Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Katie Britt (R-AL) wrote a recent letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick demanding action to counter illegal Chinese fishing.
As Sen. Scott explained, China's illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is highly unethical on multiple fronts.
For instance, ships' crews are "notorious for their gross human rights abuses, including the use of forced and child labor—often from persecuted minorities like Uyghur Muslims and North Koreans."
Additionally, these fishing vessels ignore international conservation efforts, depleting stocks and devastating habitats.
More worryingly, China is already the largest exporter of seafood into the United States, which means not only are American fishers forced out of business, but Chinese-sourced seafood is potentially unsafe to eat due to its unethical sourcing.
Sen. Scott noted that the Biden Administration passed the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act, which denies port to Chinese, Mexican, and Russian fishing vessels while imposing import restrictions on countries that engage in IUU fishing, "but this action is only performative because those nations' fishing vessels were never entering U.S. ports in the first place."
"We must act with meaningful purpose," the Florida Senator continued, "banning imports of all seafood from Communist China and other rogue nations, holding them accountable for their crimes, and defending American jobs."
Moreover, he did not deny exercising the High Seas Act, but "fully enforcing it... by imposing the toughest possible sanctions on seafood from Communist China and other nations that continue to abuse human rights on the high seas."
Scott previously worked with Representative Randy Fine (R-FL) to help protect American fishermen directly with the Sturgeon Conservation and Sustainability Act, which offers legal protections to domestic fisheries that spawn and harvest certain endangered species of sturgeon in captivity.
"For years, I have heard from Florida farmers about how Biden's reckless decision to classify non-native and hybrid sturgeon as endangered species created chaos," said Scott, adding, "Farmers raising certain sturgeons' species are being forced to care for thousands of fish that can live to 100 years – unable to sell, harvest, or relocate them without facing jail time or ridiculous fines."
