International ocean conservation and advocacy organization Oceana commended US Reps. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA) for introducing new legislation that would uphold commitments made by the Presidential Task Force on Combatting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud. Known as the Protecting Honest Fishermen Act of 2015, the bill would ensure guidelines created by the task force would be expanded to include all seafood species, as well as full-chain traceability and consumer labeling, according to Oceana. The federal government is currently developing a seafood traceability system, though the first phase will focus on select “at-risk” species that will be subject to increased documentation and traceability.
“While we applaud the Obama administration’s efforts, we need to ensure these measures are expanded to all seafood sold in the US, and the traceability requirements extend through the full supply chain to the end consumer,” says Beth Lowell, Oceana campaign director.