Why Does So Much American Seafood Take a Trip Around the World Before Reaching Our Plates?

Every year, China imports nearly one-third of all U.S. seafood exports, processes the seafood, and then sends more than half of that seafood (57%) back to the U.S. for consumption, according to a NOAA report.

 In fact, much of the seafood caught in America travels thousands of miles overseas to be cleaned, filleted, smoked, or skinned—only to be shipped back to the U.S. and sold to Americans.

 This roundabout journey contributes to our nation’s seafood trade deficit, which stands at more than $17 billion today.

 So why do we send American seafood abroad just to bring it back home? The short answer is because we’ve lost the ability to process all of our seafood here at home.

As wild-caught fishing has become seasonally dependent, there is less seafood coming into our ports regularly throughout the year. Without a steady supply of seafood coming into ports for processing, more and more of these businesses don’t have enough demand to remain open year-round. The lack of demand has contributed to some of America’s seafood processing plants closing their doors – resulting in a loss of jobs, revenue, and investment in working waterfront infrastructure, and a deepened reliance on the processing of most of our seafood in countries abroad.

 One solution to help revitalize America’s working waterfront communities – and help rebuild America’s seafood processing capabilities – is to expand aquaculture here in the U.S.

 Expanding fish farming in open ocean waters would help America’s wild fishing sector by ensuring a steady supply of seafood is once again brought into U.S. ports throughout the year. This supplemental seafood supply will help bring the consistency needed to support year-round jobs here in this country and revitalize coastal economies while ensuring more local and fresh seafood options are available for American families.

 By passing legislation to establish a clear and efficient permitting process for fish farms in U.S. federal waters, Congress can help begin to rebuild our domestic processing capability—keeping American fish here in the U.S. for the whole journey from ocean to table.