# 119-hr-6338: Stop Illegal Fishing Act

119-hr-6338, Stop Illegal Fishing Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Meeks, Gregory W. [D-NY-5] (D-NY); status passed_house (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6338
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6338
- Congress: 119
- Title: Stop Illegal Fishing Act
- Status: passed_house
- Introduced: 2025-12-01
- Sponsor: Rep. Meeks, Gregory W. [D-NY-5] (D-NY)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Creates a U.S. sanctions regime targeting foreign persons and vessels involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.** It ties IUU activity to poor crew conditions and aims to deter harm to fisheries, ecosystems, and coastal communities by blocking finance and restricting entry. - Foreign owners, captains, senior crew, and entities tied to IUU fishing would face asset blocking under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and visa and admission bans, including immediate revocation of current visas. - Foreign vessels found to engage in IUU fishing would be subject to the same sanctions, limiting their access to U.S. markets and financial systems and increasing legal risk for operators and service providers. - The President would be required to create an IUU fishing sanctions program and report to the relevant congressional committees within 180 days and then annually for five years. The bill includes exceptions for international obligations, humanitarian aid, intelligence and law enforcement, vessel and crew safety, and a presidential waiver with 15 days notice to Congress.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40] (R-CA), 2025-12-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Case, Ed [D-HI-1] (D-HI), 2026-06-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New U.S. sanctions on illegal fishing: benefit, low. If enacted, the U.S. would set up sanctions against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. The President would have to target foreign owners, captains, senior crew, companies mainly doing this, and their officers, plus the vessels. U.S. people and companies would be barred from most deals wi…
- Visa bans for illegal fishing actors: cost, low. If enacted, noncitizens the U.S. knows or has reason to believe meet these illegal fishing criteria would be barred from visas and entry. They would be inadmissible and ineligible for visas, admission, or parole. Any visas already issued would be revoked at once under immigration law and would canc…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5509: Safe Step Act
- 119-hr-1684: PAST Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-6338 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6338)

## Related
- [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-5509: Safe Step Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5509)
- [119-hr-1684: PAST Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1684)
- [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6338 (as of 2026-09-21).