As Chairman of the Senate subcommittee with official jurisdiction over oceans and fisheries, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on Wednesday stood up to the pirate fishing industry – which has cost coastal communities millions of dollars – and defended Alaska fishermen who play by the rules.

Begich sponsored two bills that passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee last year to protect Alaska fishermen from the harmful economic effects of illegal pirate fishing, which was discussed at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. The Pirate Fishing Vessels Elimination Act would deny entry into U.S. ports vessels that are known to engage in pirate fishing and improve cooperation with other nations to identify pirate fishing vessels and prevent them from entering ports. His second bill, the International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act, gives the Coast Guard additional authority to prosecute pirate fishing.

Four treaties would address these and other issues affecting fisheries at home and abroad. The treaties were all recommended by the President, but have not yet been ratified by the Senate.

“As Chairman of the Senate Oceans Subcommittee, I was happy to help pass pirate fishing legislation out of the Commerce committee last year,” said Begich. “Alaska fishermen know first-hand the impact that pirate fishing has on their businesses – in 2011, nearly 100 million pounds of illegally caught Russian crab was on the market. These effects also spill over into the coastal communities that have lost over $10 million in tax revenues. I will continue to use my position as Chairman to move legislation in the Senate to protect Alaska fishermen and our fish.”

Last October, Begich and three of his colleagues, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), wrote to the Foreign Relations Committee to express support for the four treaties:

• The Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries;
• The Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean;
• The Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean; and
• The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

The official name of Begich’s committee is the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, the Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard.