Blue crab is among several species known to be susceptible to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud.  As reported on this blog, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) has established a Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) with regulations that took effect January 1, 2018, requiring importers to document that the catch is legally and sustainably caught.  SIMP was implemented in response to longstanding concerns over rampant seafood fraud.

A recent article in the Washington Post, An unsavory scam? Company accused of diluting Chesapeake blue crab meat with imported crab, illustrates the limitations of SIMP in preventing seafood fraud perpetrated in the United States.  According to the article, federal prosecutors have alleged that between 2012 and 2015, Casey’s Seafood Processing sold over 398,000 pounds of crab meat labeled as Chesapeake blue crab from the United States, but intentionally mixed in cheaper species of crab from foreign countries that were not identified on the label.  This economic adulteration was uncovered in a search of the Newport News, VA seafood processing facility after a tip from an informant that Casey’s Seafood Processing was attempting to undercut market prices for the scarce and highly regulated Chesapeake blue crabs.  The dilution of the Chesapeake blue crab meat with other species was verified using DNA analysis of the mislabeled crab meat.

The species used to perpetrate this instance of Chesapeake blue crab meat labeling fraud were not subject to SIMP.  Moreover, SIMP has no provision that would reach the actions of plants such as Casey’s Seafood Processing operating in the U.S. even if the Chesapeake blue crab meat had been diluted with crab meat covered under SIMP.  Charges in the case were brought against the plant’s owner, James R. Casey, under the Lacey Act, a federal law from 1900 that, among other things, prohibits selling wildlife such as crab meat that is mislabeled under the Federal, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.