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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73

§55114 Unloading fish from foreign vessels

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle V— - Merchant Marine › Part Part D— - Promotional Programs › Chapter CHAPTER 551— - COASTWISE TRADE › § 55114

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Foreign vessels may not unload fish or fish products taken on the high seas into U.S. ports unless a treaty or another part of the law allows it. The Secretary of Commerce can make rules to collect information about U.S. ships that carry fish products for foreign processing ships into U.S. places. The main ban does not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands. A foreign vessel 50 feet or less long may unload fresh fish (not frozen or otherwise processed) in the Virgin Islands only for immediate local consumption. Those fish can only be sold or given for immediate use. Sales to a freezer or cannery worker are treated as not for immediate use unless there is clear proof otherwise. A person who keeps, sells, or receives fish in ways not allowed can have the fish seized and can be fined up to $1,000 per violation. That fine or forfeiture can be reduced or canceled under section 2107(b) of this title.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §55114

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as otherwise provided by this section or a treaty or convention to which the United States is a party, a foreign vessel may not unload, in a port of the United States—
(1)its catch of fish taken on board on the high seas or fish products processed from that catch of fish; or
(2)fish or fish products taken on board that vessel on the high seas from a vessel engaged in fishing operations or the processing of fish or fish products.
(b)The Secretary of Commerce may prescribe regulations the Secretary considers necessary to obtain information on the transportation of fish products by vessels of the United States for foreign fish processing vessels to points in the United States.
(c)(1)A foreign vessel of not more than 50 feet overall in length may unload its catch of fresh fish (whole or with the heads, viscera, or fins removed, but not frozen, otherwise processed, or further advanced) in a port of the Virgin Islands for immediate consumption in those islands. Fish unloaded under this paragraph may be sold or transferred only for immediate consumption. In the absence of satisfactory evidence that a sale or transfer to an agent, representative, or employee of a freezer or cannery is for immediate consumption, the sale or transfer is deemed not to be for immediate consumption. This paragraph does not prohibit the freezing, smoking, or other processing of fresh fish by the ultimate consumer of the fish.
(2)Fish unloaded in the Virgin Islands that are retained, sold, or transferred, except as allowed by paragraph (1), are liable to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States Government. A person retaining, selling, transferring, buying, or receiving the fish is liable to the Government for a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each violation. A penalty or forfeiture under this paragraph may be compromised, modified, or remitted under section 2107(b) of this title.
(d)Subsection (a) does not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 55114(a)46 App.:251(a) (1st sentence).R.S. § 4311; Sept. 2, 1950, ch. 842, 64 Stat. 577; Pub. L. 87–220, § 1, Sept. 13, 1961, 75 Stat. 493; Pub. L. 96–61, § 2, Aug. 15, 1979, 93 Stat. 407; Pub. L. 96–594, title I, § 126(b), Dec. 24, 1980, 94 Stat. 3459; Pub. L. 100–239, § 8(a), Jan. 11, 1988, 101 Stat. 1783. 55114(b)46 App.:251(a) (last sentence). 55114(c)(1)46 App.:251(b). 55114(c)(2)46 App.:251(c). 46 App.:251a.Pub. L. 87–220, § 2, Sept. 13, 1961, 75 Stat. 493. 55114(d)48:1801 note (Covenant § 503(b)). In subsection (a), before paragraph (1), the words “whether documented as a cargo vessel or otherwise” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (c)(2), the words “severally” and “in addition to any other penalty provided in law” are omitted as unnecessary. The last sentence is substituted for 46 App. U.S.C. 251a. Subsection (d) is based on section 503(b) of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union With the United States of America (48 U.S.C. 1801 note).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 55114

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73