Letter to NOAA 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 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. Ashley 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.