Stop Stolen Seafood from Entering US Borders

  • by: WWF
  • recipient: President’s Task Force on Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and
    Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud
The United States is one of the world's largest markets for seafood. In fact, it's estimated Americans consume over 5 billion pounds of seafood a year. Unfortunately, right now we cannot tell if the fish we eat was legally caught.

On December 14 a new Task Force will submit recommendations to President Obama, outlining solutions to address black market fishing and seafood fraud.

We need to make sure those recommendations outline a strategy that can tackle international illegal fishing while creating a level playing field for US fishermen and supporting smart decisions by American consumers.

Take action today: Tell the US Presidential Task Force you don't want to buy illegally caught fish.
Dear Presidential Task Force Members,

I encourage you to ensure that the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Combatting Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud outline a clear pathway for legality and traceability of the US seafood supply chain.

Fishing operations occur far from the eyes of consumers and regulators and once intermingled in the supply chain, illegal fish products are very difficult to detect. It's time for the US government to break the link between the US market and international illegal fishing.

The Task Force should recommend the issuance of new regulations that build on existing law or existing legal frameworks, to ensure all fish are fully traceable to legal sources.

These regulations should require the following:

1. That all seafood sold in the United States be accompanied with basic and consistent information,
2. That this information should be traceable by regulators and supply chain actors from bait to plate,
3. And that border measures should be designed to allow for informed decisions about product legality based on this information.

Traceability should detail the who, what, where, when, and how of fishing as key data points necessary to determine product legality and should capture information relevant to product as it moves across the supply chain.

The requirements should be practical, electronic, and integrate with existing import and domestic fishery standards. Voluntary solutions alone are not viable, as the bad actors will not join. I recommend that the Task Force work with responsible business, thought leaders, and the public to achieve an effective solution that can be enforced.

I commend your support for the world's oceans and hope you will consider these critical solutions in the development of the Presidential Task Force recommendations.

[Your comments will go here]

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
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