A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan has cleared a key hurdle in the U.S. Senate, aiming to crack down on illegal foreign fishing operations that lawmakers say threaten sustainable fisheries and U.S. coastal economies.
The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act, introduced by Sullivan and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, was unanimously passed by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee this week. The bill targets illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by blacklisting offending foreign vessels from U.S. ports and waters and strengthening enforcement powers for the U.S. Coast Guard.
“The geopolitics of the North Pacific and the Arctic are changing dramatically, with Russia and China increasing their aggression and ruinous activities near Alaska’s waters,” Sullivan said in a statement. “These grey fleets, which literally utilize slave labor in many cases, are a cancer on fisheries throughout the world and undercut our fishermen, who fish sustainably.”
The bill is also co-sponsored by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker.
If signed into law, the FISH Act would direct NOAA to create a blacklist of foreign vessels involved in IUU fishing, expand at-sea inspections of suspect vessels, and require the administration to push for IUU enforcement in global trade agreements. It also mandates a report to Congress on how new technologies and diplomatic tools can further counteract illegal fishing and labor abuses in seafood supply chains.
Senator Whitehouse praised the committee’s unanimous support, saying the bill “levels the playing field” for law-abiding fishermen and helps protect ocean health.
The bill builds on previous legislation, including the Maritime SAFE Act passed in 2019, and reflects ongoing bipartisan efforts to combat global threats to marine sustainability.
