Recommendations and Actions

(January 2017)

Recommendations

Recommendation 1

International – Port State Measures

Work with Congress to pass implementing legislation for the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). Direct the Secretary of State to promote entry into force and full implementation of the PSMA.

Direct the Task Force to develop, within one year (and refine as appropriate in subsequent years), best practices for catch documentation and data tracking; high seas boarding and inspection; monitoring, control, and surveillance measures (including observer programs, vessel tracking systems, authorized vessel lists); port State control; and compliance monitoring and promote their adoption in each of the Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs) of which the United States is a member.

Recommendation 3

International – Maritime Domain Awareness

Direct the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to include IUU fishing threat analysis and monitoring as a component of U.S. and international efforts to increase overall maritime domain awareness.

Recommendation 4

International – Free Trade Agreements

Direct the U.S. Trade Representative to use existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and future FTAs to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud, including through enhanced cooperation with our trading partners and commitments to enforce environmental and labor laws.

Recommendation 5

International – Fishery Subsidies

Direct the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Secretaries of State and Commerce to pursue international commitments to eliminate fisheries subsidies that contribute to excess fishing capacity, overfishing, and IUU fishing by 2020.

Recommendation 6

International – Capacity Building

Direct the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and State, the Administrator of USAID, and the Attorney General to coordinate with donors, multilateral institutions, and foreign governments and prioritize building capacity to sustainably manage fisheries and combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud.

Recommendation 7

International – Diplomatic Priority

Direct the Secretary of State to maintain combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud as a diplomatic priority in order to gain the support of senior officials in priority countries to enhance political will for combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud.

Recommendation 8

Enforcement – Information Sharing

Direct the Task Force members, to include the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and the Interior, and the Attorney General to develop within 180 days a strategy with implementation deadlines to optimize the collection, sharing, and analysis of information and resources to prevent IUU or fraudulently labeled seafood from entering U.S. commerce. This strategy should include a plan to increase support and coordination across agencies for forensic analysis of seafood species and corresponding collection, archiving, and analysis of related reference specimens, as well as reflect efforts to increase coordination with state and local governments per Recommendation 11.

Recommendation 9

Enforcement – Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements

Direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to leverage existing and future Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements (CMAAs) to exchange relevant information and encourage foreign customs administrations to cooperate in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud.

Recommendation 10

Enforcement – Species Name and Code

Direct the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, with input from the Attorney General, to standardize and clarify rules on identifying the species, common name, and origin of seafood. Direct the Secretaries of Commerce and Homeland Security and the U.S. Trade Representative to work with the International Trade Commission to adjust U.S. tariff codes to enhance identification in trade of species subject to IUU fishing or seafood fraud accordingly. The agencies should aim to publish these revised rules and adjusted codes not later than one year after the adoption of this recommendation.

Recommendation 11

Enforcement – State and Local

Direct the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, and the Attorney General to work with state and local enforcement authorities to expand information sharing and develop tools that address illegal fishing and seafood fraud at the state and local level.

Recommendation 12

Enforcement – Enforcement Authorities

Work with Congress to the extent necessary to broaden agency enforcement authorities, including those to 1) search, inspect, and seize seafood, both at the point of entry into U.S. commerce (whether from foreign or domestic sources) and throughout the supply chain; and 2) pursue a full range of judicial enforcement options for trafficking and other violations related to IUU fishing and seafood fraud.

Recommendation 13

Partnerships – Forum

Direct the Task Force to establish a regular forum with harvesters, importers, dealers, retailers, processors, and non-governmental organizations to enhance collaboration in combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud and to improve understanding of the levels and nature of IUU fishing and seafood fraud and related criminal activities.

Recommendations 14 and 15

Traceability – Traceability Program

Direct the Task Force, with input from U.S. industry and other stakeholders, to identify and develop within six months a list of the types of information and operational standards needed for an effective seafood traceability program to combat seafood fraud and IUU seafood in U.S. commerce.

Direct the Task Force to establish, within 18 months, the first phase of a risk-based traceability program to track seafood from point of harvest to entry into U.S. commerce.