Commission hearing spotlights China-linked illegal fishing, forced labor and bipartisan 'Fish Act' push

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China heard testimony that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing tied to China’s distant-water fleet is intertwined with forced labor and market-distorting practices that harm U.S. fishermen and national security.

Chair Senator Sullivan opened the hearing saying the problem is “a state backed system run by the Chinese Communist Party that combines illegal fishing, market manipulation, some of the worst environmental standards on oceans in the world … and forced labor, slave labor.” He urged stronger enforcement and noted the Senate had unanimously passed his Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest Act (the Fish Act) and included a Pentagon procurement ban in last year’s NDAA to bar Chinese seafood from military commissaries.

Ian Urbina, founder of the Outlaw Ocean Project, said his team’s investigation traced more than 6,500 industrial fishing vessels and roughly 1,400 fish-meal plants, and mapped more than 1,200 fish farms in China’s Xinjiang and Tibet regions. “Much of the product from those plants was bound for the U.S., including U.S. military bases and correctional cafeterias,” Urbina said. He told the commission that expanding aquaculture inland is part state-driven development and part an effort to shift polluting coastal operations, but that opaque supply chains and weak certification let forced-labor–tainted product enter global markets.

Rear Admiral Scott Clennedon (ret.) testified that IUU fishing is a national-security and food-security threat, noting that distant-water fleets operate in the waters of more than 90 countries and often rely on AIS manipulation and at-sea transshipment to launder catch. He recommended three strategic shifts: reinvigorate maritime governance and funding for operations, strengthen multinational cooperation and trade tools, and expand public–private partnerships to improve seafood traceability and import controls.

Dean Pinkert, an international trade and human-rights lawyer and special adviser to the Corporate Accountability Lab, told commissioners the legal toolkit exists — citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), section 307 of the Tariff Act (the forced-labor import prohibition), section 1595a (civil-penalty authority) and section 301 of the Trade Act — but enforcement has lagged. Pinkert recommended expanding the UFLPA entity list to include Chinese seafood processors and cold-chain firms, using regional withhold-release orders where appropriate, and pursuing civil penalties to create financial deterrents.

Commissioners pressed witnesses on whether current law supports a comprehensive ban on Chinese seafood. Witnesses said the UFLPA’s rebuttable presumption is powerful for Xinjiang-origin goods but that supply-chain opacity, bifurcated supply lines and limited resources for Customs and Border Protection complicate broader enforcement. Urbina said the presumption rightly “shifts the burden” to companies, but added that companies and certifiers often rely on inadequate audits that cannot be meaningfully validated in China’s closed regions.

Members and witnesses pointed to recent enforcement operations — including Operation Jade Spear and targeted withhold-release orders — as models, but said sustained congressional attention, better resourcing for interagency efforts such as M-SAFE, and pressure on major buyers and certifiers will be needed to scale results. Pinkert highlighted the underused civil-penalty authority under section 1595a and urged the commission to press for more routine entity-list additions and better coordination among enforcement agencies.

The hearing recorded several concrete figures and findings: more than 6,500 industrial Chinese fishing vessels and hundreds of processing plants were documented by Urbina’s team; roughly 1,400 fish meal plants were mapped; China now grows about four times as much farmed fish as it catches; the U.S. seafood sector is worth roughly $320 billion and employs about 2.3 million Americans; and estimates suggest up to one-third of wild-caught seafood consumed in the United States is linked to illegal fishing.

Chair Sullivan left the record open and asked witnesses to provide follow-up answers within two weeks. Commissioners and witnesses emphasized immediate priorities for the next 12 months: stepped-up import enforcement and traceability, procurement bans where feasible, civil penalties and entity-list designations, and public naming and pressure on major corporate buyers and certification bodies that continue to accept opaque documentation.

The hearing adjourned so members could attend votes on the floor; commissioners said they would continue bipartisan oversight and follow-up on implementation if the Fish Act becomes law in the House.