PLEDGE TO HELP FIGHT ILLEGAL FISHING
The constant movement of seafood across borders and between hands, coupled with a lack of visibility at sea and limited traceability requirements, makes it difficult to track seafood from boat to plate.
But why does seafood traceability matter?
By collecting key information about seafood — including what specific fish it is, when, where, and how it was caught, and having that information follow the fish through the supply chain — helps keep illegally caught and mislabeled products off our plates. Tracing fish back to a legal fishery or farm, and every step along the chain, keeps the integrity in the supply chain and makes it more difficult for products of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing or seafood fraud from making it to seafood counters in your neighborhood.
A lack of traceability can pose serious consumer health risks, as we don’t know where the seafood on our plate actually came from. Illegal fishing can also enable bad actors to force vulnerable people into working on fishing boats under inhumane conditions for long periods of time. Oceana’s campaign aims to stop illegal fishing, increase transparency at sea, and require traceability for all seafood to ensure every fish sold in the U.S. is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced and honestly labeled.
Will you pledge to make informed seafood choices?
You Can:
- Ask more about the seafood you purchase — ask your local grocer or fishmonger where they source their seafood from — do they know their fisherman?
- Make use of resources provided by Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch or other organizations that provide wallet cards and additional information to help you make ocean-safe seafood choices.
- Support groups like Oceana that fight to ensure that all seafood imported into the United States is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced, and honestly labeled.
- Use your voice to tell decision makers to support policies that get tough on illegal fishing and increase transparency and traceability.