September 22, 2014 — The House Natural Resources Committee took a significant step forward yesterday in the fight against illegal fishing and seafood fraud, passing the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Enforcement Act (H.R. 69) by unanimous consent. It’s now headed to the House floor.
The legislation, authored by Representative Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), would strengthen the United States’ ability to fight the serious global problem of IUU fishing, also known as pirate fishing, which threatens our oceans, honest fishermen, and seafood consumers worldwide. The bill is a companion to legislation in the Senate (S. 269), which passed the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in July 2013. We applaud Congress for moving this important legislation to fight pirate fishing and help keep illegally-caught seafood out of the U.S. market.
Pirate fishers skirt the law by using illegal gear, fishing in closed areas or during prohibited times, and catching species that may be threatened or endangered. Recent estimates suggest that pirate fishing results in global economic losses of between $10 to 23 billion each year and accounts for as much as 40 percent of the catch in certain fisheries. Pirate fishing has also been associated with other illegal activities, such as human trafficking and organized crime. As the largest single-country seafood importer in the world, the United States has a responsibility to combat these serious problems.
Read the full story from Oceana's The Beacon