[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 190 (Monday, December 12, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S8491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. Begich, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. 
        Snowe, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 1980. A bill to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, 
and unregulated fishing through port State measures; to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Pirate 
Fishing Elimination Act, a bill to implement the international 
Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate 
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated, IUU, Fishing as adopted by the 
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in November of 2009. 
The agreement is the first binding global instrument focused 
specifically on combating IUU, also known as pirate fishing, and the 
United States was a primary participant in its negotiation and was one 
of its first signatories.
  Pirate fishing is a global problem that threatens healthy ocean 
ecosystems and sustainable fisheries both here and abroad. It is 
estimated that annual lost revenues from pirate fishing activities may 
be as much as $23 billion worldwide and that as much as 40 percent of 
the total catch for some fish stocks is caught illegally. The impacts 
of these activities are felt throughout the fishery supply chain, from 
the fisherman through the consumer, and affect food security and socio-
economic stability in many parts of the world. This includes the United 
States where our own sustainable domestic fisheries may be undermined 
through unfair competition with illegally caught international product.
  The Pirate Fishing Elimination Act, and the underlying international 
agreement, would combat this threat by establishing an inspection 
regime that would raise global standards for access to seafood markets 
to levels similar to those that we set here in the U.S. It would also 
explicitly prohibit known pirate fishing vessels from entering our 
ports and from introducing their tainted goods to our healthy seafood 
supply chain. As the world's third largest seafood importer, our 
actions can make a real difference by dramatically increasing the risks 
and costs associated with pirate fishing. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in supporting this crucial legislation.

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