Go Blue! Seafood Sustainability

NOAA’s Proposed Trusted Trader Program to Streamline their Upcoming Seafood Import Monitoring Program for Species at Risk for IUU Fishing and Fraud, Should Qualify all Aquaculture and all Countries and RFMOs That have Responsible Wild Fisheries Management Schemes in Place.

·         Over half of the world’s production of seafood now comes from aquaculture and there is negligible IUU fishing associated with this fastest growing animal protein production system. Therefore, farm raised seafood suppliers should automatically be given Trusted Trader status.

·         Entire Countries and RFMOs that have proven that they have responsible wild fishery management schemes in place should be given Trusted Trader status.  Examples:  Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, and Canada.

·         Sea Port views S.E. Asia, China, India, and Africa as the primary producers of wild fisheries that have very poor or nonexistent responsible fisheries management schemes.  NOAA’s limited time, energy, and funds should be specifically focused on these regions of the world.

In short, the Trusted Trader Program should, by default, be given to all aquaculture producers and to any country or RFMO that has demonstrated responsible wild fisheries management capabilities.

In contrast, S.E. Asia, India, Africa, and China are monster problems when it comes to IUU fishing and they are in their infancy in implementing sustainable ocean policies and schemes that protect, conserve, and sustainably harvest wild food from our one world ocean.  Focusing on the wild fisheries in these regions of the world is more than appropriate while burdening aquaculture and responsible countries and RFMOs is more than inappropriate.

NOAA’s Trusted Trader Program needs to trust that aquaculture is essentially free of IUU and that the responsibly managed wild fisheries of the world are too.