S.Amdt. 2909

SA 2909. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 12__. REPORT ON USE OF ADVANCED MARITIME DOMAIN
AWARENESS TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS TO COMBAT ILLEGAL,
UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED FISHING IN PACIFIC
ISLANDS REGION.

(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) many countries in the Pacific Islands region depend on
commercial tuna fisheries as a critical component of their
economies;
(2) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
used its licensed fishing fleet to exert greater influence in
the Pacific Islands region, but at the same time, such
licensed fishing fleet is also a major contributor to
illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (in this section
referred to as ``IUU fishing'') activities;
(3) the sustainability of the fisheries in the Pacific
Islands region is threatened by IUU fishing, which depletes
both commercially important fish stocks and nontargeted
species that help maintain the integrity of the ocean
ecosystem;
(4) IUU fishing puts pressure on protected species of
marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds, which also
jeopardizes the integrity of the ocean ecosystem;
(5) because IUU fishing goes unrecorded, the loss of
biomass compromises scientists' work to assess and model
fishery stocks and advise managers on sustainable catch
levels;
(6) beyond the damage to living marine resources, IUU
fishing also contributes directly to illegal activity in the
Pacific Islands region, such as food fraud, smuggling, and
human trafficking;
(7) current approaches to IUU fishing enforcement rely on
established methods, such as vessel monitoring systems,
logbooks maintained by government fisheries enforcement
authorities to record the catches landed by fishing vessels,
and corroborating data on catches hand-collected by human
observer programs;
(8) such established methods are imperfect because--
(A) vessels can turn off monitoring systems and unlicensed
vessels do not use such systems; and
(B) observer coverage is thin and subject to human error
and corruption;
(9) maritime domain awareness technology solutions for
vessel monitoring have gained credibility in recent years and
include systems such as observing instruments deployed on
satellites, crewed and uncrewed air and surface systems,
aircraft, and surface vessels, and electronic monitoring
systems on fishing vessels;
(10) maritime domain awareness technologies hold the
promise of significantly augmenting the current IUU fishing
enforcement capacities; and
(11) maritime domain awareness technologies offer an avenue
for addressing key United States national interests,
including such interests relating to--
(A) increasing bilateral diplomatic ties with key allies
and partners in the Pacific Islands region;
(B) countering illicit trafficking in arms, narcotics, and
human beings associated with IUU fishing;
(C) advancing security, long-term growth, and development
in the Pacific Islands region;
(D) supporting ocean conservation objectives;
(E) reducing food insecurity; and
(F) countering attempts by the Government of the People's
Republic of China to increase its influence in the Pacific
Islands region.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the Commandant of the Coast
Guard, and the Secretary of State, shall submit to Congress a
report assessing the use of advanced maritime domain
awareness technology systems to combat IUU fishing in the
Pacific Islands region.
(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include--
(A) a review of the effectiveness of existing monitoring
technologies, including electronic monitoring systems, to
combat IUU fishing;
(B) recommendations for effectively integrating effective
monitoring technologies into a Pacific Islands region-wide
strategy for IUU fishing enforcement;
(C) an assessment and recommendations for the secure and
reliable processing of data from such monitoring
technologies, including the security and verification issues;
(D) the technical and financial capacity of countries of
the Pacific Islands region to deploy and maintain large-scale
use of maritime domain awareness technological systems for
the purposes of combating IUU fishing and supporting
fisheries resource management;
(E) a review of the technical and financial capacity of
regional organizations and international structures to
support countries in the Pacific Islands region in the
deployment and maintenance of large-scale use of maritime
domain awareness technology systems for the purpose of
combating IUU fishing and supporting fisheries resource
management;
(F) an evaluation of the utility of using foreign
assistance, security assistance, and development assistance
provided by the United States to countries in the Pacific
Islands region to support the large-scale deployment and
operations of maritime domain awareness systems to increase
maritime security across such region; and

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(G) an assessment of the role of large-scale deployment and
operations of maritime domain awareness systems throughout
the Pacific Islands region to supporting United States
economic and national security interests in such region,
including efforts related to countering IUU fishing,
improving maritime security, and countering malign foreign
influence.
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