Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§8034 Gulf of Mexico IUU Fishing Subworking Group

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 99— - MARITIME SECURITY AND FISHERIES ENFORCEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON IUU FISHING › § 8034

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Within 90 days after December 20, 2019, the NOAA Administrator, working with the Coast Guard Commandant and the Secretary of State, must set up a subworking group to tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the United States’ exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The group must list federal actions and policies from the five years before December 20, 2019, (including steps for monitoring, stopping, and prosecuting foreign fishers and how the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act was applied), plus what each agency can do now with current resources, and any extra legal powers that would help. Not later than one year after the group starts, it must send a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the House Committee on Natural Resources. The report must include the group’s findings and a schedule for each agency to carry out the practical actions it identified.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §8034

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Not later than 90 days after December 20, 2019, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in coordination with the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of State, shall establish a subworking group to address IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico.
(b)The subworking group established under subsection (a) shall identify—
(1)Federal actions taken and policies established during the 5-year period immediately preceding December 20, 2019, with respect to IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, including such actions and policies related to—
(A)the surveillance, interdiction, and prosecution of any foreign nationals engaged in such fishing; and
(B)the application of the provisions of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826d et seq.) to any relevant nation, including the status of any past or ongoing consultations and certification procedures;
(2)actions and policies, in addition to the actions and policies described in paragraph (1), each of the Federal agencies described in subsection (a) can take, using existing resources, to combat IUU fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico; and
(3)any additional authorities that could assist each such agency in more effectively addressing such IUU fishing.
(c)Not later than 1 year after the IUU Fishing Subworking Group is established under subsection (a), the group shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives that contains—
(1)the findings identified pursuant to subsection (b); and
(2)a timeline for each of the Federal agencies described in subsection (a) to implement each action or policy identified pursuant to subsection (b)(2).

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(B), is Pub. L. 104–43, title VI, Nov. 3, 1995, 109 Stat. 391, which enacted sections 1826d to 1826g of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 1826d of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 1995 Amendment note set out under section 1801 of this title and Tables.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 8034

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73