Trident Seafoods argues the rule the US government is introducing to combat supply of fish from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) sources would actually be harmful for domestic fishermen.
The vertically integrated company -- which is one of nine plaintiffs suing the US government over the rule, including the US National Fisheries Institute (NFI) -- states it would impact companies bringing US-caught seafood back from processing overseas.
Large volumes of US seafood -- such as Pacific cod, which is on the list of species covered by the rule -- is exported for processing in hubs in Asia, mainly China, in headed and gutted (H&G) form. This H&G is then processed into fillets and other products, and then imported by US companies.
The rule would impact Trident by raising the cost of bringing US-harvested seafood back into US commerce from overseas processing, “thus harming domestic fishermen in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California who depend on the company and others like it for demand for their fish”, reads the complaint filed by NFI, Trident and others.
The 15 species listed in the rule are: Atlantic cod, Pacific cod, blue crab, red king crab, mahi mahi, grouper, red snapper, sea cucumber, shark, swordfish, albacore tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, and bluefin tuna.
The rule is aimed at seafood harvesters, distributors, and others who import any of the 15 species. Its purpose is to detect IUU fish before they enter the US.
It would apply to all US-harvested priority species that Trident supplies to US customers, the complaint states.
Source: Undercurrentnews.com
