S.Amdt. 3711

The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025 (or FISH Act of 2025) is an amendment to bill S. 2296. Its primary purpose is to establish a comprehensive U.S. strategy to combat IUU fishing (illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing) and fishing that involves forced labor.

The amendment aims to add the following to the bill:

• IUU Vessel List: It directs the Secretary of Commerce to create and maintain a public list of foreign vessels, fleets, and beneficial owners engaged in IUU fishing. Being on this list can result in prohibitions from traveling through U.S. territorial seas (except for innocent passage) and restrictions on receiving supplies or services in U.S. waters.

• Visa Sanctions: Foreign persons who own or are beneficial owners of vessels on the IUU vessel list are deemed inadmissible to the United States, ineligible for visas, and will have existing visas revoked.

• Enforcement and Oversight:

  • It encourages the Coast Guard to increase the boarding of suspected IUU vessels on the high seas.
  • It requires various reports to Congress, including studies on new technology's impact on IUU fishing and an analysis of the Russian and Chinese fishing industries.
  • It directs the development of strategies to identify seafood imports produced using forced labor.

• International Cooperation: The act encourages the President and the Federal Government to negotiate agreements and encourage other nations to ratify treaties that combat IUU fishing.

• Funding: It authorizes $10,000,000 annually from 2025 through 2030 for the Department of Commerce to carry out the IUU vessel list requirements and $2,000,000 for a study by the National Academies on the economic costs and occurrence of IUU fishing and forced labor.