Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Pirate Fishing Elimination Act, a bill to implement the international Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated, IUU, Fishing as adopted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in November of 2009. The agreement is the first binding global instrument focused specifically on combating IUU, also known as pirate fishing, and the United States was a primary participant in its negotiation and was one of its first signatories. Pirate fishing is a global problem that threatens healthy ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries both here and abroad. It is estimated that annual lost revenues from pirate fishing activities may be as much as $23 billion worldwide and that as much as 40 percent of the total catch for some fish stocks is caught illegally. The impacts of these activities are felt throughout the fishery supply chain, from the fisherman through the consumer, and affect food security and socio- economic stability in many parts of the world. This includes the United States where our own sustainable domestic fisheries may be undermined through unfair competition with illegally caught international product.…”