Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Dan Sullivan
Passed Senate
Summary
A public IUU Vessel List to expose illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and related forced labor. The bill would pair that list with enforcement tools, diplomacy, data-sharing, technology studies, and capacity-building to curb abusive seafood supply chains.
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- Vessel owners and operators: Owners or beneficial owners named on the list would face visa sanctions and ineligibility for U.S. admission, and they get a 90-day notice and a right to a hearing before listing.
- U.S. enforcement and trade actors: The measure would push the Coast Guard to increase high-seas boardings, require interagency tracking and reports to Congress, and mandate new data-sharing and risk-targeting reports within 3 years.
- Foreign partners and seafood industry: It would fund technical assistance and capacity-building for foreign fisheries, direct diplomatic negotiations to factor IUU and forced labor into agreements, and sponsor studies on tech and foreign reprocessing practices.
*Would authorize at least $60.0 million for the IUU Vessel List over FY2025–2030 and $2.0 million for a National Academies study, increasing federal spending by at least $62.0 million.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
More science, trade targeting, and grants
If enacted, the bill would expand an interagency working group's duty to design ways to stop IUU and forced‑labor seafood from entering U.S. markets and require a report within 3 years with data and enforcement recommendations. The Commissioner of CBP would have to publish a strategy for detecting seafood harvested with forced labor. The bill would fund a National Academies study with $4 million and require a report to Congress within 24 months. It would also set Sea Grant funding at $105.7 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2031 to support research and capacity building.
Treasury sanctions on illegal fishers
If enacted, the bill would let the Secretary of the Treasury impose sanctions on foreign people, companies, or vessels the Secretary finds engaged in IUU fishing or related forced‑labor conduct. Sanctions could include blocking property, banning transactions, and making persons ineligible for U.S. visas, admission, or parole, with authority to revoke existing visas. The President could waive sanctions in the national interest, and there are explicit exceptions for intelligence, law enforcement, vessel safety, humanitarian actions, and international obligations.
Public ban list and port limits
If enacted, the bill would require Commerce to create a public IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) Vessel List of foreign ships and beneficial owners tied to illegal fishing or forced labor. Listed vessels would be barred from many U.S. ports and port services, and seafood caught or carried by listed vessels would be subject to seizure and forfeiture, with a narrow exception if an importer paid for cargo and had no reason to know it was IUU. Commerce would publish listing procedures and detailed vessel information, give owners 90 days to respond, and issue implementing regulations within 12 months of enactment. The bill would also provide $20 million per year for fiscal years 2025–2030 to run the list, and it would direct the Coast Guard to increase high‑seas observation and try to board suspected IUU vessels, with a required report to Congress within 3 years on patrols and boardings.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Dan Sullivan
AK • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
RI • D
Sponsored 2/24/2025
Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
AK • R
Sponsored 3/24/2025
Roger Wicker
MS • R
Sponsored 4/30/2025
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
SC • R
Sponsored 5/7/2025
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Sponsored 5/7/2025
Sen. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE]
DE • D
Sponsored 6/12/2025
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
DE • D
Sponsored 6/17/2025
Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA]
LA • R
Sponsored 7/8/2025
Cindy Hyde-Smith
MS • R
Sponsored 12/1/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov