This bill creates a U.S. program to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and fishing that involves forced labor. It requires the Commerce Department (NOAA) to keep a public IUU vessel list (a blacklist) of foreign vessels, fleets, and beneficial owners. Vessels on the list would generally be banned from U.S. ports and port services, barred from transiting U.S. territorial seas except for innocent passage, and their seafood imports would be prohibited. The bill authorizes seizure and forfeiture of listed vessels and their cargo, with a narrow exception for importers who did not know the product was from IUU fishing.
The bill also authorizes the Treasury to impose sanctions that can block property and bar visas for foreign persons or vessels involved in IUU fishing or trading endangered species. It encourages increased Coast Guard high-seas boardings, more data collection and sharing among federal agencies, partnerships with other countries and international organizations, and assistance and investments to help foreign nations improve fisheries management. The bill directs studies on new technologies for monitoring fishing and on connections between Russian and Chinese fishing and processing networks. It requires reports to Congress and sets processes for adding and removing vessels from the IUU list.
Supporters in the bill text present the measure as a way to better prevent illegal fishing and related forced labor at their sources. They frame the IUU vessel list, sanctions, stronger port and import controls, increased Coast Guard boarding, data sharing, and international cooperation as tools to protect fisheries, supply chains, and maritime security. The bill also emphasizes capacity building and technical assistance to help other countries improve fisheries management.
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