WICKER, HYDE-SMITH SEEK CRACKDOWN ON MEXICAN CARTELS STEALING RED SNAPPER, ADVOCATE FOR GULF FISHERMEN
Gulf Coast Lawmakers Ask NOAA to Join Fight Against Illegal Red Snapper Harvesting
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) are among a group of lawmakers who are encouraging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to crack down on illegal fishing by Mexican vessels in U.S. waters, which undermines Gulf fishermen and funds cartel activity.
The Mississippi Senators signed a letter led by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) that asked 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.
“Reports from the Department of the Treasury indicate that these lanchas are not operating as isolated or subsistence fishing ventures, but as organized operations increasingly linked to the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal organizations,” the Senators wrote. “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 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 notes that U.S. recreational and commercial operations are increasingly harmed by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing for red snapper, nearly 16,000 pounds of which were interdicted in 2025. It also points out that NOAA now has the statutory authority to impose an import prohibition when foreign fishing activities undermine U.S. conservation and enforcement efforts.
“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,” the Senators wrote. “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.”
In addition to Wicker, Hyde-Smith, and Cassidy, the letter was also signed by U.S Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.).
Read the full letter here.
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