Saving Seafood

American Shrimp Processors Association push for duties on imported shrimp from four countries

October 26, 2023 — The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA), an organization representing the interests of U.S. wild-caught warmwater shrimp processing, has filed trade petitions seeking additional antidumping and countervailing duties on imported shrimp.

The trade petitions, which the ASPA said are intended to address unfair dumping and illegal subsidies, consist of a request for antidumping duties on imported frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia, and countervailing duties on imported shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery pursuing MSC, RFM certifications

May 1, 2023 — The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) announced on 28 April it will pursue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC) Responsible Fisheries Management certification of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico fishery.

ASPA has contracted with certification body Global Trust Certification to conduct sustainability assessments of the entire Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery for both eco-labels.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act unveiled by Graves

June 4, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) on May 11 introduced a bipartisan bill to end foreign Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, which he says is negatively impacting America’s fisheries, particularly in his home state of Louisiana. 

“Generations of Louisiana’s fishing families have made our state one of the top seafood producers in the country. The combination of great chefs and our seafood has resulted in Louisiana being a foodie destination,” Rep. Graves said. “However, hurricanes, government regulations, the pandemic and unfair competition from foreign fishing fleets are threatening the future of these hard-working men and women and threatening the sustainability of fisheries around the globe. 

“It has evolved from an environmental issue to an economic issue to a national security issue,” he said. 

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, H.R. 3075, which Rep. Graves introduced with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would establish monitoring and detection programs to identify and prevent IUU fisheries from unfair competition with United States domestic fishing boats, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Graves’ office.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

Frozen fare cold comfort for fishing industry battered by coronavirus

May 11, 2020 — Frozen fish sticks and canned salmon have made a comeback as the coronavirus crisis keeps people home, forcing a change of tack for the fishing industry that usually turns to restaurants from Paris to New York and Shanghai to serve their fresh seafood.

Fishing crews from Alaska in the United States to Zhejiang in China have been battered by lockdowns that have shut fine dining halls and fancy hotels, leaving customers to stock up from supermarkets rather than pick a platter from a table menu.

Manhattan eateries that draw in the Wall Street crowd were a major market for Jake Angelo’s razor clams, a delicacy dug from the mud along the shores of Cope Cod, Massachusetts.

But prices have hit rock bottom and shut down a vital source of income for the fisherman who has a boat named Ripped Tide.

Angelo said the whole seafood industry was on its backside, although he used much saltier language to voice his anxiety.

Read the full story at Reuters

Senators add shrimp to seafood import monitoring program implementation plan

July 28, 2017 — Efforts to include shrimp in the Seafood Import Monitoring Program when it takes effect Jan. 1 of next year advanced in Congress on Thursday, the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) said in a release.

Senate appropriations committee chairman Thad Cochran and commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee chairman Richard Shelby added language to the FY2018 commerce, justice and science subcommittee bill to ensure that shrimp is fully integrated into the program on the same timeline as other species, the association said.

Previously, shrimp was expected to be phased in at a later date than majority of other priority species, which have a mandatory compliance date of Jan. 1.

David Veal, ASPA executive director, commended the decision. He said Cochran and Shelby showed they care about the survival of the US shrimp industry and continued economic opportunity and job growth of coastal communities.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Trump calls out US seafood trade imbalance

June 5, 2017 — U.S.  President Donald Trump’s declaration that June is National Ocean Month – and his stated desire to grow the country’s seafood exports – was praised by seafood industry groups.

“The fisheries resources of the United States are among the most valuable in the world. Growing global demand for seafood presents tremendous opportunities for expansion of our seafood exports, which can reduce our more than US 13 billion (EIR 11.6 billion) seafood trade deficit,” he said.

The American Shrimp Processors Association welcomed President Trump’s call-out of the domestic seafood industry, the organization’s executive director, C. David Veal, told SeafoodSource.

“The American Shrimp Processors Association welcomes any recognition from the Trump administration of the significant problems caused by the trade imbalances of imported seafood. The USD 4.5 billion (EUR 4 billion) trade deficit from shrimp alone has had devastating impacts on communities in the Gulf and South Atlantic regions for the last two decades,” he said. “Any effort to reduce the trade deficit is appreciated by those who make their livelihoods in the domestic shrimp industry and their associated communities.”

In his remarks commemorating the declaration, Trump also said that the country’s offshore areas are underutilized and often unexplored.

“We have yet to fully leverage new technologies and unleash the forces of economic innovation to more fully develop and explore our ocean economy,” he said.

Gavin Gibbons, vice president of communications for the National Fisheries Institute, said it was “good to see the White House taking notice of the seafood community and focusing on the importance of resource utilization.”

“Safe, sustainable expansion of underutilized areas may present an opportunity for expansion of things like aquaculture. We look forward to seeing any administration plan for such an effort,” Gibbons said.

The key to successful expansion of U.S. seafood production will be maintaining the rigorous sustainability oversight of NOAA, according to Gibbons.

“Initiatives that seek long-term growth solutions should continue to observe the tested, science-based system based on total allowable catch,” he said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood groups praise Trump’s “Buy American” executive order

April 25, 2017 — President Donald Trump’s 18 April “Buy American, Hire American” Executive Order has been positively received by some U.S. seafood trade groups, who say it will help the domestic seafood industry.

Representatives of industry groups in Alaska and the U.S. states on the Gulf of Mexico said the executive order will help them create jobs for Americans.

“In order to promote economic and national security and to help stimulate economic growth, create good jobs at decent wages, strengthen our middle class, and support the American manufacturing and defense industrial bases, it shall be the policy of the executive branch to maximize…through terms and conditions of federal financial assistance awards and federal procurements, the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States,” the order states.

In addition, the federal government must “rigorously enforce and administer the laws governing entry into the United States of workers from abroad,” including section 212(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to the order.

C. David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association in Biloxi, Mississippi, said Trump had helped protect U.S. fishing communities with his executive order.

“We appreciate this effort and the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to restore the competitive position of the country. This is the strongest effort by any administration to ensure that U.S. laws designed to promote the purchase of domestically produced products are effectively enforced,” Veal said.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

Shrimp fishermen take issue with proposed TED rule

December 22, 2016 — New federal rules designed to protect sea turtles could soon impact the shrimp industry in Mississippi.

The proposed regulation calls for expanding the use of turtle excluder devices known as TEDs.

Shrimp boats that fish offshore already use TEDs. Turtle excluder devices use metal grates that prevent turtles from getting caught in the nets.

The new rule would apply to skimmer nets, which generally shrimp in shallower waters.

“It would affect about half of our fleet, which currently uses skimmer nets. They’ve been having to adhere to tow time restrictions. Now, they’ll have to use TEDs instead,” said Rick Burris, who directs the DMR Shrimp and Crab Bureau.

The proposed regulation to expand the use of TEDs is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by a nonprofit conservation group called Oceana, which blames commercial fishermen for killing hundreds of sea turtles each year.

“Certainly they’re being singled out. Oceana has had the shrimp industry as a target for a long time. Particularly as it relates to turtles,” said David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association.

Veal says the statistics cited by the conservation group are suspect.

“The numbers that Oceana uses and quotes in its press releases far exceed the documented cases of interaction between the shrimp industry and turtles,” said Veal.

Fishermen are concerned, because TEDs would be an added expense. It’s one, they say, would also hinder their catch.

Read the full story at WLOX

Proposed rule: Shrimpers should use safety devices to protect endangered sea turtles

December 16th, 2016 — In an effort to save thousands of endangered sea turtles, the Obama administration on Thursday issued proposed rules that would require U.S. shrimping boats to insert metal grates into their nets to allow the gentle creatures to escape.

By requiring “Turtle Excluder Devices” in the nets of U.S. shrimpers, some 800 to 2,500 sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean could be saved each year, according to the proposal, which will be published Friday in the Federal Register by the Department of Commerce.

If adopted and enforced, the rule would cut the prevalence of what’s known as “bycatch,” the unintended capture of marine creatures by commercial fishing vessels that are looking for different species.

Currently, less than half of U.S. shrimp boats are required to use the Excluder devices, according to Oceana, an international marine conservation and advocacy group. The new rule would require roughly 5,800 additional boats to do so.

David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association in Biloxi, Mississippi, said his organization shares the public’s concern for sea turtles, but he questions Oceana’s claim that shrimpers kill tens of thousands of turtles each year.

He said contact with recreational fisheries, damage from vessels and environmental problems all cause turtle deaths.

“While we’re sensitive to the sea turtles’ (plight) and we’ll do what we have to do to minimize the impact on the turtle population, we continue to believe that it’s unfair to target us as the sole source of these problems,” Veal said.

Read the full story at The Miami Herald 

FDA rejects much imported seafood containing ‘filth’

April 13, 2016 — “Don’t wait until you get sick to start ask questions about where your shrimp is coming from,” cautions David Veal, president of the American Shrimp Processors Association, which is based in Biloxi.

This comes after a new U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis shows the Food and Drug Administration rejects thousands of imported seafood shipments each year because the fish is unfit to eat.

Between 2005 and 2013, nearly 18,000 shipments were refused entry into the United States for containing unsafe levels of “filth,” veterinary-drug residues and salmonella, the ASPA said. “Filth” is used to describe anything that shouldn’t be in food, such as rat feces, parasites, illegal antibiotics and glass shards. Salmonella can make consumers sick, leading to hospitalization and even death.

“The safety of imported seafood clearly continues to be of significant concern, based on the number of shipments refused by FDA,” the USDA said in a summary of its findings.

See the rest of the story at the Sun Herald