II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1269 

To address the threat to national security from illegal, unreported, and 

unregulated fishing and associated illegal activity, to prevent the illegal 

trade of seafood and seafood products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2019 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To address the threat to national security from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and associated illegal 

activity, to prevent the illegal trade of seafood and seafood products, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Maritime Security And Fisheries Enforcement Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Maritime SAFE Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Purposes. 

Sec. 5. Statement of policy. 

TITLE I—PROGRAMS TO COMBAT IUU FISHING AND INCREASE 

MARITIME SECURITY 

Sec. 101. Coordination with international organizations. 

Sec. 102. Engagement of diplomatic missions of the United States. 

Sec. 103. Assistance by Federal agencies to improve law enforcement within 

priority regions and priority flag states. 

Sec. 104. Expansion of existing mechanisms to combat IUU fishing. 

Sec. 105. Improvement of transparency and traceability programs. 

Sec. 106. Technology programs. 

Sec. 107. Information sharing. 

TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP 

ON IUU FISHING AND SEAFOOD FRAUD 

Sec. 201. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud. 

Sec. 202. Strategic plan. 

Sec. 203. Reports. 

Sec. 204. Gulf of Mexico IUU Fishing Subworking Group. 

TITLE III—COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN CONNECTION 

WITH THE CATCHING AND PROCESSING OF SEAFOOD PRODUCTS 

Sec. 301. Finding. 

Sec. 302. Adding the Secretary of Commerce to the Interagency Task Force to 

Monitor and Combat Trafficking. 

Sec. 303. Human trafficking in the seafood supply chain report. 

TITLE IV—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AIS.—The term ‘‘AIS’’ means Automatic 

4 Identification System (as defined in section 164.46 

5 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations, or a similar 

6 successor regulation). 

7 (2) COMBINED MARITIME FORCES.—The term 

8 ‘‘Combined Maritime Forces’’ means the 33-nation 

9 naval partnership, originally established in February 


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1 2002, which promotes security, stability, and pros2 perity across approximately 3,200,000 square miles 

3 of international waters. 

4 (3) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Unless otherwise speci6 fied by the President as being in the public in7 terest in a writing published in the Federal 

8 Register, the term ‘‘exclusive economic zone’’ 

9 means— 

10 (i) the area within a zone established 

11 by a maritime boundary that has been es12 tablished by a treaty in force or a treaty 

13 that is being provisionally applied by the 

14 United States; or 

15 (ii) in the absence of a treaty de16 scribed in clause (i)— 

17 (I) a zone, the outer boundary of 

18 which is 200 nautical miles from the 

19 baseline from which the breadth of 

20 the territorial sea is measured; or 

21 (II) if the distance between the 

22 United States and another country is 

23 less than 400 nautical miles, a zone, 

24 the outer boundary of which is rep25 resented by a line equidistant between 


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1 the United States and the other coun2 try. 

3 (B) INNER BOUNDARY.—Without affecting 

4 any Presidential Proclamation with regard to 

5 the establishment of the United States terri6 torial sea or exclusive economic zone, the inner 

7 boundary of the exclusive economic zone is— 

8 (i) in the case of coastal States, a line 

9 coterminous with the seaward boundary of 

10 each such State (as described in section 4 

11 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

12 1312)); 

13 (ii) in the case of the Commonwealth 

14 of Puerto Rico, a line that is 3 marine 

15 leagues from the coastline of the Common16 wealth of Puerto Rico; 

17 (iii) in the case of American Samoa, 

18 the United States Virgin Islands, and 

19 Guam, a line that is 3 geographic miles 

20 from the coastlines of American Samoa, 

21 the United States Virgin Islands, or Guam, 

22 respectively; 

23 (iv) in the case of the Commonwealth 

24 of the Northern Mariana Islands— 


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1 (I) the coastline of the Common2 wealth of the Northern Mariana Is3 lands, until the Commonwealth of the 

4 Northern Mariana Islands is granted 

5 authority by the United States to reg6 ulate all fishing to a line seaward of 

7 its coastline; and 

8 (II) upon the United States 

9 grant of the authority described in 

10 subclause (I), the line established by 

11 such grant of authority; or 

12 (v) for any possession of the United 

13 States not referred to in clause (ii), (iii), or 

14 (iv), the coastline of such possession. 

15 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

16 this paragraph may be construed to diminish 

17 the authority of the Department of Defense, the 

18 Department of the Interior, or any other Fed19 eral department or agency. 

20 (4) FOOD SECURITY.—The term ‘‘food secu21 rity’’ means access to, and availability, utilization, 

22 and stability of, sufficient food to meet caloric and 

23 nutritional needs for an active and healthy life. 

24 (5) GLOBAL RECORD OF FISHING VESSELS, RE25 FRIGERATED TRANSPORT VESSELS, AND SUPPLY


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1 VESSELS.—The term ‘‘global record of fishing ves2 sels, refrigerated transport vessels, and supply ves3 sels’’ means the Food and Agriculture Organization 

4 of the United Nations’ initiative to rapidly make 

5 available certified data from state authorities about 

6 vessels and vessel related activities. 

7 (6) IUU FISHING.—The term ‘‘IUU fishing’’ 

8 means illegal fishing, unreported fishing, or unregu9 lated fishing (as such terms are defined in para10 graph 3 of the International Plan of Action to Pre11 vent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and 

12 Unregulated Fishing, adopted at the 24th Session of 

13 the Committee on Fisheries in Rome on March 2, 

14 2001). 

15 (7) PORT STATE MEASURES AGREEMENT.—The 

16 term ‘‘Port State Measures Agreement’’ means the 

17 Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, 

18 Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Un19 regulated Fishing set forth by the Food and Agri20 culture Organization of the United Nations, done at 

21 Rome, Italy November 22, 2009, and entered into 

22 force June 5, 2016, which offers standards for re23 porting and inspecting fishing activities of foreign24 flagged fishing vessels at port. 


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1 (8) PRIORITY FLAG STATE.—The term ‘‘priority 

2 flag state’’ means a country selected in accordance 

3 with section 202(b)(3)— 

4 (A) whereby the flagged vessels of which 

5 actively engage in, knowingly profit from, or are 

6 complicit in IUU fishing; and 

7 (B) that is willing, but lacks the capacity, 

8 to monitor or take effective enforcement action 

9 against its fleet. 

10 (9) PRIORITY REGION.—The term ‘‘priority re11 gion’’ means a region selected in accordance with 

12 section 202(b)(2)— 

13 (A) that is at high risk for IUU fishing ac14 tivity or the entry of illegally caught seafood 

15 into the markets of countries in the region; and 

16 (B) in which countries lack the capacity to 

17 fully address the illegal activity described in 

18 subparagraph (A). 

19 (10) REGIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT OR20 GANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Regional Fisheries Man21 agement Organization’’ means an intergovernmental 

22 fisheries organization or arrangement, as appro23 priate, that has the competence to establish con24 servation and management measures. 

25 (11) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘‘seafood’’— 


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1 (A) means marine finfish, mollusks, crus2 taceans, and all other forms of marine animal 

3 and plant life, including those grown, produced, 

4 or reared through marine aquaculture oper5 ations or techniques; and 

6 (B) does not include marine mammals or 

7 birds. 

8 (12) SEAFOOD FRAUD.—The term ‘‘seafood 

9 fraud’’ means the knowing mislabeling or misrepre10 sentation of information regarding seafood or sea11 food products with the intent to deceive or defraud. 

12 (13) SEAFOOD TRACEABILITY PROGRAM.—The 

13 term ‘‘seafood traceability program’’ means any pro14 gram implemented by the National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration (such as the Seafood Im16 port Monitoring Program) that requires, with re17 spect to seafood and seafood products imported into 

18 the United States— 

19 (A) permitting, data reporting, and record20 keeping to prevent illegal, unreported, unregu21 lated, or misrepresented seafood from entering 

22 United States commerce; and 

23 (B) verifying the chain of custody of such 

24 seafood, from harvest to point of entry into the 

25 United States. 


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1 (14) TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED ILLEGAL AC2 TIVITY.—The term ‘‘transnational organized illegal 

3 activity’’ means criminal activity conducted by self4 perpetuating associations of individuals who operate 

5 transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, 

6 influence, or monetary or commercial gains, wholly 

7 or in part by illegal means, while protecting their ac8 tivities through a pattern of corruption or violence 

9 or through a transnational organizational structure 

10 and the exploitation of transnational commerce or 

11 communication mechanisms. 

12 (15) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘‘trans13 shipment’’ means the use of refrigerated vessels 

14 that— 

15 (A) collect catch from multiple fishing 

16 boats; 

17 (B) carry the accumulated catches back to 

18 port; and 

19 (C) deliver supplies to fishing boats, which 

20 allows fishing vessels to remain at sea for ex21 tended periods without coming into port. 

22 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

23 Congress makes the following findings: 

24 (1) In a report titled, ‘‘Global Implications of 

25 Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) FishVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1269.IS S1269

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1 ing’’, the Office of the Director of National Intel2 ligence identified IUU fishing as— 

3 (A) a threat to the national security of the 

4 United States; and 

5 (B) a challenge to peace and stability in 

6 regions of importance to the United States. 

7 (2) Executive Order 13773 (82 Fed. Reg. 

8 10691), issued on February 9, 2017, calls for a 

9 comprehensive approach by the Federal Government 

10 to combat crime syndicates, including transnational 

11 organized illegal activities that may be associated 

12 with IUU fishing. 

13 (3) It is estimated that the value of IUU fish14 ing may exceed $1,000,000,000 annually in unlawful 

15 or undocumented revenue and may sometimes be 

16 linked to transnational organized illegal activities, 

17 including weapons, drug, and human trafficking. 

18 (4) IUU fishing— 

19 (A) undermines the business of legitimate 

20 workers in the seafood industry; and 

21 (B) can create inaccurate population esti22 mates for fish and other seafood species. 

23 (5) Marine fisheries employ millions of people 

24 worldwide, the livelihoods of whom can be negatively 


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1 impacted by IUU fishing and associated 

2 transnational organized illegal activities. 

3 (6) IUU fishing vessels play a significant role 

4 in other forms of trafficking, particularly drug traf5 ficking. The Department of Justice has documented 

6 numerous cases of illicit fishing ships involved in 

7 trafficking cocaine, heroin, and cannabis from South 

8 America to the United States. 

9 (7) By introducing cheaper, illegal products 

10 into the global market, IUU fishing undercuts the 

11 business and economic livelihoods of legitimate fish12 ermen in the United States and around the world. 

13 (8) In the United States and around the world, 

14 seafood fraud undermines the economic viability of 

15 fisheries and deceives consumers about their pur16 chasing choices. 

17 (9) Competition over seafood resources can lead 

18 to heightened tensions, conflict, and geostrategic in19 stability in regions of importance to the United 

20 States. 

21 SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 

22 The purposes of this Act are— 

23 (1) to support a whole-of-government approach 

24 across the Federal Government to counter IUU fish25 ing and related threats to maritime security; 


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1 (2) to improve data sharing that enhances sur2 veillance, enforcement, and prosecution against IUU 

3 fishing and related activities at a global level; 

4 (3) to support coordination and collaboration to 

5 counter IUU fishing and seafood fraud within pri6 ority regions; 

7 (4) to increase and improve global transparency 

8 and traceability across the seafood supply chain as— 

9 (A) a deterrent to IUU fishing and seafood 

10 fraud; 

11 (B) a tool for strengthening fisheries man12 agement and food security; and 

13 (C) an approach to enhancing the imple14 mentation of United States seafood traceability 

15 programs; 

16 (5) to improve global enforcement operations 

17 against IUU fishing through a whole-of-government 

18 approach by the United States; and 

19 (6) to prevent the use of IUU fishing as a fi20 nancing source for transnational organized groups 

21 that undermine United States and global security in22 terests. 

23 SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

24 It is the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to take action to curtail the global trade in 

2 seafood and seafood products derived from IUU 

3 fishing, including its links to forced labor and 

4 transnational organized illegal activity; 

5 (2) to develop holistic diplomatic, military, law 

6 enforcement, economic, and capacity-building tools 

7 to counter IUU fishing; 

8 (3) to provide technical and other forms of as9 sistance to countries in priority regions and priority 

10 flag states to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud, 

11 including assistance— 

12 (A) to increase local, national, and regional 

13 level capacities to counter IUU fishing through 

14 the engagement of law enforcement and secu15 rity forces; 

16 (B) to enhance port capacity and security, 

17 including through support to implement the 

18 Port State Measures Agreement; 

19 (C) to combat corruption and increase 

20 transparency and traceability in fisheries man21 agement and trade; 

22 (D) to enhance information sharing within 

23 and across governments and multilateral orga24 nizations through the development and use of 

25 agreed standards for information sharing; and 


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1 (E) to support effective, science-based fish2 eries management regimes that promote legal 

3 and safe fisheries and act as a deterrent to 

4 IUU fishing; 

5 (4) to promote global maritime security through 

6 improved capacity and technological assistance to 

7 support improved maritime domain awareness; 

8 (5) to engage with priority flag states to en9 courage the use of high quality vessel tracking tech10 nologies; 

11 (6) to engage with multilateral organizations 

12 working on fisheries issues, including Regional Fish13 eries Management Organizations and the Food and 

14 Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to 

15 combat and deter IUU fishing; 

16 (7) to advance information sharing across gov17 ernments and multilateral organizations in areas 

18 that cross multiple jurisdictions, through the devel19 opment and use of an agreed standard for informa20 tion sharing; 

21 (8) to continue to use existing and future trade 

22 agreements to combat IUU fishing and seafood 

23 fraud; 

24 (9) to employ appropriate assets and resources 

25 of the United States Government in a coordinated 


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1 manner to disrupt the illicit networks involved in 

2 IUU fishing; 

3 (10) to continue to declassify and make avail4 able, as appropriate and practicable, technologies de5 veloped by the United States Government that can 

6 be used to help counter IUU fishing; 

7 (11) to recognize the ties of IUU fishing to 

8 transnational organized illegal activity, including 

9 human trafficking and illegal trade in narcotics and 

10 arms, and as applicable, to focus on illicit activity in 

11 a coordinated, cross-cutting manner; 

12 (12) to recognize and respond to poor working 

13 conditions, labor abuses, and other violent crimes in 

14 the fishing industry; 

15 (13) to increase and improve global trans16 parency and traceability along the seafood supply 

17 chain as— 

18 (A) a deterrent to IUU fishing and seafood 

19 fraud; and 

20 (B) an approach for strengthening fish21 eries management and food security; and 

22 (14) to promote technological investment and 

23 innovation to combat IUU fishing and seafood 

24 fraud. 


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1 TITLE I—PROGRAMS TO COM2 BAT IUU FISHING AND IN3 CREASE MARITIME SECURITY 

4 SEC. 101. COORDINATION WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANI5 ZATIONS. 

6 The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Sec7 retary of Commerce, shall coordinate with Regional Fish8 eries Management Organizations and the Food and Agri9 culture Organization of the United Nations, and may co10 ordinate with other relevant international governmental or 

11 nongovernmental organizations, or the private sector, as 

12 appropriate, to enhance regional responses to IUU fishing 

13 and related transnational organized illegal activities. 

14 SEC. 102. ENGAGEMENT OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS OF THE 

15 UNITED STATES. 

16 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act, each chief of mission (as defined in section 

18 102 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3902)) 

19 to a relevant country in a priority region or to a priority 

20 flag state may, if the Secretary of State determines such 

21 action is appropriate— 

22 (1) convene a working group, led by Depart23 ment of State officials, to examine IUU fishing, 

24 which may include stakeholders such as— 


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1 (A) United States officials from relevant 

2 agencies participating in the interagency work3 ing group identified in section 201, foreign offi4 cials, nongovernmental organizations, the pri5 vate sector, and representatives of local fisher6 men in the region; and 

7 (B) experts on IUU fishing, law enforce8 ment, criminal justice, transnational organized 

9 illegal activity, defense, intelligence, vessel 

10 movement monitoring, and international devel11 opment operating in or with knowledge of the 

12 region; and 

13 (2) designate a counter-IUU Fishing Coordi14 nator from among existing personnel at the mission 

15 if the chief of mission determines such action is ap16 propriate. 

17 SEC. 103. ASSISTANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES TO IMPROVE 

18 LAW ENFORCEMENT WITHIN PRIORITY RE19 GIONS AND PRIORITY FLAG STATES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in collabo21 ration with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary 

22 of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, 

23 shall provide assistance, as appropriate, in accordance 

24 with this section. 


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1 (b) LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND COORDINA2 TION ACTIVITIES.—The officials referred to in subsection 

3 (a) shall evaluate opportunities to provide assistance, as 

4 appropriate, to countries in priority regions and priority 

5 flag states to improve the effectiveness of IUU fishing en6 forcement, with clear and measurable targets and indica7 tors of success, including— 

8 (1) by assessing and using existing resources, 

9 enforcement tools, and legal authorities to coordi10 nate efforts to combat IUU fishing with efforts to 

11 combat other illegal trade, including weapons, drugs, 

12 and human trafficking; 

13 (2) by expanding existing IUU fishing enforce14 ment training; 

15 (3) by providing targeted, country- and region16 specific training on combating IUU fishing; 

17 (4) by supporting increased effectiveness and 

18 transparency of the fisheries enforcement sectors of 

19 the governments of such countries; and 

20 (5) by supporting increased outreach to stake21 holders in the affected communities as key partners 

22 in combating and prosecuting IUU fishing. 

23 (c) PORT SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—The officials re24 ferred to in subsection (a) shall evaluate opportunities to 

25 provide assistance, as appropriate, to countries in priority 


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1 regions and priority flag states to help those states imple2 ment programs related to port security and capacity for 

3 the purposes of preventing IUU fishing products from en4 tering the global seafood market, including support for im5 plementing the Port State Measures Agreement. 

6 (d) CAPACITY BUILDING FOR INVESTIGATIONS AND

7 PROSECUTIONS.—The officials referred to in subsection 

8 (a), in collaboration with the governments of countries in 

9 priority regions and of priority flag states, shall evaluate 

10 opportunities to assist those countries in designing and 

11 implementing programs in such countries, as appropriate, 

12 to increase the capacity of IUU fishing enforcement and 

13 customs and border security officers to improve their abil14 ity— 

15 (1) to conduct effective investigations, including 

16 using law enforcement techniques such as under17 cover investigations and the development of informer 

18 networks and actionable intelligence; 

19 (2) to conduct vessel boardings and inspections 

20 at sea and associated enforcement actions; 

21 (3) to exercise existing shiprider agreements 

22 and to enter into and implement new shiprider 

23 agreements, as appropriate; 

24 (4) to conduct vessel inspections at port and as25 sociated enforcement actions; 


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1 (5) to assess technology needs and promote the 

2 use of technology to improve monitoring, enforce3 ment, and prosecution of IUU fishing; 

4 (6) to conduct DNA-based and forensic identi5 fication of seafood used in trade; 

6 (7) to conduct training on techniques, such as 

7 collecting electronic evidence and using computer 

8 forensics, for law enforcement personnel involved in 

9 complex investigations related to international mat10 ters, financial issues, and government corruption 

11 that include IUU fishing; 

12 (8) to assess financial flows and the use of fi13 nancial institutions to launder profits related to IUU 

14 fishing; 

15 (9) to conduct training on the legal mechanisms 

16 that can be used to prosecute those identified in the 

17 investigations as alleged perpetrators of IUU fishing 

18 and other associated crimes such as trafficking and 

19 forced labor; and 

20 (10) to conduct training to raise awareness of 

21 the use of whistleblower information and ways to 

22 incentivize whistleblowers to come forward with 

23 original information related to IUU fishing. 

24 (e) CAPACITY BUILDING FOR INFORMATION SHAR25 ING.—The officials referred to in subsection (a) shall 


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1 evaluate opportunities to provide assistance, as appro2 priate, to key countries in priority regions and priority flag 

3 states in the form of training, equipment, and systems de4 velopment to build capacity for information sharing re5 lated to maritime enforcement and port security. 

6 (f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER RELEVANT AGEN7 CIES.—The Secretary of State, in collaboration with the 

8 Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 

9 operating and the Secretary of Commerce, shall coordinate 

10 with other relevant agencies, as appropriate, in accordance 

11 with this section. 

12 SEC. 104. EXPANSION OF EXISTING MECHANISMS TO COM13 BAT IUU FISHING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the Ad15 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

16 Development, the Secretary of the Department in which 

17 the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of Defense, 

18 the Secretary of Commerce, the Attorney General, and the 

19 heads of other appropriate Federal agencies shall assess 

20 opportunities to combat IUU fishing by expanding, as ap21 propriate, the use of the following mechanisms: 

22 (1) Including counter-IUU fishing in existing 

23 shiprider agreements in which the United States is 

24 a party. 


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1 (2) Entering into shiprider agreements that in2 clude counter-IUU fishing with priority flag states 

3 and countries in priority regions with which the 

4 United States does not already have such an agree5 ment. 

6 (3) Including counter-IUU fishing as part of 

7 the mission of the Combined Maritime Forces. 

8 (4) Including counter-IUU fishing exercises in 

9 the annual at-sea exercises conducted by the Depart10 ment of Defense, in coordination with the United 

11 States Coast Guard. 

12 (5) Creating partnerships similar to the Oce13 ania Maritime Security Initiative and the Africa 

14 Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership in other 

15 priority regions. 

16 (6) Creating incentives for informants. 

17 (b) INCENTIVES FOR INFORMANTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who reports a 

19 violation of an IUU fishing law, rule, or regulation 

20 may apply to the Department of Justice for a re21 ward. 

22 (2) APPLICABLE PROCEDURES.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 subparagraph (B), the procedures set forth in 

25 section 7623(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 


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1 of 1986 (except for paragraph (5)) shall apply 

2 to any application under paragraph (1). 

3 (B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (i) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An informant 

5 who applies for a reward under paragraph 

6 (1) may seek judicial review of a decision 

7 by the Department of Justice in the appro8 priate United States District Court. 

9 (ii) AMOUNT OF REWARD.—Proceeds 

10 payable to an informant under this sub11 section shall include any civil, criminal, or 

12 administrative monetary sanction paid to 

13 the Federal Government in any IUU fish14 ing case or related action. 

15 (iii) PAYMENT DEADLINE.—Not later 

16 than 90 days after the payment of the pro17 ceeds described in clause (ii), the Attorney 

18 General shall pay the informant who is eli19 gible for a reward under this subsection. 

20 SEC. 105. IMPROVEMENT OF TRANSPARENCY AND 

21 TRACEABILITY PROGRAMS. 

22 The Secretary of State, the Administrator of the 

23 United States Agency for International Development, the 

24 Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard 

25 is operating, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads 


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1 of other Federal agencies, if merited, shall work, as appro2 priate, with priority flag states and key countries in pri3 ority regions— 

4 (1) to increase knowledge within such countries 

5 about the United States transparency and 

6 traceability standards for imports of seafood and 

7 seafood products; 

8 (2) to improve the capacity of seafood indus9 tries within such countries through information 

10 sharing and training to meet the requirements of 

11 Seafood Import Monitoring Program or similar 

12 transparency and traceability standards for seafood 

13 and seafood product imports, including catch docu14 mentation and trade tracking programs adopted by 

15 relevant regional fisheries management organiza16 tions; 

17 (3) to improve the capacities of government, in18 dustry, and civil society groups to develop and imple19 ment comprehensive traceability systems that— 

20 (A) deter IUU fishing; 

21 (B) strengthen fisheries management; and 

22 (C) enhance maritime domain awareness; 

23 (4) to support the implementation of seafood 

24 traceability standards in such countries to prevent 

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1 food market and assess capacity and training needs 

2 in those countries; 

3 (5) to utilize harvest, landing, vessel tracking, 

4 and other relevant data that may be collected in re5 sponse to requirements of seafood traceability pro6 grams— 

7 (A) to improve fisheries dependent data 

8 systems; and 

9 (B) to achieve sound management and con10 servation of fisheries resources; and 

11 (6) to address, as appropriate, broader under12 lying causes of IUU fishing, including weak policies 

13 and systems, domestic resourcing, and corruption. 

14 SEC. 106. TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS. 

15 The Secretary of State, the Administrator of the 

16 United States Agency for International Development, the 

17 Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard 

18 is operating, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

19 Commerce, and the heads of other Federal agencies, as 

20 appropriate, shall pursue programs to expand the role of 

21 technology for combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud, 

22 including by— 

23 (1) promoting the use of technology to combat 

24 IUU fishing and seafood fraud; 


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1 (2) assessing the technology needs, including 

2 vessel tracking technologies and data sharing, in pri3 ority regions and priority flag states; 

4 (3) engaging with priority flag states to encour5 age the mandated use of vessel tracking tech6 nologies, including vessel monitoring systems, AIS, 

7 or other vessel movement monitoring technologies on 

8 fishing vessels and transshipment vessels at all 

9 times, as appropriate, while at sea as a means to 

10 identify IUU fishing activities and the shipment of 

11 illegally caught fish products; and 

12 (4) building partnerships with the private sec13 tor, including universities, nonprofit research organi14 zations, the seafood industry, and the technology, 

15 transportation and logistics sectors, to leverage new 

16 and existing technologies and data analytics to ad17 dress IUU fishing and seafood fraud. 

18 SEC. 107. INFORMATION SHARING. 

19 The Director of National Intelligence, in conjunction 

20 with other agencies, as appropriate, shall develop an enter21 prise approach to appropriately share information and 

22 data within the United States Government or with other 

23 countries or nongovernmental organizations, or the private 

24 sector, as appropriate, on IUU fishing and other con25 nected transnational organized illegal activity occurring in 


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1 priority regions and elsewhere, including big data analytics 

2 and machine learning. 

3 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF 

4 INTERAGENCY WORKING 

5 GROUP ON IUU FISHING AND 

6 SEAFOOD FRAUD 

7 SEC. 201. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON IUU FISHING 

8 AND SEAFOOD FRAUD. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a collabo10 rative interagency working group on maritime security, 

11 IUU fishing, and seafood fraud (referred to in this title 

12 as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

13 (b) MEMBERS.—The members of the Working Group 

14 shall be composed of— 

15 (1) 1 chair, who shall be appointed by the Com16 mandant of the United States Coast Guard; 

17 (2) 2 deputy chairs, who shall be appointed by 

18 their respective agency heads, from— 

19 (A) the Department of State; and 

20 (B) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

21 Administration; 

22 (3) 12 members, who shall be appointed by 

23 their respective agency heads, from— 

24 (A) the Department of Defense; 

25 (B) the United States Navy; 


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1 (C) the United States Agency for Inter2 national Development; 

3 (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 

4 Service; 

5 (E) the Department of Justice; 

6 (F) the Department of the Treasury; 

7 (G) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

8 (H) U.S. Immigration and Customs En9 forcement; 

10 (I) the Federal Trade Commission; 

11 (J) the National Institute of Food and Ag12 riculture; 

13 (K) the Food and Drug Administration; 

14 and 

15 (L) the Department of Labor; 

16 (4) 1 or more members from the intelligence 

17 community, who shall be appointed by the Director 

18 of National Intelligence; and 

19 (5) 5 members, who shall be appointed by the 

20 President, from— 

21 (A) the National Security Council; 

22 (B) the Council on Environmental Quality; 

23 (C) the Office of Management and Budget; 

24 (D) the Office of Science and Technology 

25 Policy; and 


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1 (E) the Office of the United States Trade 

2 Representative. 

3 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Working Group shall 

4 ensure an integrated, Federal Government-wide response 

5 to IUU fishing and seafood fraud globally, including by— 

6 (1) improving the coordination of Federal agen7 cies to identify, interdict, investigate, prosecute, and 

8 dismantle IUU fishing operations and organizations 

9 perpetrating and knowingly benefitting from IUU 

10 fishing and seafood fraud in the United States and 

11 abroad; 

12 (2) assessing areas for increased interagency in13 formation sharing on matters related to IUU fishing 

14 and related crimes; 

15 (3) establishing standards for information shar16 ing related to maritime enforcement; 

17 (4) developing a strategy to determine how mili18 tary assets and intelligence can contribute to en19 forcement strategies to combat IUU fishing; 

20 (5) increasing maritime domain awareness re21 lating to IUU fishing and related crimes and devel22 oping a strategy to leverage awareness for enhanced 

23 enforcement and prosecution actions against IUU 

24 fishing; 


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1 (6) supporting the implementation of the Port 

2 State Measures Agreement in relevant countries and 

3 assessing the capacity and training needs in such 

4 countries; 

5 (7) outlining a strategy to coordinate, increase, 

6 and use shiprider agreements between the Depart7 ment of Defense or the Coast Guard and relevant 

8 countries; 

9 (8) enhancing cooperation with partner govern10 ments to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud; 

11 (9) identifying opportunities for increased infor12 mation sharing between Federal agencies and part13 ner governments working to combat IUU fishing and 

14 seafood fraud; 

15 (10) consulting and coordinating with the sea16 food industry and nongovernmental stakeholders 

17 that work to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud; 

18 (11) supporting the work of collaborative inter19 national initiatives to make available certified data 

20 from State authorities about vessel and vessel-re21 lated activities related to IUU fishing; 

22 (12) supporting the identification and certifi23 cation procedures to address IUU fishing in accord24 ance with the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Morato25 rium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826d et seq.); and 


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1 (13) developing a strategy for raising domestic 

2 awareness of the issues relating to IUU fishing and 

3 seafood fraud, including publishing annual reports 

4 summarizing nonsensitive information about the 

5 Working Group’s efforts to investigate, enforce, and 

6 prosecute groups and individuals engaging in IUU 

7 fishing and seafood fraud. 

8 SEC. 202. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

9 (a) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 2 years after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Working Group 

11 shall submit to Congress a 5-year integrated strategic plan 

12 on combating IUU fishing and enhancing maritime secu13 rity, including specific strategies with monitoring bench14 marks for addressing IUU fishing in priority regions. 

15 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF PRIORITY REGIONS AND

16 PRIORITY FLAG STATES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The strategic plan submitted 

18 under subsection (a) shall identify priority regions 

19 and priority flag states to be the focus of assistance 

20 coordinated by the Working Group under section 

21 201. 

22 (2) PRIORITY REGION SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

23 In selecting priority regions under paragraph (1), 

24 the Working Group shall select regions that— 


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1 (A) are at high risk for IUU fishing activ2 ity or the entry of illegally caught seafood into 

3 their markets; and 

4 (B) lack the capacity to fully address the 

5 issues described in subparagraph (A). 

6 (3) PRIORITY FLAG STATES SELECTION CRI7 TERIA.—In selecting priority flag states under para8 graph (1), the Working Group shall select coun9 tries— 

10 (A) the flagged vessels of which actively 

11 engage in, knowingly profit from, or are 

12 complicit in IUU fishing; and 

13 (B) that are willing, but lack the capacity, 

14 to police their fleet. 

15 SEC. 203. REPORTS. 

16 Not later than 5 years after the submission of the 

17 5-year integrated strategic plan under section 202, and 

18 every 5 years thereafter, the Working Group shall submit 

19 a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

20 Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign 

21 Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations 

22 of the Senate, the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

23 House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Af24 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 


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1 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives that 

2 contains— 

3 (1) a summary of global and regional trends in 

4 IUU fishing and seafood fraud; 

5 (2) an assessment of the extent of the conver6 gence between transnational organized illegal activ7 ity, including human trafficking and forced labor, 

8 and IUU fishing; 

9 (3) an assessment of the topics, data sources, 

10 and strategies that would benefit from increased in11 formation sharing and recommendations regarding 

12 harmonization of data collection and sharing; 

13 (4) an assessment of assets, including military 

14 assets and intelligence, which can be used for either 

15 enforcement operations or strategies to combat IUU 

16 fishing; 

17 (5) summaries of the situational threats with 

18 respect to IUU fishing in priority regions and an as19 sessment of the capacity of countries within such re20 gions to respond to those threats; 

21 (6) an assessment of the progress of countries 

22 in priority regions in responding to those threats as 

23 a result of assistance by the United States pursuant 

24 to the strategic plan developed under section 202, 

25 including— 


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1 (A) the identification of— 

2 (i) relevant supply routes, ports of 

3 call, methods of landing and entering ille4 gally caught product into legal supply 

5 chains, and financial institutions used in 

6 each country by participants engaging in 

7 IUU fishing; and 

8 (ii) indicators of IUU fishing that are 

9 related to money laundering; 

10 (B) an assessment of the adherence of 

11 countries in priority regions to international 

12 treaties related to IUU fishing, including the 

13 Port State Measures Agreement; 

14 (C) an assessment of the implementation 

15 by countries in priority regions of seafood 

16 traceability or capacity to apply traceability to 

17 verify the legality of catch and strengthen fish18 eries management; 

19 (D) an assessment of the capacity of coun20 tries in priority regions to implement shiprider 

21 agreements; 

22 (E) an assessment of the capacity of coun23 tries in priority regions to increase maritime 

24 domain awareness; and 


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1 (F) an assessment of the capacity of gov2 ernments of relevant countries in priority re3 gions to sustain the programs for which the 

4 United States has provided assistance under 

5 this Act; 

6 (7) an assessment of the capacity of priority 

7 flag states to track the movement of and police their 

8 fleet, prevent their flagged vessels from engaging in 

9 IUU fishing, and enforce applicable laws and regula10 tions; and 

11 (8) an assessment of the extent of involvement 

12 in IUU fishing of organizations designated as for13 eign terrorist organizations under section 219 of the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 

15 SEC. 204. GULF OF MEXICO IUU FISHING SUBWORKING 

16 GROUP. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

19 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 

20 coordination with the Coast Guard and the Department 

21 of State, shall establish a subworking group to address 

22 IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the United 

23 States in the Gulf of Mexico. 

24 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The subworking group established 

25 under subsection (a) shall identify— 


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1 (1) Federal actions taken and policies estab2 lished during the 5-year period immediately pre3 ceding the date of the enactment of this Act with re4 spect to IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zone 

5 of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, including 

6 such actions and policies related to— 

7 (A) the surveillance, interdiction, and pros8 ecution of any foreign nationals engaged in 

9 such fishing; and 

10 (B) the application of the provisions of the 

11 High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protec12 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 1826d et seq.) to any rel13 evant nation, including the status of any past 

14 or ongoing consultations and certification proce15 dures; 

16 (2) actions and policies, in addition to the ac17 tions and policies described in paragraph (1), each 

18 of the Federal agencies described in subsection (a) 

19 can take, using existing resources, to combat IUU 

20 fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the United 

21 States in the Gulf of Mexico; and 

22 (3) any additional authorities that could assist 

23 each such agency in more effectively addressing such 

24 IUU fishing. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the IUU 

2 Fishing Subworking Group is established under subsection 

3 (a), the group shall submit a report to the Committee on 

4 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

5 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep6 resentatives that contains— 

7 (1) the findings identified pursuant to sub8 section (b); and 

9 (2) a timeline for each of the Federal agencies 

10 described in subsection (a) to implement each action 

11 or policy identified pursuant to subsection (b)(2). 

12 TITLE III—COMBATING HUMAN 

13 TRAFFICKING IN CONNEC14 TION WITH THE CATCHING 

15 AND PROCESSING OF SEA16 FOOD PRODUCTS 

17 SEC. 301. FINDING. 

18 Congress finds that human trafficking is a pervasive 

19 problem in the catching and processing of certain seafood 

20 products imported into the United States, particularly sea21 food products obtained through illegal, unreported, and 

22 unregulated fishing. 


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1 SEC. 302. ADDING THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE TO THE 

2 INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO MONITOR 

3 AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING. 

4 Section 105(b) of the Victims of Trafficking and Vio5 lence Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7103(b)) is 

6 amended by inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Commerce,’’ after 

7 ‘‘the Secretary of Education,’’. 

8 SEC. 303. HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE SEAFOOD SUPPLY 

9 CHAIN REPORT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

12 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

13 and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administra14 tion shall jointly submit a report to Congress that de15 scribes the existence of human trafficking in the supply 

16 chains of seafood products imported into the United 

17 States. 

18 (b) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

19 subsection (a) shall include— 

20 (1) a list of the countries at risk for human 

21 trafficking in their seafood catching and processing 

22 industries, and an assessment of such risk for each 

23 listed country; 

24 (2) a description of the quantity and economic 

25 value of seafood products imported into the United 


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1 States from the countries on the list compiled pursu2 ant to paragraph (1); 

3 (3) a description and assessment of the meth4 ods, if any, in the countries on the list compiled pur5 suant to paragraph (1) to trace and account for the 

6 manner in which seafood is caught; 

7 (4) a description of domestic and international 

8 enforcement mechanisms to deter illegal practices in 

9 the catching of seafood in the countries on the list 

10 compiled pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

11 (5) such recommendations as the Administrator 

12 and the Commissioner jointly consider appropriate 

13 for legislative or administrative action to enhance 

14 and improve actions against human trafficking in 

15 the catching and processing of seafood products out16 side of United States waters. 

17 TITLE IV—AUTHORIZATION OF 

18 APPROPRIATIONS 

19 SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as may be necessary to carry out the activities required 

22 under this Act. 

Æ 


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