April 1, 2026 — A federal effort to crack down on illegal fishing is moving forward again on Capitol Hill, with Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan’s, R-Alaska, Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act advancing out of the U.S. Senate.
According to reporting from KUCB, the Senate passed the bill on March 22, sending it to the U.S. House for consideration. The legislation targets vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by blocking them from accessing U.S. ports and waters.
Under the proposal, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would be responsible for creating a blacklist of offending vessels, with enforcement carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard, KUCB reported.
Sullivan pointed directly to foreign fleets as a growing concern for U.S. fishermen.