Seafood traceability program design: Examination of the United States' Seafood Import Monitoring Program
Andrew Steinkruger1, Kailin Kroetz2,3, Kaitlyn L Malakoff4
1Resources for the Future, 1616 P St NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA.
Ambio
|October 3, 2024
Summary
The Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) needs expansion, as current prioritization appears random. Improved data is crucial for tracking seafood fraud and illegal fishing imports.
Area of Science:
- Marine Policy
- Fisheries Management
- Supply Chain Transparency
Background:
- The US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) aims to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud.
- A quantitative evaluation of the SIMP's effectiveness and scope is currently lacking, despite program reviews.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess the current scope and design of the SIMP.
- To evaluate the SIMP's effectiveness in reducing seafood fraud and IUU imports.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized publicly available trade data.
- Integrated measures of IUU fishing and seafood mislabeling rates.
- Analyzed prioritization patterns within the SIMP.
Main Results:
- Prioritized shipments under SIMP represented 33% of 2016 imported seafood tonnage.
- SIMP-covered species groups exhibited higher IUU scores and mislabeling rates than non-SIMP groups.
- The observed differences were consistent with random prioritization, suggesting potential benefits from program expansion.
Conclusions:
- The current SIMP prioritization may not be effectively targeting high-risk seafood imports.
- Significant data gaps exist, with two-thirds of imports lacking mislabeling rates and 5% lacking species information.
- Enhanced open-access data is urgently needed to improve global seafood supply chain transparency and traceability.
