Saving Seafood

SSA wants NOAA to avoid promoting imports in its National Seafood Strategy

March 29, 2023 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance said it supports a NOAA’s National Seafood Strategy, which is designed to promote domestic seafood consumption – provided it doesn’t also promote foreign imports.

NOAA released its draft National Seafood Strategy on 14 February, focusing on NOAA Fisheries’ work on managing the country’s marine fisheries “based on sound science.” Most of the strategy includes details on how the administration will promote the financial viability of the industry, resilience of coastal communities, and the effects of international trade.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Southern Shrimp Alliance wants US to maintain tariffs on Chinese imports

July 5, 2022 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance has called on the U.S. government to continue a 25 percent tariff on Chinese seafood imports, saying the additional levy has helped domestic producers “compete on a more-level playing field.”

The trade organization made its stance known in a Thursday, 30 June letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Four years ago, former U.S. President Donald Trump implemented Section 301 tariffs on an array of Chinese goods in response to that country’s policies regarding intellectual property and technology transfer. The U.S. government is currently conducting a two-phase review of the action, with Tuesday, 5 July the cutoff date for comments.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Gulf Shrimp Landings in 2021 Slightly Up, But SSA Notes Anomalies in Data Collection

June 24, 2021 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) reports that 19.1 million pounds of shrimp were landed across the Gulf of Mexico through the first five months of 2021, up from 17.0 million pounds over the same time period in the last two years. However, landings of shrimp in the Gulf this year have been 23 percent below the nineteen-year historical average of 24.9 million pounds, SSA notes.

Landings data are reported monthly from the Fishery Monitoring Branch of NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center. The Alliance provides context and historical perspective on the numbers for their members, the domestic shrimp industry in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act unveiled by Graves

June 4, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) on May 11 introduced a bipartisan bill to end foreign Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, which he says is negatively impacting America’s fisheries, particularly in his home state of Louisiana. 

“Generations of Louisiana’s fishing families have made our state one of the top seafood producers in the country. The combination of great chefs and our seafood has resulted in Louisiana being a foodie destination,” Rep. Graves said. “However, hurricanes, government regulations, the pandemic and unfair competition from foreign fishing fleets are threatening the future of these hard-working men and women and threatening the sustainability of fisheries around the globe. 

“It has evolved from an environmental issue to an economic issue to a national security issue,” he said. 

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, H.R. 3075, which Rep. Graves introduced with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would establish monitoring and detection programs to identify and prevent IUU fisheries from unfair competition with United States domestic fishing boats, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Graves’ office.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

USTR announces, then suspends, 25 percent tariffs on goods including seafood from multiple countries

June 3, 2021 — U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced, and then immediately suspended, new Section 301 tariffs on goods from multiple countries as part of its one-year investigation of digital service taxes (DSTs).

The new tariffs, which will be set at 25 percent if reinstated, are in response to taxes levied by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom on revenue generated by “non-resident” companies offering digital services – including the sales of software-as-a-service products. The USTR investigation began in June 2020 and found the practices of the countries discriminatory in January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

North Coast Rep. Huffman introduces bill to fight illegal fishing, forced labor

May 13, 2021 — North Coast Congressional Rep. Jared Huffman on Tuesday introduced legislation to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

In a press release, Huffman said the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Act would also address human rights abuses in the seafood supply chain.

“This legislation would link IUU fishing to forced labor in the seafood supply chain and make seafood import monitoring more effective,” the release said. “It would also increase transparency and traceability from catch to plate, strengthen enforcement against IUU fishing and forced labor, improve interagency cooperation, and increase pressure on other countries to tackle IUU fishing and human rights abuses.”

Huffman, chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, introduced the bill along with Rep. Garret Graves, a republican congressman of Louisiana.

“IUU fishing is an environmental and humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. should be a global leader in solving it,” Rep. Huffman said via the press release. “Illegal fishing operations damage ocean ecosystems and healthy fisheries, and are often the same ones that rely on atrocious, illegal practices like human trafficking and forced labor. Our new legislation tackles IUU fishing to protect human lives, promote responsible fishing around the world, and level the playing field for U.S. fishermen. Not only do we need to ensure an ethical seafood supply chain, but we also need to stop IUU products from entering our markets and competing with those who follow the rules and who keep our domestic fishing industry sustainable.”

Read the full story at KRCR

Southern Shrimp Alliance critical of US Customs Working Group’s forced labor recommendations

March 26, 2021 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) has come out in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CPB) new directorate to make forced labor a priority trade issue, while simultaneously opposing the recommendations of the Forced Labor Working Group of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (CCOAP).

The working group is an advisory group consisting of private businesses and non-governmental organizations that aim to offer clarity and aid to CBP in its efforts to regulate U.S. imports.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US seafood associations respond to human trafficking task force recommendations

February 9, 2021 — Commercial seafood organizations have begun responding to a U.S. Justice Department task force report on human trafficking in international waters.

The report, nearly three years in the making, included 27 recommendations for the federal government to eliminate loopholes or strengthen policies. Some of those recommendations include the need for congressional legislation. Among this is a recommendation to create a temporary worker visa program that would ban “recruitment fees” paid by workers on American vessels that fish in international waters but deliver products in U.S. ports.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FDA rejects historically low seafood imports in July

August 25, 2020 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused only 37 seafood entry lines in July, continuing a trend where federal officials were rejecting a historically low number of products.

According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, that amount is by far a record low for the month. It’s only 21.3 percent of this historical average the alliance has tracked since 2002. It’s also significantly lower than the previous record low of 91 entry lines, which occurred last year.

Read the full story at Seafood Source