Dark Nets, Illicit Labor—Confronting China’s IUU Fishing and Seafood Supply Chain

The PRC has expanded its use of subsidized and aggressive illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, threatening maritime security globally, distorting seafood markets, harming U.S. economic interests, and enabling serious human rights abuses in the seafood supply chain. This hearing will examine the economic, human rights, and strategic implications of the Chinese Communist Party’s role in IUU fishing and illicit labor in the seafood sector, including the use of Uyghur and North Korean forced labor in processing facilities and on distant-water fishing vessels. 

This hearing will focus on (1) use of forced labor in China’s fishing fleets and the enforcement of existing laws on forced labor imports and Withhold Release Orders targeting those fleets; (2) the strategic and economic implications of the PRC’s IUU fishing practices and the current U.S. response; (3) U.S. efforts to support allies and partners in combating IUU fishing and strengthening enforcement on the high seas, and (4) the transfer and exploitation of Uyghur and North Korean labor in China-based seafood production and on PRC-linked fishing vessels. The hearing will also explore policy options to strengthen U.S. enforcement capacity, protect American markets from illegal seafood, and advance bipartisan legislative initiatives such as the FISH Act. 

The hearing will be livestreamed on the CECC’s YouTube channel.

Witnesses:

Ian Urbina, Director, the Outlaw Oceans Projects

RADM Scott Clendenin (Ret), Owner, Dog Zebra Solutions, LLC.

Additional witnesses will be added