6 Pros of the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act

Photograph Courtesy of Sea Shepherd

Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Don Younger (R-AK) just lately reintroduced the “Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act (H.R. 6059), which goals to sort out the black-market commerce in unlawful wildlife and seafood merchandise—the fourth most profitable international crime—behind illicit medicine, human trafficking, and counterfeiting.

Listed here are 5 causes to assist this bi-partisan invoice:

1. Eases Prosecution of Wildlife Traffickers and Will increase Penalties – H.R. 6059 makes severe wildlife trafficking violations predicate offenses (crimes which are parts of extra severe offenses) beneath federal racketeering and anti-organized crime legal guidelines (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Journey Act), enabling such offenses to be investigated and prosecuted beneath statutes that had been designed to focus on high-level organized crime and terrorist exercise and rising penalties. This builds on the Remove, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act (enacted in 2016 and reauthorization bill recently introduced), which made wildlife trafficking a predicate offense beneath the federal cash laundering prison statute, in addition to suggestions from the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking. The invoice additionally directs any civil penalties, fines, forfeitures, and restitution from such violations to wildlife conservation.
2. Strengthens enforcement of unlawful, unreported, and unregulated (“IUU”) fishing – H.R. 6059 makes severe violations for IUU fishing by overseas vessels or fraudulent seafood imports into the U.S. a predicate offense beneath federal cash laundering prison legislation, opening up avenues for enforcement and rising penalties. It additionally directs funds acquired by the U.S. authorities for violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Act associated to IUU fishing to fisheries enforcement.  A brand new addition to the invoice is its provision for U.S. embassies/consulates to reward whistleblowers for actionable intelligence on IUU fishing.  IUU fishing is a $10-25 billion-dollar international trade that jeopardizes the sustainability of the world’s fish and degrades ocean ecosystem well being. And the U.S. performs a giant half on this, importing 2.4 billion {dollars} of IUU harvested seafood in 2019 alone based on the U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee. IUU fishing typically goes hand-in-hand with transnational organized crime, human rights abuses reminiscent of human trafficking and compelled labor, and weapons and drug trafficking. IUU fishing hurts U.S. fishermen who adjust to fishing rules—U.S. fishermen lose an estimated $1B yearly in misplaced earnings to IUU.
3. Rewards and Protects Whistleblowers – The invoice mandates that awards be paid to whistleblowers who report on wildlife trafficking, thus strongly incentivizing whistleblowing. It additionally directs businesses to lift consciousness of such awards, significantly in wildlife trafficking sizzling spots like Tanzania, Laos, and India. A brand new addition to the invoice is its provision of protections for whistleblowers from retaliation or discrimination. Because the Nationwide Whistleblower Heart’s Scott Hajost wrote, “At its core, wildlife trafficking is a enterprise. Whistleblowers have been extremely efficient in cracking down on monetary and company crimes. It’s time we apply this system to the wildlife sphere.”
4. Offers Funding for Wildlife Conservation Applications – At present, many worldwide wildlife conservation packages are funded by Congressional appropriations on a yearly foundation. However these funds aren’t often sufficient and securing extra money by way of this course of could be very tough. H.R. 6059 would assist repair this by offering further devoted funding streams to top-off funding acquired through appropriations. The invoice does this by directing funds acquired by the U.S. authorities (e.g., fines, restitution, proceeds from gross sales of forfeited property, and so on.) from violations beneath the Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act pertaining to nice apes, unique birds, rhinoceroses, tigers, marine turtles, freshwater turtles, tortoises, and neotropical migratory birds, to the conservation of those species. It additionally directs funds acquired by the federal government from violations of the Marine Mammal Safety Act to marine mammal conservation and funds from violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Act associated to shark finning (or fishery administration plans for sharks) to shark conservation.
5. Enhances Capability to Struggle Wildlife Trafficking in Hotspots – H.R. 6059 authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to station legislation enforcement officers and company personnel in wildlife trafficking hotspots to assist examine trafficking circumstances, and practice others to do the identical.
6. Makes the Pelly Amendment Certification and Prohibition Course of Public – A brand new addition to the invoice, this provision makes public the method by which the U.S. restricts wildlife imports from international locations harboring nationals that have interaction in harmful fishing practices. At present, this course of is extraordinarily opaque, diminishing the effectiveness of this crucial instrument in defending our oceans.