Hawaii fishing industry applauds new federal law targeting tuna fraud

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A bipartisan measure that aims to prevent seafood fraud is now federal law.

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President Donald Trump signed into law Tuesday the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act, led by U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Katie Britt, R-Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, and Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi.

New test to verify origin

The new law calls for a standard procedure to identify where red snapper and certain tuna species come from, including the development of a field test kit that can determine whether fish were caught in U.S. or foreign waters.

The process will allow law enforcement to intercept illegally caught or falsely labeled fish before they enter U.S. markets, officials said.

“Our new law will give law enforcement a powerful new tool to detect where ahi comes from, help prevent seafood fraud, and give consumers better, more accurate information on what they’re buying and eating,” Schatz said.

Hawaii’s fishing industry, shoppers respond

Kristy Kahananui, co-founder of Lawaia Fish Company, praised the law’s passage.

“It’s frustrating when we go places and the wording people use is so deceptive,” Kahananui said. “Freshly made, made fresh daily, and stuff like that. So just hearing those words, people think they’re eating fresh fish and they don’t realize they’re not.”

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The federal action follows a new state effort in Hawaii where larger retailers including Foodland, Times Supermarkets and Safeway began listing where ahi was caught. Shoppers are now seeing labels listing Vietnam, Thailand, Canada, and even Colorado.

Honolulu resident Elden Arios said he prefers local when he can get it.

“If I find something that is from Colorado and if that’s all they got, then, you know, depending my mood and whatnot, yeah, I’ll go with that if I have to,” Arios said. “But yeah, I would rather have it everything, you know, locally caught, locally made, stuff like that.”

Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma said the law will help ensure consumers can select “high-quality, fresh Hawaii caught ahi with confidence.”

United Fish Agency’s Mike Goto said verifying origin will “support the fishermen and businesses that bring it to market.”

The agencies developing the test kit have two years to report back to Congress on their progress.

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