March 3, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries has submitted a report to Congress on the development of a priority list of species for consideration under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. SIMP is a screening and deterrent tool to identify and deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fish and fish products and misrepresented seafood from entering the U.S. market. It uses risk-based criteria to target the species most vulnerable to IUU fishing and seafood fraud. This complements the multiple tools the U.S. government uses to combat this issue.
The report evaluated the inclusion of the current species in SIMP and considered whether additional species should be included. The program’s current risk-based criteria targets the species most vulnerable to fishing and seafood fraud, and additional criteria as outlined by Congress.
“SIMP has been in effect for all 13 species and species groups, which comprise approximately 1,100 unique species, for about 3 years,” said Alexa Cole, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs, Trade and Commerce. “We are committed to its ongoing development and enhancement, both programmatic and regulatory, as part of NOAA’s comprehensive approach to combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud.”
Among the findings in the report, the agency will consider expanding several SIMP species to create larger species groups. This would address concerns that species misrepresentation may be occurring in order to circumvent reporting requirements.