U.S. seafood industry groups are calling on the European Union to reform its CATCH seafood traceability system, arguing that current requirements are creating costly barriers for legally harvested seafood moving into European markets.

The Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA), Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and At-sea Processors Association (APA) outlined their concerns in a new white paper, Advancing EU Efforts to Combat IUU Fishing: Why CATCH Needs Reforms. The National Seafood Association has also joined the groups in calling for changes to the system.

The organizations said they support the EU's efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing but contend that the current CATCH requirements do not adequately account for the way seafood moves through complex harvesting, processing and distribution chains.

“We share the European Union’s goal of preventing IUU fishing and ensuring that seafood entering the European market is legally harvested. But CATCH needs to reflect how seafood is actually harvested, processed and marketed,” PSPA President Julie Decker said in the Sept. 17 release.

According to the groups, problems with implementation have already disrupted shipments of U.S. seafood.

In one case detailed in the whitepaper, approximately 16,000 metric tons of Alaska seafood were affected by documentation issues involving two shipments moving through the Netherlands. The delays resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct costs for an Alaska logistics company, along with additional costs for U.S. seafood companies involved in the shipments.

Another case in Denmark resulted in approximately 600 metric tons of U.S. seafood being held amid conflicting guidance over CATCH documentation requirements.

“These are not theoretical concerns,” ASMI executive director Jeremy Woodrow said. “When thousands of tons of legally harvested seafood are sitting in storage and businesses face significant additional costs, it is clear that implementation needs to be improved.”

Industry proposes changes

The seafood groups are recommending several changes they say would preserve the EU's efforts to prevent IUU seafood from entering its market while reducing disruptions for legitimate trade.

Among the proposals is a risk-based approach that would account for countries and fisheries already operating under established licensing, monitoring, catch accounting and enforcement systems.

The groups also want the EU to allow seafood to be aggregated at commercially meaningful points in the supply chain, including processing facilities, rather than requiring vessel-by-vessel tracking as products move through complex production chains.

Other recommendations include revising mass-balance and processing-statement requirements, improving interoperability through bulk uploads and standardized data formats, and allowing automated data exchange between systems.

The organizations are also asking the EU to extend the implementation timeline so U.S. and EU authorities, seafood businesses, and importers can conduct fishery-specific testing before requirements are fully implemented.

“The Alaska seafood industry has invested heavily in monitoring, enforcement and responsible fisheries management. CATCH should recognize those systems rather than create unnecessary duplication,” APA CEO Matt Tinning said. “The objective should be better detection of illegal seafood, not simply more paperwork for legal seafood.”

National Seafood Association President and CEO Lisa Wallenda Picard similarly said the industry supports keeping IUU products out of seafood supply chains but argued that the current system is creating problems for companies already working to meet legal-harvest requirements.

Concerns are also being raised within Europe. Seafood Europe Secretary General Katarina Sipic said documentation requirements that do not reflect modern fisheries can affect European seafood companies and consumers as well as international suppliers.

The U.S. organizations maintain that the proposed changes would strengthen rather than weaken the EU's efforts to combat IUU fishing by focusing traceability requirements on identifying illegally harvested seafood while allowing legally harvested products to move efficiently through international markets.

“This is ultimately about getting the system right,” Decker said. “We want to work with the European Commission, Member States and U.S. agencies to build a CATCH system that actually helps identify IUU seafood while allowing legitimate seafood to move efficiently through international markets.”