[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 92 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 92

 Expressing concern that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing 
 threatens security, prosperity, and biodiversity in Latin America and 
   the Caribbean and facilitates human trafficking, including forced 
    labor, and other inhumane and criminal practices in the region.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2023

 Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. 
 Kaine) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing concern that illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing 
 threatens security, prosperity, and biodiversity in Latin America and 
   the Caribbean and facilitates human trafficking, including forced 
    labor, and other inhumane and criminal practices in the region.

Whereas illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (referred to in this 
        preamble as ``IUU fishing''), which are defined in paragraphs 3.1, 3.2, 
        and 3.3 of the 2001 Food and Agriculture Organization International Plan 
        of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and 
        Unregulated Fishing, includes fishing activities that--

    (1) are in violation of applicable national, regional, or international 
laws, regulations, or obligations;

    (2) are not reported or misreported to relevant authorities; and

    (3) occur in areas or for fishing stocks for which there are no 
applicable conservation or management measures;

Whereas in 2020, the United States Coast Guard declared that IUU fishing has 
        replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat;
Whereas the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has expressed serious 
        concerns about the fishing industry's vulnerability to several forms of 
        transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons, money 
        laundering, and smuggling of drugs and weapons, which are often linked 
        to IUU fishing;
Whereas, according to the International Labor Organization's 2022 Global 
        Estimates of Modern Slavery, approximately 128,000 fishers are subjected 
        to forced labor aboard fishing vessels around the world in conditions 
        characterized by extreme isolation, hazardous working and living 
        conditions, and gaps in regulatory oversight, and IUU fishing is closely 
        linked to these and other forms of human trafficking;
Whereas IUU fishing threatens biodiversity and marine ecosystems, increases the 
        risk of food insecurity, and creates unfair competition in the 
        marketplace for lawful seafood industries;
Whereas approximately 600,000,000 people worldwide are partially dependent on 
        fisheries and aquaculture for their lives and livelihoods, and the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that IUU fishing 
        deprives law-abiding fishermen and coastal communities of up to 
        $23,000,000,000 in seafood products annually;
Whereas, according to the United States Government's Global Food Security 
        Strategy, the percentage of stocks fished at biologically unsustainable 
        levels increased from 10 percent in 1974 to 34.2 percent in 2017, with 
        IUU fishing being a key factor affecting the sustainability of 
        fisheries;
Whereas, according to a 2017 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of 
        the United Nations--

    (1) IUU fishing off of South America's Southeast Pacific coast and 
Southwest Atlantic Oceans contributes to the second highest proportions of 
biologically unsustainable fishing stock levels in the world; and

    (2) transformative changes are needed to address growing threats to 
sustainable fisheries and food security globally;

Whereas large-scale operations of distant-water fishing fleets, particularly 
        such fleets that are provided with billions of dollars in subsidies 
        annually by the People's Republic of China, are primarily responsible 
        for IUU fishing along the Pacific Coast of South America and the 
        Southwest Atlantic Ocean, while small-scale artisanal fleets are 
        primarily responsible for IUU fishing in the Caribbean, Mexico, and 
        Central America;
Whereas Chinese industrial fishing in the South Pacific coast of South America 
        increased 13-fold between 2009 and 2020, contributing to a significant 
        rise in IUU fishing in that region;
Whereas, between July and August 2020, 350 Chinese distant-water fishing vessels 
        disabled required tracking systems and engaged in 73,000 hours of 
        fishing off the exclusive economic zone of the Galapagos archipelago, 
        which is a United Nations World Heritage Site;
Whereas, in November 2020, the Governments of Ecuador, of Chile, of Colombia, 
        and of Peru--

    (1) jointly condemned IUU fishing perpetrated by large fleets of 
foreign vessels; and

    (2) pledged to increase cooperation through regulatory bodies, such as 
the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific;

Whereas the United States, Canada, and 12 countries in Latin America and the 
        Caribbean are parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to 
        Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated 
        Fishing, Agreement, done at Rome November 22, 2009 (commonly known as 
        the ``Port State Measures Agreement''), which was facilitated by the 
        United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and entered into force 
        in June 2016, setting standards for the reporting and inspection of 
        fishing activities of foreign-flagged vessels at port;
Whereas governments in Latin America and the Caribbean often lack the capacity 
        to effectively monitor and prosecute IUU fishing, with many countries in 
        the region investing less than 10 percent of their fisheries budgets on 
        monitoring and surveillance;
Whereas regional fisheries management organizations, such as the South Pacific 
        Regional Fisheries Management Organization and the Caribbean Regional 
        Fisheries Mechanism, establish conservation and management standards, 
        but face difficulties in enforcing such standards and executing 
        coordinated action to counter IUU fishing;
Whereas Uruguay is seeking to advance the creation of a regional fisheries 
        management organization with Brazil and Argentina to combat IUU fishing 
        in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, which is the only sea area in the world 
        without a fisheries management government structure;
Whereas the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was approved by 
        Congress under section 101(a)(1) of the United States-Mexico-Canada 
        Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4511(a))--

    (1) prohibits subsidies for vessels or operators involved in IUU 
fishing;

    (2) requires customs inspections for shipments at ports of entry;

    (3) prohibits the importation of goods made by forced labor; and

    (4) requires efforts to seek the elimination of forced labor;

Whereas similar provisions related to IUU fishing have not been enshrined in 
        other free trade agreements in North America;
Whereas, at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in 
        June 2022, member states reached a multilateral agreement to prohibit 
        certain harmful subsidies for fishing activities that threaten the 
        sustainable use and conservation of marine resources, including 
        subsidies to vessels engaged in IUU fishing;
Whereas, the Maritime SAFE Act (subtitle C of title XXXV of Public Law 116-92) 
        established an interagency working group to develop a 5-year strategic 
        plan to counter IUU fishing, which was released in October 2022, and has 
        identified--

    (1) Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru as Tier I priority regions at risk for 
IUU fishing; and

    (2) the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean as Tier II priority 
regions at risk for IUU fishing; and

Whereas the United States Government has undertaken several initiatives to 
        counter IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean, including--

    (1) conducting joint cooperation exercises in January 2021 involving 
the United States Southern Command, the United States Coast Guard, and 
partners in Brazil, Guyana, Portugal, and Uruguay;

    (2) certifying countries based on their actions to curb the flow of IUU 
fishing through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
including issuing a negative certification in August 2021 for Mexico and a 
positive certification for Ecuador;

    (3) issuing National Security Memorandum 11 on June 27, 2022, which 
directs Federal executive departments and agencies to coordinate with each 
other, foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and other public 
and private stakeholders to combat labor abuses and other crimes associated 
with IUU fishing;

    (4) carrying out the first United States Coast Guard IUU fishing patrol 
under the auspices of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management 
Organization, in August 2022 off the exclusive economic zone of the 
Galapagos archipelago, during which the Coast Guard conducted high seas 
boardings and inspections of vessels suspected of engaging in IUU fishing;

    (5) issuing sanctions on December 9, 2022, against entities based in 
the People's Republic of China that are implicated in global activities 
related to IUU fishing, including activities in Latin America and the 
Caribbean; and

    (6) proposing that Chinese flagged vessels suspected of engaging in IUU 
fishing that refuse to allow on sea boarding and inspection be included in 
the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management organization's IUU vessel 
list: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) underscores the urgency of combating IUU fishing and 
        its associated crimes, including human trafficking, and 
        protecting oceanic biodiversity, the livelihoods of coastal 
        communities, regional licit economies, human rights, and 
        hemispheric security from the People's Republic of China, other 
        extra-regional actors, and transnational criminal organizations 
        engaged in IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean;
            (2) calls on the United States Government and governments 
        in Latin America and the Caribbean to incorporate concerns 
        regarding human trafficking and violations of labor rights, 
        when determining whether activities qualify as IUU fishing;
            (3) encourages greater coordination among the Governments 
        of Latin America and of the Caribbean to facilitate information 
        sharing and law enforcement responses to IUU fishing, including 
        by acceding to the Port State Measures Agreement, strengthening 
        existing regional fisheries management organizations, and 
        creating a regional fisheries management organization for the 
        Southwest Atlantic Ocean;
            (4) encourages the Office of the United States Trade 
        Representative, in coordination with the Department of State, 
        to consider the implementation of IUU fishing provisions within 
        current and future free trade agreements with countries of 
        Latin America and the Caribbean to enhance accountability over 
        such activities; and
            (5) calls on the Secretary of State, in coordination with 
        the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development and the heads of other relevant Federal departments 
        and agencies, to counter IUU fishing by--
                    (A) undertaking public education initiatives in 
                Latin America and the Caribbean to elevate awareness of 
                the harms caused by IUU fishing and its associated 
                crimes;
                    (B) assisting with the monitoring and dissemination 
                of information regarding the activities of Chinese and 
                other distant-water fishing fleets, and using 
                multilateral fora, including regional fisheries 
                management organizations, to address such concerns;
                    (C) limiting the importation and consumption of 
                fish and seafood caught by IUU actors, and use the 
                United States role and influence in global markets to 
                drive change in global seafood supply chains;
                    (D) using sanctions and visa restriction 
                authorities to hold accountable entities that are 
                credibly suspected of engaging in IUU fishing, 
                including--
                            (i) distant water fishing fleets from the 
                        People's Republic of China;
                            (ii) other extra-regional actors; and
                            (iii) transnational criminal organizations; 
                        and
                    (E) utilizing available resources to support and 
                assist the Office of the United States Trade 
                Representative in reaching a final multilateral 
                agreement under the World Trade Organization that--
                            (i) addresses the use of forced labor on 
                        IUU fishing vessels;
                            (ii) strengthens relevant reporting 
                        requirements; and
                            (iii) addresses harmful subsidies that 
                        contribute to fishing fleet overcapacity.
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