org.

Meeting industry needs and global best-practice

“The MSC’s segregation and traceability program is widely recognised as one of the most effective systems for tracking seafood along the supply chain” said Titia Sjenitzer, Senior Product Integrity Manager at the MSC. “However, the seafood industry is dynamic. Demand for certified sustainable seafood continues to grow, and other certification schemes such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), are working with the MSC and using our Chain of Custody Standard. This means that more scalable monitoring mechanisms are required to ensure the MSC’s system remains efficient and effective”.

Over 3,000 organisations, operating from over 34,000 sites in more than 60 countries currently hold an MSC Chain of Custody certificate. These organisations are responsible for handling over 18,000 products that are sold with the MSC ecolabel in around 100 countries.

DNA testing shows that 99% of MSC labelled products are correctly labelled, demonstrating the integrity of the current system. However, the MSC is seeking to evolve its tools and systems in order to ensure that its Chain of Custody Standard continues to lead the industry in ensuring a traceable supply chain for seafood.

Using latest technologies, the tool will complement, but not replace, the existing MSC Chain of Custody system.

“We took part in trialling the MSC Online Transaction Solution and felt it is an important addition to our business. The tool provides us with added confidence that our brand and products are running through a secure and genuine supply chain handling only certified seafood” said Alex Olsen, A. Espersen A/S, MSC certified processing company in Denmark.

If the pilot proves successful, the new tool will be implemented across the full program by 2018. The tool will verify seafood sale and purchase transaction information (such as volume, species, invoice number and transaction date) to mitigate the risk of non-sustainable products being labelled and sold as certified.

Costco Sued for Selling Slave-Labor Shrimp

August 19, 2015 — A new lawsuit filed against Costco takes the retailer to task for selling shrimp farmed by sea slaves in Thailand. The first of its kind, the class-action suit was filed by California resident Monica Sud, who argues that the Washington-based warehouse club has helped sustain the farmed-prawn industry through its purchasing power and that, furthermore, it hasn’t been honest with consumers about where its shrimp comes from. If true, doing so would violate California law, which requires companies to be honest about illegal conduct in their supply chains.

Several reports over the last year have revealed that horrid conditions and abusive labor practices are rampant in the Thai fishing industry, and that many Americans have very likely unwittingly purchased fish and shrimp produced using slave labor at chains including Costco, Safeway, and Walmart.

Read the full story at Grub Street

Crossing Borders and Defying Policing, Abuses of Thailand’s Fishing Industry Challenge International System

August 18, 2015 — Somewhere off the coast of Thailand, “ghost ships” bump and crash along the choppy waves scrapping the sea floor with nets that spare nothing. Pulling up these illegal hauls in shifts that sometimes last 20 hours are thousands of migrant fishermen, many of whom have been forced into indentured servitude or kidnapped. Far from shore on unregistered boats, they have little hope of escape and face daily abuse and squalid conditions. More recently, some captains have turned to trafficking Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, pressing some into service, extorting others, and taking sex slaves.

As explored in an investigative series in The New York Times and reporting by The Guardian and AP, a cycle of human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and impunity revolves around the fishing industry in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand. What’s more, it’s in part due to growing demand from consumers around the world, like you and me.

Catch rates for the region’s fish have been decimated in recent years. The Environmental Justice Foundation reports Thailand’s fish stocks are 85 percent depleted compared to levels 50 years ago. The Times series follows boats that are now catching “trash fish” – small herring and jack mackerel that are processed into dogfood, fish oil, or feed for factory-farmed shrimp sold to companies like Walmart and Cost Co. But to make decent profits on these small fish, and what’s left of the bigger species, fishing boats need to work longer hours and move further out to sea.

Meanwhile, Thailand faces a major labor deficit, particularly in the maritime industry, where conditions and pay are poor. The fishing fleet is annually short as many as 60,000 workers. Combined, these pressures are pushing some captains to resort to kidnapping crewmembers from shore, spending longer and longer periods at sea, and even participating in human trafficking.

Read the full story at NewSecurityBeat.com