Maritime Security And Fisheries Enforcement Act
A BILL
To address the threat to national security from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and associated illegal activity, to prevent the illegal trade of seafood and seafood products, and for other purposes.
2. Definitions
In this Act:
AIS— The term AIS means Automatic Identification System (as defined in section 164.46 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, or a similar successor regulation).
Combined maritime forces— The term Combined Maritime Forces means the 33-nation naval partnership, originally established in February 2002, which promotes security, stability, and prosperity across approximately 3,200,000 square miles of international waters.
Exclusive economic zone—
In general— Unless otherwise specified by the President as being in the public interest in a writing published in the Federal Register, the term exclusive economic zone means—
the area within a zone established by a maritime boundary that has been established by a treaty in force or a treaty that is being provisionally applied by the United States; or
in the absence of a treaty described in clause (i)—
a zone, the outer boundary of which is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured; or
if the distance between the United States and another country is less than 400 nautical miles, a zone, the outer boundary of which is represented by a line equidistant between the United States and the other country.
Inner boundary— Without affecting any Presidential Proclamation with regard to the establishment of the United States territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, the inner boundary of the exclusive economic zone is—
in the case of coastal States, a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each such State (as described in section 4 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1312));
in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a line that is 3 marine leagues from the coastline of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
in the case of American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam, a line that is 3 geographic miles from the coastlines of American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, or Guam, respectively;
in the case of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—
the coastline of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, until the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is granted authority by the United States to regulate all fishing to a line seaward of its coastline; and
upon the United States grant of the authority described in subclause (I), the line established by such grant of authority; or
for any possession of the United States not referred to in clause (ii), (iii), or (iv), the coastline of such possession.
Rule of construction— Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to diminish the authority of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior, or any other Federal department or agency.
Food security— The term food security means access to, and availability, utilization, and stability of, sufficient food to meet caloric and nutritional needs for an active and healthy life.
Global record of fishing vessels, refrigerated transport vessels, and supply vessels— The term global record of fishing vessels, refrigerated transport vessels, and supply vessels means the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ initiative to rapidly make available certified data from state authorities about vessels and vessel related activities.
IUU fishing— The term IUU fishing means illegal fishing, unreported fishing, or unregulated fishing (as such terms are defined in paragraph 3 of the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, adopted at the 24th Session of the Committee on Fisheries in Rome on March 2, 2001).
Port state measures agreement— The term Port State Measures Agreement means the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing set forth by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, done at Rome, Italy November 22, 2009, and entered into force June 5, 2016, which offers standards for reporting and inspecting fishing activities of foreign-flagged fishing vessels at port.
Priority flag state— The term priority flag state means a country selected in accordance with section 202(b)(3)—
whereby the flagged vessels of which actively engage in, knowingly profit from, or are complicit in IUU fishing; and
that is willing, but lacks the capacity, to monitor or take effective enforcement action against its fleet.
Priority region— The term priority region means a region selected in accordance with section 202(b)(2)—
that is at high risk for IUU fishing activity or the entry of illegally caught seafood into the markets of countries in the region; and
in which countries lack the capacity to fully address the illegal activity described in subparagraph (A).
Regional fisheries management organization— The term Regional Fisheries Management Organization means an intergovernmental fisheries organization or arrangement, as appropriate, that has the competence to establish conservation and management measures.
Seafood— The term seafood—
means marine finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and all other forms of marine animal and plant life, including those grown, produced, or reared through marine aquaculture operations or techniques; and
does not include marine mammals or birds.
Seafood fraud— The term seafood fraud means the knowing mislabeling or misrepresentation of information regarding seafood or seafood products with the intent to deceive or defraud.
Seafood traceability program— The term seafood traceability program means any program implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (such as the Seafood Import Monitoring Program) that requires, with respect to seafood and seafood products imported into the United States—
permitting, data reporting, and recordkeeping to prevent illegal, unreported, unregulated, or misrepresented seafood from entering United States commerce; and
verifying the chain of custody of such seafood, from harvest to point of entry into the United States.
Transnational organized illegal activity— The term transnational organized illegal activity means criminal activity conducted by self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, or monetary or commercial gains, wholly or in part by illegal means, while protecting their activities through a pattern of corruption or violence or through a transnational organizational structure and the exploitation of transnational commerce or communication mechanisms.
Transshipment— The term transshipment means the use of refrigerated vessels that—
collect catch from multiple fishing boats;
carry the accumulated catches back to port; and
deliver supplies to fishing boats, which allows fishing vessels to remain at sea for extended periods without coming into port.
3. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
In a report titled, “Global Implications of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing”, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence identified IUU fishing as—
a threat to the national security of the United States; and
a challenge to peace and stability in regions of importance to the United States.
Executive Order 13773 (82 Fed. Reg. 10691), issued on February 9, 2017, calls for a comprehensive approach by the Federal Government to combat crime syndicates, including transnational organized illegal activities that may be associated with IUU fishing.
It is estimated that the value of IUU fishing may exceed $1,000,000,000 annually in unlawful or undocumented revenue and may sometimes be linked to transnational organized illegal activities, including weapons, drug, and human trafficking.
IUU fishing—
undermines the business of legitimate workers in the seafood industry; and
can create inaccurate population estimates for fish and other seafood species.
Marine fisheries employ millions of people worldwide, the livelihoods of whom can be negatively impacted by IUU fishing and associated transnational organized illegal activities.
IUU fishing vessels play a significant role in other forms of trafficking, particularly drug trafficking. The Department of Justice has documented numerous cases of illicit fishing ships involved in trafficking cocaine, heroin, and cannabis from South America to the United States.
By introducing cheaper, illegal products into the global market, IUU fishing undercuts the business and economic livelihoods of legitimate fishermen in the United States and around the world.
In the United States and around the world, seafood fraud undermines the economic viability of fisheries and deceives consumers about their purchasing choices.
Competition over seafood resources can lead to heightened tensions, conflict, and geostrategic instability in regions of importance to the United States.
4. Purposes
The purposes of this Act are—
to support a whole-of-government approach across the Federal Government to counter IUU fishing and related threats to maritime security;
to improve data sharing that enhances surveillance, enforcement, and prosecution against IUU fishing and related activities at a global level;
to support coordination and collaboration to counter IUU fishing and seafood fraud within priority regions;
to increase and improve global transparency and traceability across the seafood supply chain as—
a deterrent to IUU fishing and seafood fraud;
a tool for strengthening fisheries management and food security; and
an approach to enhancing the implementation of United States seafood traceability programs;
to improve global enforcement operations against IUU fishing through a whole-of-government approach by the United States; and
to prevent the use of IUU fishing as a financing source for transnational organized groups that undermine United States and global security interests.
5. Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States—
to take action to curtail the global trade in seafood and seafood products derived from IUU fishing, including its links to forced labor and transnational organized illegal activity;
to develop holistic diplomatic, military, law enforcement, economic, and capacity-building tools to counter IUU fishing;
to provide technical and other forms of assistance to countries in priority regions and priority flag states to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud, including assistance—
to increase local, national, and regional level capacities to counter IUU fishing through the engagement of law enforcement and security forces;
to enhance port capacity and security, including through support to implement the Port State Measures Agreement;
to combat corruption and increase transparency and traceability in fisheries management and trade;
to enhance information sharing within and across governments and multilateral organizations through the development and use of agreed standards for information sharing; and
to support effective, science-based fisheries management regimes that promote legal and safe fisheries and act as a deterrent to IUU fishing;
to promote global maritime security through improved capacity and technological assistance to support improved maritime domain awareness;
to engage with priority flag states to encourage the use of high quality vessel tracking technologies;
to engage with multilateral organizations working on fisheries issues, including Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to combat and deter IUU fishing;
to advance information sharing across governments and multilateral organizations in areas that cross multiple jurisdictions, through the development and use of an agreed standard for information sharing;
to continue to use existing and future trade agreements to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud;
to employ appropriate assets and resources of the United States Government in a coordinated manner to disrupt the illicit networks involved in IUU fishing;
to continue to declassify and make available, as appropriate and practicable, technologies developed by the United States Government that can be used to help counter IUU fishing;
to recognize the ties of IUU fishing to transnational organized illegal activity, including human trafficking and illegal trade in narcotics and arms, and as applicable, to focus on illicit activity in a coordinated, cross-cutting manner;
to recognize and respond to poor working conditions, labor abuses, and other violent crimes in the fishing industry;
to increase and improve global transparency and traceability along the seafood supply chain as—
a deterrent to IUU fishing and seafood fraud; and
an approach for strengthening fisheries management and food security; and
to promote technological investment and innovation to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud.