New ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Associate Research Professor Samantha Cheng recently published a paper titled “Delivering on seafood traceability under the new U.S. import monitoring program.”

The U.S. is the world’s largest fish importer. However, recent reports indicate that 25-30% of wild-caught seafood imported into the U.S. is illegally caught, raising concern for the country’s role in driving unregulated fishing.

In January of this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established the Seafood Import Monitoring Program to implement best practices and technologies in the monitoring of fish harvest and transportation to the U.S. border.

The publication includes insights into how implementing an effective tracing process could have a positive ripple effect for over a billion people worldwide whose livelihoods depend on these natural resources.