Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests (FISH) Act of 2025 (S.688)
(Passed the Senate, Pending in the House of Representatives)
The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025 (S.688) was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), with bipartisan original cosponsor Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), on February 24, 2025. The bill passed the Senate unanimously on March 22, 2026, and is now pending in the House.
The full title is: “To combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing at its sources globally.”
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is associated with many human rights abuses, including forced labor. The use of Uyghur and North Korean forced labor is well documented in China’s seafood industry, including on Chinese fishing ships.
The FISH act combats foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by:
- Defining IUU fishing under US law,
- Directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to blacklist vessels engaged in IUU fishing,
- Imposing visa bans for owners of vessels engaging in IUU fishing,
- Working with partner countries to expand at-sea inspection and enforcement.
Visit the UHRP U.S. Legislation Tracker for other bills endorsed by the Uyghur Human Rights Project.