S. 4720

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4720 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4720

To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to 
authorize the Secretary of Commerce to consider nations with open 
registries in the Secretary's identification of nations engaging in or 
endorsing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 9, 2026

Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to 
authorize the Secretary of Commerce to consider nations with open 
registries in the Secretary's identification of nations engaging in or 
endorsing illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting U.S. Fishers from Illegal 
Foreign Flags Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE HIGH SEAS DRIFTNET FISHING MORATORIUM 
PROTECTION ACT.

Section 609 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by adding at the end the 
following:
``(E) Any nation that allows vessels to be operated 
under the laws of the nation without confirming a 
genuine link (as described in Article 5(1) of the 
United Nations Convention on the High Seas, done at 
Geneva on April 29, 1958 and entered into force 
September 30, 1962) between the nation and the persons 
or entities with beneficial ownership and control of 
the vessel, and that, as a result, fails to effectively 
exercise flag state responsibilities as described in 
subparagraphs (A) through (C).''; and
(2) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (2) and 
inserting the following:
``(2) Secretary to amend term within legislative 
guidelines.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of the Protecting U.S. Fishers from Illegal Foreign Flags Act 
of 2026, the Secretary shall amend the definition of the term 
`illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing' published at part 
300.201 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 
on the date of enactment of such Act), to be consistent with 
section 3532(6) of the Maritime SAFE Act (16 U.S.C. 
8001(6)).''.
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