Oceana released a new analysis that finds Americans are eating seafood from countries with a history of illegal fishing and human rights violations at sea. The analysis highlights U.S. government trade data for seafood imports from 10 countries that have been recognized internationally for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing offenses or human rights abuses, including China and Russia. Other countries included in the analysis are Taiwan, Cameroon, Mexico, Costa Rica, Senegal, Panama, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Oceana found that only about 30% of the total volume of seafood imports from these countries are subject to traceability requirements by the U.S. government. Oceana says the United States is failing to protect seafood consumers and is allowing American dollars to drive IUU fishing and forced labor around the world.
