H.R. 6338 · 119th Congress

Stop Illegal Fishing Act

Introduced on Dec 1, 2025 by Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5). 3 cosponsors, 2 of them from another party. Latest action (Jun 9, 2026): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Dec 1, 2025
Cosponsors
3
2 from the other party
Policy area
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign persons and foreign vessels that engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Congressional oversight
  • Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
  • Marine and inland water transportation
  • Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
  • Sanctions
  • Visas and passports

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Dec 1, 2025). Public domain.

Stop Illegal Fishing Act

This bill requires the President to impose sanctions on foreign vessels and persons engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing).

The bill directs the President to block and prohibit all transactions involving property (including interests in property) of a covered foreign vessel or person if such property comes within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person. The President must also deny or revoke any visa or other entry documentation issued to or sought by a covered foreign person. Civil and criminal penalties apply to violations, including attempts or conspiracies to violate the sanctions.

A covered foreign vessel is any vessel that is registered or operated under the authority of a foreign country and engages in IUU fishing. Covered foreign persons are individuals or entities that are not U.S. persons and knowingly (1) own any vessel that engages in IUU fishing, (2) work as a captain or senior crew member on any vessel that engages in IUU fishing, (3) operate as an entity primarily engaged in IUU fishing, or (4) serve as an officer or senior manager in an entity primarily engaged in IUU fishing.

The President may waive the application of these sanctions after notifying Congress that the waiver is important to U.S. national security interests. Other exceptions apply, such as to provide life-saving assistance to a covered vessel.

The bill directs the President to periodically report to Congress on efforts to carry out these provisions.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Gregory W. MeeksD-NY-5Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Republicans · 2

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Dec 1, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Dec 1, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Dec 1, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Dec 3, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  6. Dec 3, 2025 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 47 - 2.
  7. Jun 8, 2026 · HouseMr. Mast moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  8. Jun 8, 2026 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3968-3970)
  9. Jun 8, 2026 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6338.
  10. Jun 8, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3968-3969)
  11. Jun 8, 2026 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3968-3969)
  12. Jun 8, 2026 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  13. Jun 9, 2026 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. International Labour Organization2 reports
    $100K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.