Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led a bipartisan group of Senators in sounding concern about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) recent decision to withdraw proposed rules expanding the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP)—a program designed to address Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The Senators’ letter comes in response to NOAA’s recent announcement that the agency intended to withdraw its December 2022 proposed rule that would have expanded the number of species subject to SIMP by 4 to 8 percent. This small increase was already quite concerning as it left off nearly half of all seafood imports not covered by these measures. Without expanded rules, IUU sources can and are intentionally mislabeling and misrepresenting their seafood products.
“As the United States imports or reimports more than 85 percent of its seafood, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) should be strengthened and expanded to provide consumers with confidence that the imported seafood they purchase at their retail markets or in restaurants is legally harvested and truthfully represented. Unfortunately, a recent study by the U.S. International Trade Commission found that the U.S. imported more than $2.4 billion worth of illegal seafood annually in 2019, highlighting the need for strong and urgent government action to prevent illegal products from entering the U.S. market,” the lawmakers write.
Last May, Merkley and colleagues expressed their concerns to NOAA about the proposed rule and the path forward. The senators warned that withdrawing its proposed rule—rather than expanding SIMP—would further expose U.S. consumers to seafood sourced from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices.
Today, the Senators encouraged NOAA to use this opportunity to implement a stronger, more comprehensive and transparent rulemaking process and rule, urging NOAA to complete the following:
1. Expand and strengthen SIMP using existing evidence of IUU fishing practices;
2. Establish clearer criteria and standards for species’ inclusion in SIMP;
3. Include forced labor as a criterion for species’ inclusion in SIMP;
4. Strengthen and formalize collaboration to forge a publicly accountable process for
interagency coordination and with other nations for improving SIMP; and
5. Share an explicit timeline for the revised rulemaking process to strengthen and expand SIMP.
Joining Merkley on this bipartisan letter are U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).
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