Caribbean and Latin America Maritime Security Initiative Act of 2024

(1) Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (in this Act referred to as IUU) fishing is contrary to the United States commitment to sovereign rights, a rules-based global order, and relevant international treaties and obligations governing exclusive economic zones and environmental protections.

(2) IUU fishing undermines the sustainable management of protected living marine resources.

(3) The sustainable harvest of fish stocks is directly linked to food and economic security both for the United States and around the globe.

(4) In 2019, Congress passed the Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act (Public Law 116–92) to support a whole-of-government approach across the Federal Government to counter IUU fishing and related threats to maritime security and take action to curtail the global trade in seafood and seafood products derived from IUU fishing, including its links to forced labor and transnational organized illegal activity.

(5) The People’s Republic of China maintains a distant-water fishing fleet, which engages in a variety of problematic behavior in Latin America’s waters, including—

(A) overfishing;

(B) the deliberate catching of protected living marine resources; and

(C) often entering the exclusive economic zones and marine protected areas of the region and suspected of fishing without authorization.

(6) China’s distant water fleet facilitates its attempts to strengthen bilateral relationships, cultivate influence, and affect specific policy or diplomatic outcomes.

(7) Chinese IUU fishing without authorization in other countries’ waters demonstrates China’s drive to capture the region’s resources and undermines countries’ sovereign rights.

The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies shall cooperate to carry out a program, to be known as the Caribbean and Latin America Maritime Security Initiative, in support of strengthening maritime security partnerships in the Caribbean and Latin America using assets of the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other relevant Federal departments and agencies, as determined necessary.

The goals of the program required under subsection (a) shall be, to the extent practicable—

(1) to enhance cooperation between personnel of the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, other relevant Federal departments and agencies, and, where appropriate, the maritime forces of countries that are allies and partners of the United States in the Caribbean and Latin America;

(2) to strengthen the participation and coordination of the Coast Guard and, where appropriate, the Department of Defense and other relevant Federal departments and agencies, in regional organizations dedicated to coordination and cooperation in support of the fisheries policies that align with customary international law and United States standards, ocean conservation, maritime security, and related initiatives of the Caribbean and Latin America;

(3) to enhance partner country—

(A) maritime domain awareness;

(B) capability to perform fisheries management and law enforcement activities within their exclusive economic zones, including through international coordination; and

(C) legal capacity to develop and enforce effective domestic laws and regulations, including those necessary to implement international legal commitments, effectively protect the marine environment, and combat IUU fishing;

(4) to increase the capabilities of the Coast Guard personnel and other relevant Federal departments and agencies authorized to address IUU fishing to support law enforcement, maritime protection, and capacity-building initiatives in the Caribbean and Latin America;

(5) to support partner country access to, or acquisition of, capabilities to improve maritime domain awareness, improve the ability to monitor fisheries and other marine resources, and strengthen natural disaster warning and response;

(6) to encourage Caribbean and Latin American flag states to mandate the use of vessel tracking technologies, including vessel monitoring systems, automatic identification systems, or other vessel movement monitoring technologies on fishing vessels and transshipment vessels flagged by these countries and foreign vessels authorized to operate in their exclusive economic zones at all times, as appropriate, while at sea as a means to identify IUU fishing activities and the shipment of illegally caught fish products; and

(7) to document instances of private commercial entities or government owned fishing vessels fishing without authorization in the exclusive economic zones of countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Under the program required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies shall jointly assess opportunities to combat IUU fishing by expanding, as appropriate, the use of the following mechanisms with respect to countries in the Caribbean and Latin America:

(1) The systematic inclusion of counter-IUU fishing as a mission in existing maritime law enforcement agreements concerning operational cooperation to suppress illicit transnational maritime activity to which the United States is a party.

(2) Entering into such agreements that include counter-IUU fishing as an objective with countries with which the United States has not already entered into such an agreement.

(3) The inclusion of counter-IUU fishing as part of the mission of the Combined Maritime Forces.

(4) The inclusion of Coast Guard-led counter-IUU fishing exercises in the annual Department of Defense-led at-sea exercises conducted with partner countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, including, if appropriate, participation by other relevant United States agencies.

The Secretary of Defense may designate the program required by subsection (a) under section 331(b) of title 10, United States Code, as an operation for which support may be provided under such section to countries in the Caribbean and Latin America Security Initiative, if the support will be provided solely to governmental organizations of recipient countries for which maritime security is among their functional responsibilities.

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following:

(1) A review of the ongoing efforts of the United States to develop the institutional capacity of partner countries in the Caribbean and Latin America to prosecute cases involving IUU fishing under their existing laws or through relevant international legal instruments, guidance, and institutions governing environmental protection, territorial sovereignty, and maritime law.

(2) An estimate of the number of vessels flying flags of convenience in the Caribbean and Latin America, the scope of the problems caused by the flying of such flags, and an analysis of actions that could be taken by the United States in conjunction with partner countries to deter the flying of such flags.

(3) An assessment of the authorities and resources needed to support the institutional capacity building of partner countries to mitigate the flying of flags of convenience.

(4) An assessment of actions that could be taken by the Department of State with other relevant Federal departments and agencies to partner with relevant international organizations to mitigate IUU fishing, including international legal coordination and data sharing, enforcement practices, and holding flag States responsible for IUU fishing practices.

(5) An assessment of actions that could be taken by the United States to partner with relevant nongovernmental organizations to promote awareness of the ramifications of IUU fishing and to work with Caribbean and Latin American states to build legal authorities needed to prosecute cases involving IUU fishing and enforce fishery conservation and management measures.

(6) An assessment of actions that could be taken by the United States to highlight the IUU fishing behavior of vessels flagged to countries, including China, and the harm caused by IUU fishing to partner countries and to the environment.

(7) A review of ongoing efforts by the United States to promote maritime security, environmental protection, and fisheries sustainability in the Caribbean and Latin America.

(8) For each maritime law enforcement agreement or other agreement relevant to international cooperation and law enforcement on fisheries issues entered into with any country in the Caribbean or Latin America—

(A) an identification of the countries party to the agreement;

(B) an identification of the fiscal year during which the agreement was entered into; and

(C) a description of the contents of the agreement.

(9) A review of institutional barriers, including authorities to enter into maritime law enforcement agreements and funding needed to execute maritime law enforcement agreements, within Federal departments.

(10) An assessment of how many interdictions and high seas boarding and inspections of fishing vessels for suspected IUU fishing activities occurred during the 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act in the geographic areas of responsibility of United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command.

(11) The number of counter-IUU fishing missions completed by allies and partners in the Caribbean and Latin America with support from the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard during the 12-month period preceding the date of the enactment of this Act.

(12) A review of the total number of vessels engaged in suspected IUU fishing detected in the Caribbean and Latin America by the United States or its allies and partners and the country of origin for each such vessel during the calendar year preceding the date of the enactment of this Act.

(13) An assessment of any additional authorities necessary, including the expansion or modification of international cooperation agreements, treaties, and other legal vehicles, to enhance the efficacy of the Caribbean and Latin America Maritime Security Initiative.

In this section:

(1) The term appropriate congressional committees means—

(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Banking, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

(2) The term the Caribbean and Latin America means any of the following countries, territories, and bodies of water:

(A) The Gulf of Mexico.

(B) The Bahamas.

(C) Antigua and Barbuda.

(D) Argentina.

(E) Barbados.

(F) Belize.

(G) Bolivia.

(H) Brazil.

(I) Chile.

(J) Colombia.

(K) Costa Rica.

(L) Dominica.

(M) Dominican Republic.

(N) Ecuador.

(O) El Salvador.

(P) Grenada.

(Q) Guatemala.

(R) Guyana.

(S) Haiti.

(T) Honduras.

(U) Jamaica.

(V) Nicaragua.

(W) Panama.

(X) Paraguay.

(Y) Peru.

(Z) Saint Kitts and Nevis.

(AA) Saint Lucia.

(BB) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

(CC) Suriname.

(DD) Trinidad and Tobago.

(EE) Turks and Caicos.

(FF) Uruguay.

(3) The term exclusive economic zone means, with respect to a country, the zone contiguous to the territorial sea, as designated by the country—

(A) that extends a maximum distance of 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, in accordance with international law; and

(B) where the country has, to the extent permitted by international law—

(i) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources, both living and non-living, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration; and

(ii) jurisdiction with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, and installations and structures having economic purposes, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

(4) The term illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing or IUU fishing means the activities described as IUU fishing in paragraph 3 of the 2001 Food and Agriculture Organization International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing.

(5) The term marine protected area means any area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, that has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.

(6) The term fly a flag of convenience with respect to a vessel means the registry of the vessel under the flag of a nation other than the nation of citizenship or incorporation of the beneficial owner of the vessel in order to profit from less restrictive regulations.

The President may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person, including a foreign vessel regardless of ownership, that the President determines—

(1) is responsible for, complicit in, or has directly or indirectly participated in—

(A) IUU fishing, as such term is defined in section 3(f)(4);

(B) except as part of a conservation effort, the sale, supply, purchase, or transfer (including transportation) of endangered species, as defined in section 3(6) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1532(6)); or

(C) behavior associated with IUU fishing, including improper use of relevant vessel monitoring, identification, or communication systems;

(2) is a leader or official of an entity, including a government entity, that has engaged in, or the members of which have engaged in, any of the activities described in paragraph (1) during the tenure of the leader or official;

(3) has ever owned, operated, chartered, or controlled a vessel during which time the personnel of the vessel engaged in any of the activities described in paragraph (1); or

(4) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of—

(A) any of the activities described in paragraph (1); or

(B) any entity engaged in any such activity.

The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

Notwithstanding section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701), the exercise of all powers granted to the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of a foreign person described in subsection (a), if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.

In the case of a foreign person described in subsection (a) who is an individual—

(A) ineligibility for a visa to enter and inadmissibility to the United States; and

(B) revocation of any valid visa or travel documentation in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)).

In the case of a foreign vessel, denial of access to United States ports.

The President may direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to exclude from the United States, any alien that the President determines is a corporate officer or principal of, or a shareholder with a controlling interest in, the foreign person.

The President may impose on the principal executive officer or officers of the foreign person, entity, or on individuals performing similar functions and with similar authorities as such officer or officers, any of the sanctions described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), or (6) of this subsection that are applicable.

The President may prohibit any United States financial institution from making loans or providing credits to the foreign person or entity.

The President may, pursuant to such regulations as the President may prescribe, prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange that are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in which the foreign person, entity, or vessel has any interest.

The President shall annually submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on actions exercising the authorities provided by this section.

The President may exercise all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section.

A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section.

The President may waive the imposition of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if the President determines that such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States.

This section shall not apply with respect to activities subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence, law enforcement, or national security activities of the United States.

Sanctions under subsection (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to the admission of an alien to the United States if such admission is necessary to comply with the obligations of the United States under the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success on June 26, 1947, and entered into force on November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or the Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna on April 24, 1963, and entered into force on March 19, 1967, or other international obligations.

Sanctions under this section shall not apply with respect to a person providing provisions to a vessel if such provisions are intended for the safety and care of the crew aboard the vessel, or the maintenance of the vessel to avoid any environmental or other significant damage.

The President may not impose sanctions under this section with respect to any person for conducting or facilitating a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices or for the provision of humanitarian assistance.

Agencies responsible for the implementation of this section may promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section (which may include regulatory exceptions), including under section 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1704).

Nothing in this section may be construed to limit the authority of the President pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

In this section:

(1) The term foreign person means an individual or entity that is not a United States person.

(2) The term United States person means—

(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States;

(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity; or

(C) any person located in the United States.