Krishnamoorthi, Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge NOAA to Crackdown on Illegal Chinese Fishing

WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, alongside a group of bipartisan lawmakers, wrote to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Richard Spinrad, urging him to take immediate action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) Chinese fishing fleets that operate globally.

The letter was also signed by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Rep. Ashely Hinson (R-IA), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA).

China is the world's largest processor and exporter of seafood products to the United States. Operating with an estimated 17,000-vessel fleet, Chinese ships accounted for more than a third of all global deepwater fishing, where they bear responsibility for depleting a majority of fisheries off the coasts of South America and Africa.

NOAA's 2023 report on international fisheries revealed that Chinese IUU fishing imperiled the global ocean ecosystem and also identified widespread use of forced labor on deep water fishing fleets around the world.

In the letter, the lawmakers write, "Urgent action is needed. Past approaches to combatting IUU fishing by the PRC and efforts to stop forced labor have been insufficient, putting our fisherman and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage, damaging marine ecosystems, and implicating U.S. consumers in forced labor."

After NOAA's determination of the environmental degradation and the extensive use of forced labor on Chinese fishing fleets, the lawmakers request that NOAA enact trade restrictions that bar tainted Chinese seafood products from entering the United States.

Click HERE to view a copy of the letter or read below.

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Dear Mr. Spinrad,

We are writing to urge you to take immediate action to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The widespread IUU fishing conducted by the PRC is alarming, as is the PRC’s unwillingness to take corrective action despite years of rampant violations and circumvention of international conservation and management measures.

On August 31, 2023, your agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued its 2023 Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management, finding that the PRC had failed to take corrective actions to address U.S. concerns, resulting in the PRC receiving a negative certification determination. The report details how PRC vessels violated a wide range of international fishery conservation and management measures and failed to take appropriate corrective actions. In addition, the report finds that PRC-flagged fishing violated shark- and transshipment-related conservation measures.

We commend NMFS for including forced labor for the first time ever in its IUU fishing certification determination, but we are alarmed that the report concludes that the PRC’s distant water fishing fleet is “characterized by numerous reported incidents of forced labor” and that “the species and fisheries where forced labor is documented in the PRC’s distant water fleet is broad”, including tuna and squid that is imported to the United States. Most recently, in late 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued Withhold Release Orders (WRO) against PRC entity Dalian Ocean Fishing Co. Ltd. due to its egregious forced labor practices. These actions add to the growing body of reporting implicating the PRC’s fishing fleets in forced labor.

IUU fishing not only imperils sustainable fisheries and damages ocean ecosystems – it also threatens our economic security and puts our fishermen and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage. As you know, the PRC is the world’s largest processor and exporter of seafood products and is one of the top exporters of seafood products to the United States, making U.S. consumers unwittingly complicit in the PRC’s IUU fishing practices and forced labor.

Under the Moratorium Protection Act, a negative certification determination will result not only in the denial of U.S. port privileges, but it can also result in trade sanctions. Under the Act, if consultations with the Department of Commerce are not satisfactorily concluded within 90 days, the Secretary of the Treasury can prohibit the importation into the United States of fish and fish products. It has been over a decade since the Moratorium Protection Act was passed into law and, despite the growing body of evidence implicating the PRC in violating the conditions of this act, no restrictions on the importation of PRC seafood products have been implemented. We request that NOAA strongly consider enforcing trade restrictions against the PRC on specific seafood products tainted by forced labor if the PRC continues to refuse taking corrective action within the 90 days after bilateral consultations begin.

Urgent action is needed. Past approaches to combatting IUU fishing by the PRC and efforts to stop forced labor have been insufficient, putting our fisherman and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage, damaging marine ecosystems, and implicating U.S. consumers in forced labor.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your prompt response to this pressing issue.

 

克里希纳莫蒂和两党议员敦促美国国家海洋和大气管理局打击中国非法捕鱼 

华盛顿特区 - 众议院美国与中国共产党战略竞争特设委员会委员会主席迈克·加拉格尔 (Mike Gallagher) (R-WI) 、资深议员拉贾·克利胥纳莫提与一批两党立法者写信给美国国家海洋和大气管理局局长里克·斯宾拉德， 敦促他立即采取行动打击中国捕鱼船队全球性的非法、隐瞒、及无管制的捕鱼行为。

这封信还由众议员罗布·维特曼 (Rob Wittman) (R-VA)、吉姆·希姆斯 (Jim Himes) (D-CT)、丹·纽豪斯 (Dan Newhouse) (R-WA)、凯西·卡斯特 (Kathy Castor) (D-FL)、约翰·穆罗尔 (John Moolenaar) (R-MI)、塞斯·穆尔顿 (Seth Moulton) (D-MA)、达林·拉胡德 (Darin LaHood) (R-IL)、罗·卡纳 (Ro Khanna) (D-CA)、阿什利·辛森 (Ashley Hinson) (R-IA)、米基·谢里尔 (Mikie Sherrill) (D-NJ)、卡洛斯·希门尼斯 (Carlos Gimenez) (R-FL)、和斯科特·皮特斯 (Scott Peters) (D-CA)签署。

中国是世界上最大的海鲜产品加工国和对美国的海鲜产品出口国。中国鱼船约有 17,000 艘，占全球深水捕鱼渔船总量的三分之一以上。它们对南美洲和非洲沿海大部分渔业资源的快速耗尽负有责任。

美国国家海洋和大气管理局 2023 年国际渔业报告显示，中国的非法、瞒报及无管制捕鱼活动危及全球海洋生态系统，并指出中国在世界各地的深水捕捞船队广泛使用强迫劳动。

议员们在信中写道：“需要采取紧急行动。过去打击非法、瞒报及无管制捕鱼的方法和制止强迫劳动的努力对中国不够充分有效，使我们的渔民和海鲜生产者处于竞争劣势，也破坏了海洋生态系统，并连累到美国消费者参与强迫劳动。”

在美国国家海洋和大气管理局认定中国渔船存在环境退化和广泛使用强迫劳动后，议员们要求美国国家海洋和大气管理局制定贸易限制措施，禁止不合法的中国海产品进入美国。

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