U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, both Republicans from Mississippi, have joined other lawmakers in urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to intensify efforts against illegal fishing by Mexican vessels in U.S. waters. The senators are concerned that these activities are harming Gulf fishermen and supporting cartel operations.
The group of senators, led by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, sent a letter to NOAA asking the agency to use its authority under the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Moratorium Protection Act. The request is for NOAA to support U.S. Coast Guard actions aimed at stopping Mexican fishing boats, known as lanchas, from illegally catching red snapper in American 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 states that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing for red snapper is negatively impacting recreational and commercial operations in the United States. Nearly 16,000 pounds of red snapper were seized in 2025 due to such activities. It also notes that NOAA now has legal authority to ban imports when foreign fishing harms American conservation 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,” according to the letter signed by the senators. “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.”
Alongside Wicker, Hyde-Smith, and Cassidy, other signatories include Senators John Kennedy (Louisiana), Ted Cruz (Texas), John Cornyn (Texas), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), Katie Britt (Alabama), Rick Scott (Florida), and Ashley Moody (Florida).
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has served constituents across Mississippi with offices in Washington D.C., Ridgeland, Gulfport, and Oxford (official website). Her work includes focusing on agriculture policy and national security issues through her roles on Senate committees such as Appropriations; Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Energy and Natural Resources; and Rules and Administration (official website). She marked a milestone as Mississippi’s first woman elected to Congress following her appointment in 2018 and election in 2020 (official website).
