Government will test a way to find where fish comes from.
S. 283 — Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act · Filed by Ted Cruz (R-TX) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 28, 2025 · Passed both chambers
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What it does
The Commerce Department and NOAA must create a chemical test. The test shows where red snapper and tuna were caught. The test uses a small kit that works in the field. In two years, the agencies must report on whether it works. The test is meant to catch illegal fishing and fake seafood.
Who it affects
People who buy seafood gain tools to know if it is legal and safe. Legal fishing companies and honest sellers benefit.
One thing to notice
The bill focuses on red snapper and tuna. The test could later be used on all kinds of seafood.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Jan 28, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 28, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- Feb 5, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
- Jul 14, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S4341; text: CR S4341-4342)”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote”
- Sep 14, 2026 — 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.
Money around this bill
2 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 2 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $65,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 20 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.
Ted Cruz, who sponsored the bill, received $525,365 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Southern Shrimp Alliance — $45,000 in 1 report
- Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders' Alliance — $20,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- Commerce Department — The part of the U.S. government that handles trade and business.
- NOAA — The U.S. agency that manages oceans, fish, and weather.
- chemical test — A test that breaks down a thing to see what it is made of.
- illegal fishing — Catching fish in ways that break the law.
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,155 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
“Government will test a way to find where fish comes from.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s283/simple Report an error