The U.S. State Department has suspended Peru’s ability to export wild-caught shrimp to the U.S. after finding issues with the country’s sea turtle protection program.
Under U.S. regulation and the federal government’s Section 609 program, the U.S. State Department and NOAA Fisheries must certify foreign countries or fisheries as being in compliance with domestic requirements on the usage of turtle-excluder devices (TEDs), which allow turtles to escape from shrimp-trawler nets. In order for a country to export any wild-caught shrimp to the U.S., it must prove it adequately protects turtles at an equivalent level to the U.S.
According to new regulations posted by the department to the federal register, the U.S. State Department has determined Peru is not meeting those requirements and, thus, will no longer be allowed to export any wild-caught shrimp to the U.S. effective 1 June 2025.
“The Department suspended the certification of Peru (effective for Peru with Dates of Export 1 June 2025 and after) because its sea turtle protection program is no longer comparable to that of the United States,” the federal register posting said.
The decision comes after U.S. shrimpers requested the U.S. State Department look into the enforcement of Section 609 and pushed the department to more evenly enforce rules against countries seeking to sell shrimp to the U.S. market. In a letter sent in August 2024, the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) said enforcement of Section 609 had been lax since its implementation in 1989 and that not doing so was placing a burden on U.S. shrimpers who are required to use TEDs by law and compete against countries that don’t.
“The Section 609 program puts foreign fishermen who want to sell into this market on equal footing with us,” Port Arthur Area Shrimpers’ Association President Kyle Kimball said in the letter. “This is a simple issue of fairness, and we are grateful to the State Department and NOAA Fisheries for improving enforcement over the last few years.”
The SSA was calling for investigations into both Guatemala and Peru, and the department determined Guatemala’s efforts are sufficient to meet U.S. standards but Peru’s aren’t.
Peru’s ability to export wild-caught shrimp to the U.S. will now be suspended as of 1 June. The U.S. has imported USD 31.5 million (EUR 28.4 million) in wild-caught shrimp from the country since July 2021, according to the SSA.
“We are grateful to the State Department and NOAA Fisheries for carefully considering the domestic shrimp industry’s concerns regarding commercial shrimping practices in Peru and Guatemala,” SSA Executive Director John Williams said. “The Section 609 program proves that access to the U.S. market can be used to meaningfully improve standards in foreign supply chains and we hope that the State Department’s announcement is a catalyst for change in Peru’s commercial fishing industry.”
