Congress Doubles Down on the Fight Against IUU Fishing

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing undercuts the U.S. market with cheap seafood, depressing prices, and squeezing out the operators who follow the rules. Combating IUU fishing remains a high priority for U.S. commercial fishermen, environmental groups, human rights advocates, and Congress.

This week, there were two noteworthy developments in that fight:

1. the House passed the Stop Illegal Fishing Act (H.R. 6338), and
2. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Protecting U.S. Fishers from Illegal Foreign Flags Act of 2026 (S. 4720).

How Does Farmed Seafood Rely on IUU Fishing?

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) explained in its 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor report that fish harvested in Thailand involves forced labor and that a quarter of that harvest goes into fishmeal for animal feed. The majority of that feed ends up used in Thai shrimp and poultry farms. And much of that Thai shrimp, raised on fishmeal harvested through forced labor, ends up on American plates. In 2025 alone, Thailand shipped nearly 60 million pounds of shrimp products to the U.S. market, worth over $304 million.

IUU-caught fish follow a similar path, becoming a significant input in the production of fishmeal used in foreign shrimp aquaculture. That means American consumers buying imported farm-raised shrimp are likely consuming IUU-tainted products with the risk of unintentionally supporting IUU fishing just as significant as when buying foreign, wild-caught seafood.

Academic studies have documented the severe adverse economic impact of IUU fishing on law-abiding commercial fishermen worldwide, including in the United States. That’s why American commercial fishermen have made combating IUU fishing a priority and why this week’s developments in Congress are worth noting.

Stop Illegal Fishing Act

On Monday, June 8^th, the House of Representatives passed the Stop Illegal Fishing Act, a bipartisan bill that would establish an IUU fishing sanctions program, authorize the President to block and prohibit transactions in all property of foreign persons and vessels tied to IUU fishing, and provide for the denial and revocation of immigration visas of such foreign persons.

The legislation, introduced in December 2025, aims to strengthen the U.S. government’s ability to respond to IUU fishing, particularly with respect to Chinese fishing operations, through the imposition of sanctions and visa restrictions.

The proposed law builds upon existing enforcement tools. The U.S. Department of Treasury has previously sanctioned individuals associated with IUU fishing along with other crimes, and the U.S. Department of State recently imposed visa restrictions on 26 foreign nationals “responsible for, complicit in, facilitating, or benefitting from” IUU fishing. 

H.R. 6338 goes further, giving the President broader authority to act. And it comes with no additional burden on U.S. taxpayers, as according to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation would have a minimal impact on the federal budget.

Protecting U.S. Fishers from Illegal Foreign Flags Act of 2026

The following day, June 9^th, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced S. 4720, the Protecting U.S. Fishers from Illegal Foreign Flags Act of 2026, a bill that addresses the problem of “flags of convenience”—when a vessel registers under the flag of a country other than the owner’s home nation, typically one with weak oversight. This practice lets bad actors evade environmental and labor standards, making it easier to flood global markets with cheap, hard-to-trace seafood.

Introduced with the support of the Southern Shrimp Alliance and the Oregon Trawl Commission, the legislation would amend Section 609 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. § 1826j) to require NOAA Fisheries to identify any nation that fails to effectively exercise flag state responsibility in the agency’s biennial report to Congress on IUU fishing, bycatch, and shark catch. 

“IUU fishing is a systemic global threat, dragging the world’s commercial fisheries into a race to the bottom,” said Blake Price, Executive Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “As we mark the 50^th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and its impact on American commercial fisheries, we must also ensure that foreign fisheries prioritize sustainability and the long-term future of all of the world’s fishermen.”