Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute Applauds House Natural Resources Committee Passage of the FISH Act

April 21, 2026 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

April 21, 2026 – The House Natural Resources Committee’s passage of the Fighting Illegal Seafood Harvests (FISH) Act is an important step for a significant bill.

The FISH Act is the definitive statute designed to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. It offers concrete solutions that target bad actors and avoids unnecessary regulatory burdens that cost American seafood companies. Targeting vessels and owners while building upon government-to-government relationships is a strategy that address the challenge at its core.

Thank you to the committee for its work and Representatives Crenshaw, Begich, and Magaziner for introducing the bill. We look forward to working with Congress to see the FISH Act become law.

 

ThayerMahan reports successful anti-IUU fishing demonstration with NOAA Fisheries

April 3, 2026 — Maritime technology and surveillance company ThayerMahan reported a positive demonstration of its counter illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing solution with NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, validating its technologies for future use.

“This demonstration is important for our maritime national security, and the preservation of U.S. marine resources,” ThayerMahan Vice President Offshore Programs Greg Sabra said in a release. “We’ve proven to NOAA, the Coast Guard, and their partners that ThayerMahan’s advanced sensing and data flows give them a dependable, scalable, and repeatable way to observe protected waters and areas of interest, around the clock, with no crewed vessels or aircraft in the loop. This is how the United States can combat illicit actors at operational scale.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Bill to combat illegal foreign seafood harvest passes Senate

March 25, 2026 — Legislation to keep illegal foreign seafood from entering U.S. ports and waters has passed the U.S. Senate, and now awaits similar action on a companion bill before the U.S. House.

The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act takes a strong stand against foreign illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by blacklisting offending vessels, bolstering the U.S. Coast guard’s enforcement capabilities and partnerships and advancing international and bilateral negotiations to achieve enforceable agreements and treaties.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

US Senate passes FISH Act, again

March 23, 2026 — The U.S. Senate has once again voted to pass the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act, legislation that would give the federal government more tools to crack down on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing conducted by foreign fleets.

The FISH Act directs the U.S. government to create a blacklist of vessels banned from U.S. waters due to their participating in IUU fishing. The bill also supports increased at-sea inspections by the U.S. Coast Guard and requires a report on what technologies can be used to better combat IUU fishing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

WTO hands out first tranche of grants to help developing countries meet terms of fishing subsidy deal

February 5, 2026 — A fund set up by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help developing countries adapt to an agreement on curbing harmful fishing subsidies has handed out nearly USD 3 million (EUR 2.54 million) in its first tranche of grants.

The grants aim to help nations meet the stipulations of a deal originally signed by WTO members in 2022 to prohibit global subsidies that support vessels engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, fishing overfished stocks, and operating on the unregulated high seas.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate committee advances Protecting Global Fisheries Act

February 2, 2026 — The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has advanced the Protecting Global Fisheries Act, legislation introduced last year to crack down on foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Introduced by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the legislation would give the president the authority to impose sanctions on foreign persons or vessels that participate or enable IUU fishing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Congressional committee accuses China’s distant-water fishing fleet of intimidation, ecological destruction

January 20, 2026 — The U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has released an investigation accusing China of being “the world’s largest perpetrator of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”

The committee made several strong claims about China’s distant-water fishing fleet, accusing the Chinese government of using the fleet of roughly 16,000 vessels for intimidation and control.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Coast Guard debriefs Congress on efforts to stop IUU fishing

January 15, 2026 — U.S. government officials told Congressional lawmakers the Coast Guard needs more vessels, personnel, and tools to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) in U.S. and distant waters.

“IUU is a threat to both the global economy and the U.S. economy. The illegal catch that is brought into the United States … impacts the USD 150 billion [EUR 129 billion] that our fishermen bring to the global domestic product,” Rear Admiral David Barata, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations policy, testified to lawmakers during a 13 January House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee hearing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US bill would authorize disaster funding for commercial fishers hurt by foreign subsidies

December 8, 2025 — U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would allow fishery disaster funding to be awarded to commercial fisheries hurt by foreign subsidies, predatory pricing, and illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s fishery resource disasters assistance program provides financial assistance to commercial fishers and related businesses that experience sudden, unexpected losses. NOAA Fisheries has awarded fishery disaster determinations for hurricanes, harmful algal blooms, oil spills, and other man-made or natural events that cause harm to commercial fisheries.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US House committee approves Stop Illegal Fishing Act

December 5, 2025 — The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved the Stop Illegal Fishing Act, legislation that authorizes U.S. President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on foreign individuals and vessels that engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) fishing.

The authors of the bill say the measure is necessary to crack down on large foreign fishing fleets that have dodgy records on the environment and human rights – particularly China’s distant-water fleet.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource