Bill > S283

This bill, titled the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act, directs top federal science and oceanic leaders—specifically the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard—to jointly develop a standardized, chemical-based testing method to determine the country of origin for seafood. Designed to help federal and state law enforcement crack down on seafood fraud and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing—which refers to unlawful commercial fishing activities that bypass domestic and international conservation laws—the new testing procedure must rely on a portable field kit that can be easily carried by a single person, process samples quickly, and, where practicable, work on prepared dishes like sushi and ceviche. To kickstart this effort, the agencies are required to run pilot studies focusing on red snapper, representing stationary fish populations, and three major tuna species (bigeye, yellowfin, and bluefin), which are highly migratory stocks, with a formal report detailing the methodology and rollout plan due to specific congressional committees within two years of the bill's enactment.