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Courtesy of NAA:

NOAA Fisheries invites US abalone and shrimp farmers to participate in a conversation about the development of a rule to establish a domestic traceability program for shrimp and abalone aquaculture seafood production.

In 2017, NOAA Fisheries implemented the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), which required U.S. importers to obtain a permit, report harvest and landing data, and keep chain of custody records for certain species. Shrimp and abalone were part of this program; however, there was a stay on implementing SIMP for shrimp and abalone until domestic parity could be reached. On April 23, 2018, NOAA lifted that stay. The addition of shrimp and abalone to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program will require reporting for domestic aquaculture producers of those species, and we are keenly interested in your input into how the program is designed.

NOAA Fisheries is soliciting ideas from industry for developing a domestic aquaculture monitoring program for shrimp and abalone species.   The first opportunity to offer input will be through two conference calls this month:

Abalone aquaculture industry call: Monday May 14, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Eastern Time

Shrimp aquaculture industry call: Tuesday, May 15, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Eastern Time

Call-in: 1-517-308-9413 (Toll) or 888-603-9706 (Toll Free)

When directed by the operator, state the participant passcode: SIMP

We would appreciate your circulating this invitation to interested colleagues.

NOAA values input from the aquaculture industry and will share developments and additional opportunities for engagement in the coming months as we work to meet the timeline of December 31, 2018 as directed by Congress. For additional information, see this web article: U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program to Include Shrimp and Abalone by December 31.