September 18, 2018 — U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) introduced the “Human Trafficking and IUU Fishing Act” (H.R.6834) on Monday.
The bill, with Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS), and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) as original cosponsors, would add the Secretary of Commerce (NOAA Fisheries) to the President’s existing Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, in response to the growing prevalence of human trafficking, forced labor and human rights abuses within the global seafood supply chain.
In June 2018, the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report identified more than 40 countries with substantial human trafficking and forced labor across their seafood industries and supply chains. This is especially prevalent in southeast Asia and the south Pacific, where illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a widespread problem. Since 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detained 15 shipments of seafood processed illegally in mainland China by North Korean workers under forced labor.
A 2016 U.S. Intelligence Community report identified IUU fishing as a global security challenge, linked to human and narcotics trafficking.