S3879-118

Reported

To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper imported into the United States, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Mar 6, 2024

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill requires federal agencies to develop a portable field kit using chemical analysis to determine where imported red snapper actually comes from. It also allows the Department of Defense to help other countries fight illegal fishing by providing observers, data analysis, and intelligence support.

Who Benefits and How

  • Domestic fishing industry: Benefits from reduced competition from illegally caught or mislabeled foreign red snapper, potentially increasing market prices for legally caught fish.
  • Law enforcement agencies (Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, state agencies): Gain a new tool to detect seafood fraud and enforce fishing regulations more effectively.
  • International maritime partners: Receive technical assistance and support from US military and Coast Guard to combat IUU fishing in their waters.

Who Bears the Burden and How

  • Seafood importers: May face increased scrutiny and potential delays as origin verification methods are deployed.
  • Foreign fishing operations (especially those engaged in IUU fishing): Face greater enforcement pressure and risk of detection.
  • NIST and NOAA: Must dedicate resources to research, develop, and operationalize the new methodology within 2 years.

Key Provisions

  • Mandates development of a chemical-analysis-based field kit to verify red snapper country of origin
  • Requires a report to Congress within 2 years on the methodology and implementation plan
  • Authorizes DoD to provide maritime technical assistance including observers, shipriders, and intelligence to partner nations combating IUU fishing

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Requires development of a chemical analysis methodology to identify the country of origin of imported red snapper, and authorizes DoD technical assistance for combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Key Policy Areas

Trade, Fisheries, Law Enforcement, National Defense

Primary Purpose

Requires development of a chemical analysis methodology to identify the country of origin of imported red snapper, and authorizes DoD technical assistance for combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Policy Domains

Trade Fisheries Law Enforcement National Defense

Section 2 - Red Snapper Origin Methodology

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Domestic fishing industry
  • Law enforcement agencies
  • US Customs and Border Protection
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Seafood importers
  • NIST
  • NOAA
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Section 3 - IUU Fishing Technical Assistance

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • International maritime partners
  • US Coast Guard
  • Global fisheries sustainability
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Department of Defense
  • Foreign IUU fishing operations
Model: N/A | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: rs

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Reported
Introduced Committee Passed
Dec 18, 2024

Reported by Ms. Cantwell, with an amendment

Mar 6, 2024

Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Tuberville, and Mrs. Britt) introduced …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
9 mentions across 3 clauses
+4 positive -5 negative

Coast Guard, Department of Defense, Foreign maritime enforcement agencies

Positive-direction: Coast Guard, Foreign maritime enforcement agencies, US Customs and Border Protection

Negative-direction: Department of Defense, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Fishing & Forestry
3 mentions across 3 clauses
+2 positive -1 negative

Domestic commercial fishing operations (red snapper), Illegal fishing operations (foreign)

Positive-direction: Domestic commercial fishing operations (red snapper)

Negative-direction: Illegal fishing operations (foreign)

Seafood Product Preparation And Packaging
2 mentions across 2 clauses
-2 negative

Seafood importers

4/5
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Trade Fisheries Law Enforcement
Actor Mappings
"the_administrator"
→ Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"the_under_secretary"
→ Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology (Director of NIST)
Domains
National Defense Fisheries Law Enforcement
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Defense

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

3 terms
"Administrator" §2(a)(1)

The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

"appropriate committees of Congress" §2(a)(2)

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives

"Under Secretary" §2(a)(3)

The Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology