Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, co-led a congressional hearing on April 16 addressing China’s illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing practices. The hearing focused on how these activities distort seafood markets, harm American fishermen, undermine law and order, enable human rights abuses, and threaten national security.
The issue is significant because it affects both economic interests in the United States and global human rights standards. Smith said during his opening remarks that the oceans have always been governed by rules distinguishing lawful navigation from piracy and fair trade from exploitation: “Today, we are confronted with a disturbing modern version of that lawlessness: a system of dark fleets, opaque supply chains, illegal fishing, and coerced labor that threatens not only American workers but also human rights, the rule of law, and our national security.”
Smith highlighted concerns about forced labor in China’s seafood industry. He said Chinese fishing practices harm their own laborers through torture and exploitation while also negatively impacting U.S. economic interests by taking jobs away from American fisheries. According to Smith’s earlier hearings in 2023 titled “From Bait to Plate: How Forced Labor in China Taints America’s Seafood Supply Chain,” witnesses revealed evidence of labor exploitation aboard distant-water fleets as well as trespasses into other countries’ waters.
Ian Urbina, Director of the Outlaw Ocean Project who testified at both hearings, described worsening conditions involving forced labor among Uyghur and North Korean workers processing seafood for export worldwide—including to U.S.-based institutions such as military bases and public schools—as detailed in his investigation mapping over 1,200 fish farms’ supply chains.
Retired Rear Admiral Scott Clendenin told lawmakers that under his tenure with the Coast Guard IUU fishing was declared “the world’s top maritime security challenge—surpassing piracy.” Honorable Dean Pinkert pointed out legislative tools available to Congress but said they are not being used at scale or creatively enough to address these issues.
Smith reiterated that holding China accountable is necessary for protecting American jobs as well as national security: “So this is about more than seafood. It is about whether the United States will tolerate a system that rewards coercion…and erodes the integrity of global commerce.”
Smith has served in Congress representing New Jersey’s 4th district since replacing Frank Thompson in 1981 according to official records. He was born in Rahway in 1953 and lives in Manchester Township according to biographical information. Smith graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975.
