SOUTHERN SHRIMP ALLIANCE ASKS STATE DEPARTMENT TO RESCIND CHINA’S SECTION 609 CERTIFICATION
Over thirty years ago, Congress enacted Section 609 of Public Law 101-162, banning the importation of shrimp harvested through fishing methods that endanger sea turtles. In order to avoid the prohibition, the government of a country wishing to export shrimp to the United States must demonstrate that either it has a regulatory system in place similar to that of our country’s […]
Filed Under
Poll Finds 83% of Americans Support New Seafood Traceability Requirements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2016 Contacts: Dustin Cranor, 202.341.2267, 954.348.1314 (cell) or dcranor@oceana.org Amelia Vorpahl, 202.467.1968, 202.476.0632 (cell) or avorpahl@oceana.org Poll Finds 83% of Americans Support New Seafood Traceability Requirements Obama Administration Expected to Issue Final Rule to Address Seafood Fraud WASHINGTON – Today, Oceana released a poll http://usa.oceana.org/poll-finds-83-americans-support-new-seafood-traceability-requirements revealing that 83 percent of Americans support new requirements focused […]
Filed Under
Southern Shrimp Alliance Requests that National Ocean Council Committee Designate Shrimp an “At Risk” Species
Yesterday, the Southern Shrimp Alliance submitted formal comments to the National Ocean Council (NOC) Committee regarding “principles” to be used in determining which seafood species are “at risk” for Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and seafood fraud. In those comments, the Southern Shrimp Alliance observed that the “possible principles” identified in the request for comments published in the Federal […]
Filed Under
New TED Compliance Rules in Effect
SSA urgently reminds all Gulf and South Atlantic shrimp trawl fishermen that they are now subject to a new system for protecting sea turtles. As explained in further detail below, these new requirements are a result of the settlement earlier this year of a lawsuit filed by several environmental organizations against NMFS. These new requirements place a new fleet-wide performance […]
Filed Under
1 Comment on New TED Compliance Rules in EffectOceana Advocate Learns About Shrimping
The author of the tumblr blog, “The Institute of Appropriate Priorities” took a sabbatical from a job at Oceana to do a roadtrip to visit America’s busiest ports and to travel abroad. In visiting productive fisheries, he spent a good amount of time learning about the U.S. shrimp industry firsthand. The blog includes a short profile of Craig Wallis: http://appropriatepriorities.tumblr.com/post/23166366958/palacios-tx-here-today-tomorrow […]
Filed Under
Press Release on NOAA’s Denial of ENGO Petitions
Contact: Deborah Long, 804.360.0074 NOAA Denies Petitions to Restrict Shrimping Due to Unexplained Sea Turtle Deaths Tarpon Springs, FL—The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has denied three separate petitions that would have immediately shutdown the U.S. shrimp industry due to a large number of unexplained sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. The rationale provided by NMFS […]
Filed Under
NMFS Denies Oceana petition, SSA Comments on Scoping Documents
NOAA Denies Oceana Petition On August 3rd, NOAA denied the final of three separate petitions from environmental groups that sought emergency closures or restrictions of shrimp fishing due to a large number of unexplained sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico. The strong actions of the agency are a huge victory for the shrimp industry. The final denial letter […]
Filed Under
NOAA Denies Oceana Petition
“In summary, because we have substantially accomplished or begun actions requested in your petition and determined that emergency or interim measures or regulations are not warranted at this time, we are denying your petition.” – 8-3-11 NOAA denial of Oceana Petition “While the June 2010 spike in Mississippi sea turtle strandings correlated strongly with the opening and closing of the […]
Filed Under
Commentary on Sea Turtles
Go to Oceana’s web-site and you’ll see this (http://act.oceana.org/letter/l-turtles-gulf/): Save Turtles From Dying Shrimp nets are drowning turtles, but they don’t have to. Dead sea turtles are washing up on Gulf shores by the hundreds. More are falling uncounted onto the ocean floor. They are victims of drowning, caught in shrimp nets and unable to escape. Shrimp nets don’t have […]
Filed Under
Sea Turtle Update
Today SSA met with Assistant Secretary of Commerce Dr. Larry Robinson, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab, NMFS Southeast Regional Administrator Roy Crabtree and several other NOAA fisheries officials as part of its comprehensive effort to defend the shrimp fishery against efforts by environmental groups to shut down the fishery due to turtle strandings. This meeting culminates a series of […]