Expressing concern that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing threatens security, prosperity, and biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean and facilitates human trafficking, including forced labor, and other inhumane and criminal practices in the region.

Expressing concern that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing threatens security, prosperity, and biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean and facilitates human trafficking, including forced labor, and other inhumane and criminal practices in the region. Whereas illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (referred to in this preamble as IUU fishing (1) are in violation of applicable national, regional, or international laws, regulations, or obligations; (2) are not reported or misreported to relevant authorities; and (3) occur in areas or for fishing stocks for which there are no applicable conservation or management measures; Whereas in 2020, the United States Coast Guard declared that IUU fishing has replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat; Whereas the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has expressed serious concerns about the fishing industrys vulnerability to several forms of transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons, money laundering, and smuggling of drugs and weapons, which are often linked to IUU fishing; Whereas, according to the International Labor Organization's 2022 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, approximately 128,000 fishers are subjected to forced labor aboard fishing vessels around the world in conditions characterized by extreme isolation, hazardous working and living conditions, and gaps in regulatory oversight, and IUU fishing is closely linked to these and other forms of human trafficking; Whereas IUU fishing threatens biodiversity and marine ecosystems, increases the risk of food insecurity, and creates unfair competition in the marketplace for lawful seafood industries; Whereas approximately 600,000,000 people worldwide are partially dependent on fisheries and aquaculture for their lives and livelihoods, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that IUU fishing deprives law-abiding fishermen and coastal communities of up to $23,000,000,000 in seafood products annually; Whereas, according to the United States Government's Global Food Security Strategy, the percentage of stocks fished at biologically unsustainable levels increased from 10 percent in 1974 to 34.2 percent in 2017, with IUU fishing being a key factor affecting the sustainability of fisheries; Whereas, according to a 2017 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1) IUU fishing off of South Americas Southeast Pacific coast and Southwest Atlantic Oceans contributes to the second highest proportions of biologically unsustainable fishing stock levels in the world; and (2) transformative changes are needed to address growing threats to sustainable fisheries and food security globally; Whereas large-scale operations of distant-water fishing fleets, particularly such fleets that are provided with billions of dollars in subsidies annually by the Peoples Republic of China, are primarily responsible for IUU fishing along the Pacific Coast of South America and the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, while small-scale artisanal fleets are primarily responsible for IUU fishing in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America; Whereas Chinese industrial fishing in the South Pacific coast of South America increased 13-fold between 2009 and 2020, contributing to a significant rise in IUU fishing in that region; Whereas, between July and August 2020, 350 Chinese distant-water fishing vessels disabled required tracking systems and engaged in 73,000 hours of fishing off the exclusive economic zone of the Galapagos archipelago, which is a United Nations World Heritage Site; Whereas, in November 2020, the Governments of Ecuador, of Chile, of Colombia, and of Peru (1) jointly condemned IUU fishing perpetrated by large fleets of foreign vessels; and (2) pledged to increase cooperation through regulatory bodies, such as the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific; Whereas the United States, Canada, and 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, Agreement, done at Rome November 22, 2009 (commonly known as the Port State Measures Agreement Whereas governments in Latin America and the Caribbean often lack the capacity to effectively monitor and prosecute IUU fishing, with many countries in the region investing less than 10 percent of their fisheries budgets on monitoring and surveillance; Whereas regional fisheries management organizations, such as the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, establish conservation and management standards, but face difficulties in enforcing such standards and executing coordinated action to counter IUU fishing; Whereas Uruguay is seeking to advance the creation of a regional fisheries management organization with Brazil and Argentina to combat IUU fishing in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, which is the only sea area in the world without a fisheries management government structure; Whereas the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement, which was approved by Congress under section 101(a)(1) of the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 4511(a) (1) prohibits subsidies for vessels or operators involved in IUU fishing; (2) requires customs inspections for shipments at ports of entry; (3) prohibits the importation of goods made by forced labor; and (4) requires efforts to seek the elimination of forced labor; Whereas similar provisions related to IUU fishing have not been enshrined in other free trade agreements in North America; Whereas, at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in June 2022, member states reached a multilateral agreement to prohibit certain harmful subsidies for fishing activities that threaten the sustainable use and conservation of marine resources, including subsidies to vessels engaged in IUU fishing; Whereas, the Maritime SAFE Act (subtitle C of title XXXV of Public Law 11692 (1) Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru as Tier I priority regions at risk for IUU fishing; and (2) the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean as Tier II priority regions at risk for IUU fishing; and Whereas the United States Government has undertaken several initiatives to counter IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean, including (1) conducting joint cooperation exercises in January 2021 involving the United States Southern Command, the United States Coast Guard, and partners in Brazil, Guyana, Portugal, and Uruguay; (2) certifying countries based on their actions to curb the flow of IUU fishing through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including issuing a negative certification in August 2021 for Mexico and a positive certification for Ecuador; (3) issuing National Security Memorandum 11 on June 27, 2022, which directs Federal executive departments and agencies to coordinate with each other, foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and other public and private stakeholders to combat labor abuses and other crimes associated with IUU fishing; (4) carrying out the first United States Coast Guard IUU fishing patrol under the auspices of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, in August 2022 off the exclusive economic zone of the Galpagos archipelago, during which the Coast Guard conducted high seas boardings and inspections of vessels suspected of engaging in IUU fishing; (5) issuing sanctions on December 9, 2022, against entities based in the Peoples Republic of China that are implicated in global activities related to IUU fishing, including activities in Latin America and the Caribbean; and (6) proposing that Chinese flagged vessels suspected of engaging in IUU fishing that refuse to allow on sea boarding and inspection be included in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management organizations IUU vessel list: Now, therefore, be it That the Senate (1) underscores the urgency of combating IUU fishing and its associated crimes, including human trafficking, and protecting oceanic biodiversity, the livelihoods of coastal communities, regional licit economies, human rights, and hemispheric security from the Peoples Republic of China, other extra-regional actors, and transnational criminal organizations engaged in IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean; (2) calls on the United States Government and governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to incorporate concerns regarding human trafficking and violations of labor rights, when determining whether activities qualify as IUU fishing; (3) encourages greater coordination among the Governments of Latin America and of the Caribbean to facilitate information sharing and law enforcement responses to IUU fishing, including by acceding to the Port State Measures Agreement, strengthening existing regional fisheries management organizations, and creating a regional fisheries management organization for the Southwest Atlantic Ocean; (4) encourages the Office of the United States Trade Representative, in coordination with the Department of State, to consider the implementation of IUU fishing provisions within current and future free trade agreements with countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to enhance accountability over such activities; and (5) calls on the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to counter IUU fishing by (A) undertaking public education initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean to elevate awareness of the harms caused by IUU fishing and its associated crimes; (B) assisting with the monitoring and dissemination of information regarding the activities of Chinese and other distant-water fishing fleets, and using multilateral fora, including regional fisheries management organizations, to address such concerns; (C) limiting the importation and consumption of fish and seafood caught by IUU actors, and use the United States role and influence in global markets to drive change in global seafood supply chains; (D) using sanctions and visa restriction authorities to hold accountable entities that are credibly suspected of engaging in IUU fishing, including (i) distant water fishing fleets from the Peoples Republic of China; (ii) other extra-regional actors; and (iii) transnational criminal organizations; and (E) utilizing available resources to support and assist the Office of the United States Trade Representative in reaching a final multilateral agreement under the World Trade Organization that (i) addresses the use of forced labor on IUU fishing vessels; (ii) strengthens relevant reporting requirements; and (iii) addresses harmful subsidies that contribute to fishing fleet overcapacity.

Summary: This resolution underscores the urgency of combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and protecting oceanic biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean. The resolution also (1) encourages greater coordination among the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to facilitate information sharing and law enforcement responses to IUU fishing; and (2) calls on the Department of State, in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal agencies, to counter IUU fishing.