AboutSeafood.com Becomes Seafood, See Jobs Information Hub

August 2, 2018 Washington, DC – In recognition of the threat to the seafood community posed by new trade tariffs, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has rebranded its AboutSeafood.com website to support the stories of American seafood workers. The effort is all part of its Seafood, See Jobs campaign and the site will be regularly updated with new videos.

The website now features video testimony from every aspect of the seafood workforce. From fishmongers and truck drivers, to lobstermen, manufacturing workers and chefs, the reality of tariffs on real American jobs is explored. Find out why both importers and exporters fear the effect of these trade policies.

“To understand the negative impact these tariffs will have on American workers you have to go see them, you have to talk to them, you have to hear their concerns,” said NFI President John Connelly. “We’re bringing those stories to policy makers so they understand; this is not a theoretical, economic chess game. These tariffs have the potential to do a lot of harm to the seafood community and that community’s jobs are right here in the U.S.”

The U.S. cannot simply make more seafood here and process it at home. U.S. waters are some of the best managed in the world and are fished to their sustainable yield. To feed Americans the seafood community must source seafood from countries around the globe, even as U.S harvesters tap global markets to sell their catch. What’s more, the raw product, that comes from valued global trading partners, is the fuel that drives jobs in the U.S. This is not a situation where the raw imported product is taking jobs away from American workers but just the opposite. It is the material that keeps them viable. Jobs in processing, portioning, value adding, storing, delivering and serving all depend on seafood imports.

The symbiotic nature of trade and the seafood community is sometimes misunderstood by those who do not know the industry. Seafood trade is not a matter of import vs. domestic. Vital U.S seafood exports are caught up in the trade war already and its impacts could be devastating to men and women who work the water in Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

“Listen to Matt at his family’s seafood market. Find out why rural entrepreneurs, like Megan, are worried. Hear George’s concerns about tariffs on lobster exports. Take a look at these videos and you will get a sense of how important it is that when policy makers seafood they see jobs,” said Connelly.

###

Contact Information

Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@nfi.org