United States senators have introduced legislation that would task the federal government with developing a new methodology for identifying where tuna and red snapper sold in the U.S. originated from.
If passed, the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and NOAA with creating a field test kit that uses a chemical agent to determine whether red snapper or certain species of tuna originated in foreign waters.
The lawmakers behind the bill – Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) – claim the legislation is necessary to crack down on illegal fish harvesting.
“Cartels and other criminal entities are illegally catching, importing, and selling red snapper and tuna to unwitting consumers and then using such profits to fund other illicit activities like drug smuggling and human trafficking,” Cruz said in a statement. “I am glad to join my colleagues in introducing this common-sense, bipartisan legislation to support U.S. fishermen, and I am hopeful Congress will act quickly to stop these dangerous criminal gangs.”
U.S. red snapper fishers have been frustrated by ...
