Ways and Means Committee Chairman Asks ITC to Investigate Foreign Seafood
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., have requested that the International Trade Commission study how American fishermen are affected by imports of fish caught illegally or in places where there are no regulations on fish. They are asking for a report to be completed within a year, and want to know how much unregulated or illegally harvested fish enters the United States; who are the biggest global exporters of fish not subject to regulations or illegally harvested; and what these imports do to prices in the U.S.
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"Up to 31 percent of the global catch of fish reportedly comes from [illegal or unregulated] fishing, at an estimated value of more than $23 billion per year," the letter says. Illegal fishing contributes "to the overexploitation of fish stocks, threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities, jeopardizes food security, and harms marine ecosystems."
The letter says that 90 percent of U.S. seafood is imported (though some of that is Alaskan caught and processed in China). It also says that China is the worst offender in not regulating fishing.