Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73
§8704 Alien deemed to be employed in the United States
Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part F— - Manning of Vessels › Chapter CHAPTER 87— - UNLICENSED PERSONNEL › § 8704
Summary
An unlicensed noncitizen working on a U.S. fishing, processing, or tender vessel in U.S. waters, including the exclusive economic zone, counts as employed under section 274A (8 U.S.C. 1324a) unless the vessel fishes only for highly migratory species (16 U.S.C. 1802).
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §8704
Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
An alien is deemed to be employed in the United States for purposes of section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) if the alien is an unlicensed individual employed on a fishing, fish processing, or fish tender vessel that—
(1)is a vessel of the United States engaged in the fisheries in the navigable waters of the United States or the exclusive economic zone; and
(2)is not engaged in fishing exclusively for highly migratory species (as that term is defined in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802).
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1996—Par. (2). Pub. L. 104–208 substituted “Magnuson-Stevens Fishery” for “Magnuson Fishery”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1996 Amendment Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(a) [title II, § 211(b)], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009–41, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective 15 days after Oct. 11, 1996.
Construction
Pub. L. 100–239, § 5(f)(3), Jan. 11, 1988, 101 Stat. 1781, provided that: “With respect to an alien who is deemed to be employed in the United States under section 8704 of title 46, United States Code (as amended by this subsection), the term ‘date of the enactment of this section’ [translated as “November 6, 1986”] as used in section 274A(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act [former 8 U.S.C. 1324a(i)] means the date 180 days after the enactment of this section [Jan. 11, 1988].”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 8704
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73