What is the FISH Act?

The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest Act (FISH) will build on prior  legislation to reduce the amount of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing that occurs by “blacklisting offending vessels from U.S. ports and waters, bolstering the U.S. Coast Guard’s enforcement capabilities, and advancing international and bilateral negotiations to achieve enforceable agreements and treaties.” (Sullivan, 2023)

The bill plans to reduce illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing by:

• Directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to blacklist people that have previously engaged in IUU fishing
• Addressing IUU fishing in international agreements and aiding countries by giving them tools to combat IUU fishing
• Directing the U.S. Coast Guard to increase its at-sea inspection of foreign vessels suspected of IUU fishing
• Reporting to Congress on how new technologies can aid in the fight against IUU fishing (Sullivan, 2022)

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