Humanity United Action applauds the introduction of H.R. 3075, the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, by Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Garret Graves (R-LA). This bipartisan bill takes critical strides towards allowing the United States to better combat the use of human trafficking and forced labor in global seafood supply chains.

Human trafficking within seafood supply chains, particularly on fishing vessels, is well documented as a significant challenge around the world. Furthermore, it is frequently linked toillegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which itself is a major environmental crisis threatening ocean ecosystems and global food security.

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act takes the important step of addressing the interconnected problems of forced labor and IUU fishing in a coordinated manner. The legislation strengthens screening requirements for seafood imports to better identify the use of forced labor or IUU fishing, including expanding the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to cover all species. The bill also requires SIMP to begin collecting data on the labor conditions used in harvest, transshipment, and processing of imported seafood, and it calls for stronger interagency cooperation to more effectively address human trafficking in seafood supply chains and IUU fishing.

Humanity United Action welcomes the introduction of the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, and we urge Congress to swiftly pass this important legislation.