NOAA Fisheries has announced an action plan to enhance its Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), with a focus on tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, improving seafood traceability, and extending these requirements to all U.S. seafood imports. Originally launched in 2016 under President Obama to monitor at-risk seafood imports, SIMP faced setbacks, including the withdrawal of a 2022 proposal to expand its scope. The new plan, developed with feedback from over 7,000 stakeholders, aims to strengthen the program while minimizing trade disruptions and supporting fair practices in the global seafood market. Improvements include expanding SIMP to cover all species, enabling pre-entry screenings, enhancing compliance materials, and clarifying procedures to make the program more user-friendly. The changes are designed to better prevent IUU-sourced seafood from entering the U.S. and address labor issues in the supply chain. Despite past criticisms of SIMP’s effectiveness, NOAA is taking steps to align its data requirements with international standards and introduce a pilot import data program.
