Courtesy of NOAA:

The Administration is seeking public input, through June 8, on principles to be used for determining seafood species “at risk” of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity and seafood fraud. (Press Release)

Because of the complex trading system involved with global seafood commodities, fraud can occur at any point along the seafood supply chain. Being able to follow seafood along the supply chain from harvest or farm to entry into the U.S. market is important to minimize fraud, enhance food safety, and build consumer confidence

Today’s action is an important first step for implementing Recommendations 14 and 15 (dealing with traceability) of the Action Plan on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud that was released last month.

In April 2015, the National Ocean Council established a new Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud (NOC Committee) to implement the Presidential Task Force’s Action Plan.

In addition to providing public comment through the Federal Register process, three webinars have been scheduled to directly engage with and provide input to NOC Committee agencies. Based on this public input, a draft list of principles and a draft list of “at risk” species are planned to be published for public comment in July 2015.