The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump took funding set aside for combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and spent it on other priorities, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to a report from Washington D.C.-focused news outlet Punchbowl News.
The outlet reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) diverted most of the USD 170 million (EUR 147 million) set aside in the One Big Beautiful Bill for the U.S. Coast Guard to spend on maritime domain awareness, which would support the government’s anti-IUU fishing enforcement efforts.
A 2025 investigation by the DHS Office of the Inspector General found that the Coast Guard was not prioritizing its IUU mission, devoting just 4 percent of its mission hours to that mission in 2023 and 2024. In January 2026, Coast Guard leaders told lawmakers in Congress that they need more people, resources, and technology to combat IUU fishing. At that time, Rear Admiral David Barata, the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations policy, said the government needed better technology to know what vessels are out there and what they’re doing in order to reduce IUU fishing.
“From our standpoint, it's a very difficult issue to deal with,” Barata said. “As we look at the number of [vessels] that are out there, the distant-water [vessels], there are about 6,000 that we know were registered with China and almost 17,000 that we think are registered in other flags that are conducting this type of work.”
“In the far reaches of the Pacific, some of the things that we're going to need are ... satellite assistance in order to compare the location of those vessels against their actual location. Then, we're going to need data and artificial intelligence to kind of help us suss out which vessels are operating illegally,” Barata said.
Passed in July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included USD 170 million to boost the Coast Guard’s maritime domain awareness, including “next-generation sensors.” Shortly after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed into law, the Coast Guard put out a statement welcoming the investment.
“This historic investment marks a new era for the Coast Guard,” Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said at the time. “It reflects the strong support of the American people and empowers us to restore our Service and prepare for the challenges of today and tomorrow. With this level of support, and the dedication of our Coast Guard men and women, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. We are deeply grateful for this opportunity to build a stronger Coast Guard for the Nation.”
According to Punchbowl News, however, the majority of the USD 170 million set aside for maritime domain awareness was diverted to other Trump administration priorities, including security for the FIFA World Cup, America’s 250 celebrations, and other sporting events.
Cruz told the publication that “unfortunately the bulk of the funding has not gone where it needed to go.” DHS declined to comment on the report.
