Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Frequently Asked Questions

Over the past two decades, successive U.S. Administrations and Congresses have recognized that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens national, regional, and global security and have acted to combat such fishing activities. IUU fishing generally refers to fishing activities—occurring both in coastal nation jurisdictional waters and in international waters (i.e., the high seas)—that violate national laws or international fisheries conservation and management measures. Some IUU fishing vessels also may engage in other transnational crimes, such as human trafficking and/or labor abuses, as well as the smuggling of drugs, arms, and wildlife. IUU fishing may have several co-occurring consequences that range from harming legitimate (i.e., law-abiding) commercial fishing to undermining scientifically informed fisheries management. IUU fishing also can threaten local and regional food and economic security. Congress has passed several laws directly or indirectly addressing IUU fishing within U.S. waters and/or on the high seas. Some of these laws focus on addressing the impacts of marine biodiversity loss associated with IUU fishing (e.g., High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act; Title VI of P.L. 104-43, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006; Title IV, §§401-403, of P.L. 109-479). Other U.S. laws address the law enforcement aspects of IUU fishing, such as the Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act (commonly known as the Maritime SAFE Act; Division C, Title XXXV, Subtitle C, of P.L. 116-92). The Maritime SAFE Act provided a whole-of-government approach to address IUU fishing globally and established the Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing. In addition, Congress directed the Secretary of Commerce, through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), to implement the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to prevent imported IUU fish and fish products from entering U.S. commerce. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provides an international framework to address IUU fishing globally and implements several international fisheries legal instruments. The United States is a party to numerous FAO and other international agreements aimed at curbing or preventing IUU fishing, including the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the Port State Measures Agreement, the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. The United States also is a member of several regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), which are international fishery management bodies established to conserve and manage transboundary fish stocks (i.e., fish that move across maritime zones) and fisheries on the high seas. In 2019, under the Maritime SAFE Act, Congress directed the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to coordinate with RFMOs to enhance regional responses to IUU fishing. Because most IUU activities occur outside of U.S. jurisdiction, the U.S. government has taken several actions—through international agreements, organizations, and trade—to influence the behavior of foreign fishing fleets. Several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense (which is “using a secondary Department of War designation,” under Executive Order 14347, dated September 5, 2025), the Department of State, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Coast Guard, participate in various efforts to combat IUU fishing on the high seas and in the exclusive economic zones (i.e., the waters 200 nautical miles seaward from the shoreline under the jurisdiction of coastal nations) of partner nations. Such efforts include establishing strategic partnerships, improving enforcement tools, identifying and sharing information about vessels participating in IUU fishing, and assisting partner nations in developing and maintaining their own capacities to counter IUU fishing, among others. To address IUU fishing further, Congress may consider several policy options. For example, Congress may consider including other illicit activities that often occur in the seafood sector (e.g., human trafficking, forced labor) in the U.S. definition of IUU fishing. As another example, Congress may consider directing certain federal agencies to enhance transparency and traceability across the U.S. seafood supply chain, and whether to expand, retain, revise, or dismantle SIMP, or certain elements of the program, to more effectively keep seafood derived from IUU fishing out of the U.S. marketplace. Congress also may consider whether more resources and greater diplomatic support could help in the coordination of fishery management, including in regions currently without RFMOs. In addition, Congress may examine whether sufficient support and resources (including funding and staffing levels) have been dedicated to enforcement efforts to counter IUU fishing activities that may include capacity-building assistance to coastal nations and joint efforts, such as shiprider agreements, among other potential considerations.