Steve Bittenbender

The public has less than a month to supply comments on U.S. government proposal to streamline the reporting process for participants in the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.

Last month, NOAA Fisheries unveiled a draft rule regarding the creation of a Commerce Trusted Trader Program, a voluntary effort that seeks to reduce costs for both industry and the government. The first public meeting regarding the proposal took place on 15

A consortium of groups with ties to the seafood industry is calling for the U.S. Congress to pass a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization bill that gives the Regional Fishery Management Councils greater flexibility to achieve their objectives, but they also looking for federal officials to change how a couple of items are termed.

Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities is asking Congress to do away with the term

The date when the United States will begin enforcing full compliance with a program designed to prevent illegally fished and counterfeit products has been set as 7 April, according to a statement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Seafood Import Monitoring Program officially took effect on 1 January, nearly 13 months after officials revealed its regulations that required importers to keep records on selected products.

America’s shrimp trade deficit rose sharply in 2017 to reach its second-highest total ever, according to a statement released by the Southern Shrimp Alliance on Tuesday.

The USD 6.4 billion (EUR 5.2 billion) gap represented a 15.6 percent increase from the 2016 deficit and fell about USD 80 million (EUR 64.6 million) shy of the all-time mark, which was set in 2014. The organization, which promotes the domestic shrimp industry and its

A Rhode Island fisherwoman is taking the lead in helping shape the future of the industry in her state.

Armed with a USD 75,000 (EUR 61,000) grant, Sarah Schumann is leading a group that is developing a report designed to outline strategies that will help commercial fishermen in America’s smallest state thrive amid changes to the environment, government regulations, and other forces that impact the business.

This month started a six-week

A bipartisan group of 11 U.S. Senators have signed on to a plan that would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to add shrimp to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.

In a letter addressed to Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the senators expressed their support for language in the Commerce, Justice,

It took a little longer than expected, but U.S. Congressional leaders shepherded through another short-term spending bill early Friday morning, 9 February, that included millions in funding for fishery-related disaster relief efforts.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will receive USD 400 million (EUR 326.2 million) in funding, with USD 200 million (EUR 163.1 million) going to aid fisheries impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma,

Bumble Bee Foods has entered an agreement motion to settle a federal class action lawsuit claiming the company misrepresented its canned salmon product as smoked and wild-caught. 

Per the document, submitted on 1 February, the company denied it violated any federal regulations regarding food packaging. 

“Nevertheless, Bumble Bee noted it ‘has reviewed and updated the information on its website,’ and that it

A new initiative to combat an invasive species of fish from entering the Great Lakes was announced by three U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario on Wednesday, 31 January.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said the creation of the Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp would help protect his state’s fishing industry.

Besides Michigan, other founding members include Wisconsin, Ohio, and the Canadian province of Ontario.

NOAA Fisheries has opened an investigation into the recent deaths of minke whales along the U.S. East Coast, the agency announced on Wednesday, 31 January.

Since January 2017, when a dead minke whale was found near New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the agency has documented a total of 29 stranded minke whales from the coasts of Maine to the Carolinas. Of those 29, 19 were dead. That has prompted NOAA Fisheries to initiate a so-called