Bill updates U.S. tuna fishing rules in the South Pacific.
H.R. 531 — South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act of 2025 · Filed by Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-AS) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jan 16, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill changes how the U.S. manages tuna fishing in the South Pacific under a treaty with Pacific Island nations. It makes it easier for fishing companies to get licenses and follow rules. The bill protects fishing data from public release. Law enforcement and treaty officials can still see it. It adds help for Pacific Island nations to build their fishing management skills.
Who it affects
U.S. tuna fishing companies benefit from simpler licensing. Pacific Island nations get technical help. Fish and ocean resources may be better protected if the new rules are enforced.
One thing to notice
The bill removes old exceptions to fishing rules. It does not say which violations must have penalties and which do not. Fishing data is kept secret from the public. Law enforcement can access it for homeland and national security missions. The scope of that authority is not defined.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jan 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- May 13, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection”
- May 13, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- treaty — An official agreement between countries.
- licensing — The process of getting official permission to do something.
- enforcement — Making sure people follow the rules.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (12,364 characters) on Jul 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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