Jared Huffman's amendment to combat illegal fishing passes the committee

March 03, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. — North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman's amendment to give the Coast Guard greater capabilities to combat illegal fishing has passed the house committee on Wednesday.

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act which is a part of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022, passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Huffman saying that expanding the use of this important tool can promote transparency at sea, the "devices called Automatic Identification Systems, or AIS... it shares the location of vessels so that we know where fishing is occurring, and we can identify patterns that indicate illegal activity."

Due to the gaps in current policies, the U.S. is importing seafood that was caught by illicit practices, and Huffman says are essentially cost-cutting measures for foreign fleets, and makes it difficult for American fishermen to follow guidelines and to also be competitive in the global marketplace.


By:  Nicole Olinger
Source: KRCR TV