Katie Britt applauds Red Snapper legislation advancing from Senate Commerce Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 7, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) applauded the Senate Commerce Committee for advancing the Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act, legislation led by Senator Britt, Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama).

This legislation would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper imported into the United States.

Technology exists to chemically test and find the geographic origin of many foods, but not for red snapper. The legislation would develop a field test kit the Coast Guard could use to accurately ascertain whether fish were caught in Mexico or U.S. waters, thus allowing federal and state law enforcement officers to identify the origin of the fish and confiscate illegally caught red snapper before it is imported back into the U.S.

Each year, about 100,000 red snapper are harvested off of Alabama's coast, accounting for almost a third of the total recreational harvest in the Gulf of Mexico. Latest data reports that recreational and commercial fishing supports over 12,000 jobs in the state and contributes more than $1.1 billion in sales annually to the state economy.

"Red snapper is a core component of Coastal Alabama's economy, and I'm proud to fight to protect our hardworking fishermen and food producers," said Sen. Britt. "This bill would combat malicious, illegal activity by cartel-backed poachers who are endangering the livelihoods of law-abiding Americans and encroaching on our territorial sovereignty. I'm thankful to Senator Cruz for shepherding this important legislation to ensure fairness for U.S. fishermen and families through the Senate Commerce Committee. Senator Schumer should now bring this commonsense legislation to the floor."

Having been reported favorably by the Senate Commerce Committee, the legislation now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

Mexican fishermen cross the maritime border between Texas and Mexico on small boats called "lanchas" to illegally catch red snapper in U.S. waters and return to Mexico. The fish are sold in Mexico or mixed in with legally-caught red snapper then exported back into the United States across land borders.

Red snapper is one of the most well-managed and profitable fish in the Gulf of Mexico, but illegal fishing by Mexican lanchas puts law-abiding U.S. fishermen and seafood producers at a competitive disadvantage. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities violate both national and international fishing regulations.

Sen. Britt's office says that Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels also engage in the profitable illegal fishing of red snapper. The same fishing boats and fishermen who catch red snapper also smuggle drugs and humans for the cartels, and these profits support the organization.

With the help of machine learning, NIST scientists are currently able to chemically determine the geographic origin of foods, including strawberries, apples, cherries, ginseng, ginkgo, beef, honey, and rice. Using those same methodologies, these scientists believe it would be possible to determine the geographic origin of red snapper.

This would allow law enforcement to have a better understanding of the networks that support illegal fishing.

It would also reduce the financial incentives for the crime, since the fish could no longer be sold back into the United States.

If successful, this method could be expanded to identify other IUU fish.