The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a Coast Guard authorization bill that includes support for commercial fisheries.
The legislation would provide more than USD 30 billion (EUR 28 billion) for the U.S. Coast Guard for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
“This legislation prioritizes the Coast Guard’s most important asset – the men and women of the Coast Guard, and their families,” U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) said when the bipartisan legislation was introduced in February. “The bill also increases funding for core Coast Guard missions such as shipbuilding and cracking down on illegal fishing and drug smuggling.”
The bill was passed by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on 5 March, and by the full Senate later that day.
The legislation includes multiple provisions to prevent abandoned vessels and lost gear. If passed, the Coast Guard would be required to create a new inventory list of vessels and authorize a new USD 500 (EUR 462) per day fine for abandoned vessels. The bill would also continue authorization of a satellite tracking system used to mark fishing gear locations.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act would also support NOAA research, allowing NOAA to use the proceeds from the sales of obsolete vessels to buy replacements.
The bill also addresses the high tension in the South China Sea, where China’s expansive claims of exclusivity contradict territorial rights asserted by nations like Taiwan and the Philippines. Tension in the region has lasted for more than a decade, and the governemnt of the Philippines recently filed a diplomatic protest over China's actions in the region.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act also calls for increased cooperation with the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration to combat illegal fishing.
The legislation would also support closer ties between the Coast Guard and Tribal governments. It would create the first tribal advisor within the Coast Guard, a position that will advise Coast Guard leaders on how they can work with Tribes and provide a voice for those Tribes within the service. The bill also provides new Coast Guard authorities to support habitat conservation, according to Cantwell, who noted that the authorities will help Tribes work with “the Coast Guard to protect treaty fishing rights and maintain access to cultural and natural resources.”
Cantwell also included language to extend the Coast Guard’s Puget Sound Whale desk, which provide near real-time information about whale locations in the Puget Sound to vessel operators. Authorized in 2022 and opened in 2024, the Whale Desk would be reauthorized through fiscal year 2028 under the new Coast Guard bill.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act will also need to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives before being sent to U.S. President Donald Trump for his signature.
