US lawmakers seek probe into impact of illegal seafood imports from China and elsewhere
- They account for up to 31 per cent of the global fish catch and are worth US$23 billion, according to letter to the US International Trade Commission
Senior House of Representatives Democrats on Thursday asked the US International Trade Commission to investigate the impact on the economy of “unfair competition” from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) seafood imports from China and elsewhere.
Such imports accounted for up to 31 per cent of the global catch of fish, at an estimated value of US$23 billion, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal and fellow committee member Earl Blumenauer said in a letter to the ITC.
“IUU fishing contributes to the overexploitation of fish stocks, threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities, jeopardises food security, and harms marine ecosystems,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
It also created “unfair competition for US fishermen as imports account for 90 per cent of US seafood consumption”.
Neal and Blumenauer said China, the largest seafood trade partner of the United States, was ranked as “worst among 152 coastal countries based on the prevalence of IUU fishing and the country’s response to it”.