Legislation with Strong Measures Addressing Forced Labor in Seafood Supply Chains Passes Senate
Last night, by a 68 to 32 vote, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260) was passed in the Senate. The bipartisan bill, previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, includes a section titled “Trading Consistent with American Values” that improves and increases the federal government’s capacity to prevent the importation of foreign goods produced through forced and child […]
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Gulf Shrimp Landings through the First Third of 2021 Are Above Historical Averages and the Highest Since 2017
This afternoon, the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for April. Last month, 2.3 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf of Mexico, up slightly from 2.2 million pounds in April of 2020. The volume of shrimp landed in the […]
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NOAA Fisheries SIMP Implementation Report Shows Significant Noncompliance, Immediate Need for Improved Enforcement
On Friday, the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries) released a report detailing the agency’s experience in administering the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) since the program took effect in January 2018 (Report on the Implementation of the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program). In the report, NOAA Fisheries explained that the agency had […]
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Important NOAA notification: Allowable gear change for shrimp trawlers in the vicinity of capsized lift boat
NOAA Fisheries is releasing the follow message in response to the commercial lift boat that capsized off Port Fourchon, LA: NOAA Fisheries is aware of the capsizing of the commercial lift boat Seacor Power off Port Fourchon, La., and the impact on the families and community. If a commercial otter trawl shrimper in the vicinity of the incident would like to […]
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Task Force Report on Human Trafficking in Seafood Supply Chains Emphasizes Need to Leverage Access to the U.S. Market to Reduce Forced Labor
Last month, the Task Force on Human Trafficking in Fishing in International Waters released its report addressing labor that may have been subject to human trafficking to harvest fish in international waters. The Task Force’s report was mandated by a Senate Report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) that directed the U.S. Department of Justice to lead a […]
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Gulf Shrimp Landings in November Slightly Higher Than Last Year, Still Near Historic Lows
Last night, the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for the month of November. In November, 6.6 million pounds of shrimp were landed in the Gulf, an increase over the 6.1 million pounds of shrimp landed in the region in November […]
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Despite Slight Improvement in July, Gulf Shrimp Landings Still Down
Last night, the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for the month of July. Last month, 7.8 million pounds of shrimp was landed in the Gulf, up from 7.0 million pounds in July of 2019. The increase in landings occurred despite another […]
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SSA’s John Williams Asks Shrimp Industry to Please Complete NOAA Covid-19 Impacts Survey
NOAA is conducting a survey to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our nation’s commercial and for-hire fishing operations and seafood dealers/processors. This nationwide survey will be used to inform NOAA, the Department of Commerce, Congress, fishery managers and stakeholders about the economic and social impacts the pandemic has had on the fishing industry. Commercial fishermen and fishing-dependent […]
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Half Way Through 2020, Gulf Shrimp Landings at All-Time Lows
Last night, the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center released shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico for the month of June. Through the first half of this year, shrimp landings in the Gulf of Mexico are at the lowest levels reported over the last nineteen years. NOAA indicates […]
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Monthly Shrimp Landings Data in North Carolina and Florida Confirm Resilience of Commercial Shrimpers
For the last several years, the Southern Shrimp Alliance has compiled and distributed information from the Fishery Monitoring Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center regarding shrimp landings data from the Gulf of Mexico. These data have helped the industry quickly identify the impact of aberrational events (e.g., hurricanes; fresh water diversions; oil spills) […]