U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) have signed on to a letter encouraging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to crack down on illegal fishing by Mexican vessels in American waters.
Wicker and Hyde-Smith signed the letter led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that asks the NOAA to “use its authority under the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Moratorium Protection Act to supplement U.S. Coast Guard efforts to interdict Mexican fishing vessels, or lanchas, harvesting red snapper illegally in U.S. waters,” a news release noted.
The release included a report showing nearly 16,000 pounds of unlawfully caught red snapper were interdicted in 2025, although it did not clarify how much was caught by Mexican vessels. It also goes on to blame Mexican cartels, specifically the Gulf Cartel, for illegally fishing American waters before selling their harvests to American consumers.
“Reports from the Department of the Treasury indicate that these lanchas are not operating as isolated or subsistence ventures, but as organized operations increasingly linked to the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal organizations,” a portion of the letter reads. “The continued ability to sell illegally harvested red snapper into the U.S. market is a powerful financing source for the Cartel and undermines both the U.S. fisheries management and national security. As long as access to the U.S. seafood market remains available without consequence for non-compliant actors, interdictions alone will not meaningfully alter this behavior.”
The letter points out that the NOAA has the statutory authority to impose an import prohibition when foreign fishing activities undermine U.S. conservation and enforcement efforts, asserting that doing away with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing must be prioritized immediately.
“We respectfully urge NOAA Fisheries to evaluate – without further delay – the use of its existing statutory authority in coordination with relevant agency partners to eliminate illegal fishing in U.S. waters and prevent IUU-caught fish from entering U.S. markets,” it continued. “Conditioning market access on compliance through focused, risk-based measures would protect law-abiding U.S. fishermen, safeguard shared fish stocks, and remove a key economic incentive sustaining cartel-linked fishing activity while preserving lawful trade and minimizing impacts on compliant segments of the American seafood industry.”
Joining Wicker, Hyde-Smith, and Cassidy on the letter are Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Joh Cornyn (R-Texas), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.).
