Dive Brief:
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has requested feedback regarding proposed rules about seafood traceability. The rules, proposed by the National Ocean Council Committee to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud, would implement new protocols for data collection regarding seafood catching, processing, and importation in addition to requirements for international trade permits.
- The federal agency believes that these rules could protect consumers from fraud, reduce illegal fishing imports, and prevent unsustainable seafood products from entering the country.
- The rules would apply to critical food fish including cod, swordfish, shrimp, and tuna, which the agency believes are vulnerable to illegal fishing, NOAA administrator Kathryn D. Sullivan told the Associated Press.
Dive Insight:
Manufacturers have come under fire recently regarding fishing practices, particularly from Thai seafood suppliers, according to an expose from the Associated Press published last year. AP's investigation found that slave-employing shrimp peeling sheds produce shrimp allegedly used by about 40 U.S. brands and sold at more than 150 retailers.
These new rules could end up in additional costs for U.S. seafood producers and brands that use imported seafood in their products, or they could mean cutting out major seafood distributors, such as Thai Union Group, which AP linked to slavery in seafood supply chains.