16 U.S.C. § 8003
Verified against govinfo.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on govinfo.gov ↗
It is the policy of the United States_1 So in original. Probably should be “States—”.
- (1)to take action to curtail the global trade in seafood and seafood products derived from IUU fishing, including its links to forced labor and transnational organized illegal activity;
- (2)to develop holistic diplomatic, military, law enforcement, economic, and capacity-building tools to counter IUU fishing;
- (3)to provide technical assistance to countries in priority regions and priority flag states to combat IUU fishing, including assistance—
- (A)to increase local, national, and regional level capacities to counter IUU fishing through the engagement of law enforcement and security forces;
- (B)to enhance port capacity and security, including by supporting other countries in working toward the adoption and implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement;
- (C)to combat corruption and increase transparency and traceability in fisheries management and trade;
- (D)to enhance information sharing within and across governments and multilateral organizations through the development and use of agreed standards for information sharing; and
- (E)to support effective, science-based fisheries management regimes that promote legal and safe fisheries and act as a deterrent to IUU fishing;
- (4)to promote global maritime security through improved capacity and technological assistance to support improved maritime domain awareness;
- (5)to engage with priority flag states to encourage the use of high quality vessel tracking technologies where existing enforcement tools are lacking;
- (6)to engage with multilateral organizations working on fisheries issues, including Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to combat and deter IUU fishing;
- (7)to advance information sharing across governments and multilateral organizations in areas that cross multiple jurisdictions, through the development and use of an agreed standard for information sharing;
- (8)to continue to use existing and future trade agreements to combat IUU fishing;
- (9)to employ appropriate assets and resources of the United States Government in a coordinated manner to disrupt the illicit networks involved in IUU fishing;
- (10)to continue to declassify and make available, as appropriate and practicable, technologies developed by the United States Government that can be used to help counter IUU fishing;
- (11)to recognize the ties of IUU fishing to transnational organized illegal activity, including human trafficking and illegal trade in narcotics and arms, and as applicable, to focus on illicit activity in a coordinated, cross-cutting manner;
- (12)to recognize and respond to poor working conditions, labor abuses, and other violent crimes in the fishing industry;
- (13)to increase and improve global transparency and traceability along the seafood supply chain as—
- (14)to promote technological investment and innovation to combat IUU fishing.