August 31, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA released its 2023 Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management. The report identifies seven nations and entities engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including two with issues related to forced labor, and two nations that target or incidentally catch sharks without regulations comparable to those of the United States. The United States will work with the identified parties to address IUU fishing and forced labor activities and support effective management of protected species and shark catch.

IUU fishing is a serious global problem that threatens ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries that are critical to global food and economic security — putting law-abiding fishermen and seafood producers in the United States and abroad at a disadvantage. There are also growing concerns regarding the exploitation of many shark stocks in international fisheries. 

Effective management of shark catch — both targeted and incidental — is critical for shark conservation. Nations and entities that do not have regulatory programs to effectively manage shark catch or to reduce or mitigate bycatch threaten the sustainability of shared ecosystems and living marine resources. 

“IUU fishing and other unsustainable fishing practices undermine U.S. and global efforts to sustainably manage fisheries and conserve marine resources,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Combating these practices is a top priority of the United States, and we’ll work with each identified nation and entity to remedy these activities and strengthen their fisheries management and enforcement practices.”

This is the first time, as part of this report, that NOAA Fisheries identified nations for shark catch. It’s also the first time the agency considered forced labor in the seafood sector when making IUU fishing identifications. Key elements of the report include the following: 

• Angola, Grenada, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, The Gambia and Vanuatu were identified for alleged IUU fishing in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
• The IUU fishing identifications for the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan include information related to the production of seafood-related goods through forced labor.  
• The People’s Republic of China and Vanuatu were identified for shark catch without a comparable regulatory program to that of the United States.

The Report also includes certification determinations for the 31 nations and entities identified in the 2021 Report, certifying if they took actions to remedy their IUU fishing activities and/or bycatch of protected living marine resources.

• Costa Rica, Guyana, Senegal and Taiwan received positive certification determinations for taking actions to remedy the IUU fishing activities for which they were identified in 2021.
• Mexico, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation received negative certifications for failing to take actions to remedy their reported IUU fishing activities.
• Of the 29 nations and entities identified in 2021 for protected living marine resource bycatch, 14 received positive certifications for taking corrective actions: Croatia, Egypt, the European Union, Grenada, Guyana, Japan, Mauritania, Morocco, the People’s Republic of China, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa and Taiwan.
• 14 nations received negative certifications for not having a regulatory program comparable to that of the United States to reduce bycatch of sea turtles in pelagic longline fisheries: Algeria, Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Namibia, Senegal, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Turkey. Additionally, Mexico received a negative certification for its lack of a comparable regulatory program to reduce or minimize bycatch of endangered North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles.  

Negatively certifying a nation or entity may result in certain measures, such as denial of that nation’s or entity’s fishing vessels’ U.S. port privileges and entry into navigable waters of the United States, and potential prohibition of imports of certain fish or fish products from that nation or entity into the United States.

“NOAA Fisheries is committed to working with nations and entities to address these activities by encouraging implementation of effective fisheries management and enforcement practices globally,” said Alexa Cole, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce. “These collaborative efforts help to ensure that the fish and fish products we import are sustainably and legally caught.” 

The report illustrates how NOAA works to improve international fisheries management by: 

• Developing law enforcement capacity and best practices to combat IUU fishing. 
• Supporting the effective management of protected species and shark catch.
• Ensuring a fair market for the U.S. fishing industry. 

Read the 2023 Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management.

August 26, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For the last 20 years, NOAA Fisheries and its partners have strived to restore endangered Atlantic salmon to Maine’s Penobscot River, a NOAA Habitat Focus Area. The Penobscot River watershed, and several other waterways in Maine, support the last remaining wild Atlantic salmon in the United States. Through the removal of dams and other barriers, access to high-quality habitat in the Penobscot River is improving.

Now, our long-term partners—the Atlantic Salmon Federation and the Penobscot Nation—received more than $10.5 million dollars in funding from NOAA under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. They are working to:

• Connect Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish with the cold, clean streams and lakes off of the mainstem Penobscot River, where juvenile fish can thrive
• Revive the once vital human connections to the river

A Loss of Fisheries and Culture

The Penobscot River once brought millions of migratory fish from the Gulf of Maine to distant spawning grounds in the lakes and small streams of the Appalachian Mountains. “The watershed once saw up to 100,000 Atlantic salmon, tens of millions of river herring, and 3 to 5 million American shad,” says Matthew Bernier, a NOAA engineer who reviews project designs for Penobscot restoration efforts.

It was also the lifeline of the Penobscot people who have lived alongside the river for thousands of years. “The river was our highway and our food source,” says Chuck Loring, Jr., Director of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Nation. “Fish was a third of our diet and we also used alewife [a type of river herring] to fertilize our gardens.”

Two hundred years ago, a wave of industrialization permanently altered the Penobscot watershed. More than 100 dams were built and pollution entered the water, causing fish populations to crash. The Penobscot Nation last harvested Atlantic salmon in 1988 for ceremonial purposes.

“We have to be careful about eating other types of fish because of the level of contamination,” says Loring. “Now we eat more processed food and there is a high occurrence of diabetes in the community.” Loss of ancestral traditions has had major psychological effects on the Nation as well. “I think in losing pieces of our culture, we’ve also lost pieces of ourselves,” says Loring.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries