Photo Courtesy of Sea Shepherd

Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Don Young (R-AK) recently reintroduced the “Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act (H.R. 6059), which aims to tackle the black-market trade in illegal wildlife and seafood products—the fourth most lucrative global crime—behind illicit drugs, human trafficking, and counterfeiting.

Here are five reasons to support this bi-partisan bill:

1. Eases Prosecution of Wildlife Traffickers and Increases Penalties – H.R. 6059 makes serious wildlife trafficking violations predicate offenses (crimes that are components of more serious offenses) under federal racketeering and anti-organized crime laws (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the Travel Act), enabling such offenses to be investigated and prosecuted under statutes that were designed to target high-level organized crime and terrorist activity and increasing penalties. This builds on the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt (END) Wildlife Trafficking Act (enacted in 2016 and reauthorization bill recently introduced), which made wildlife trafficking a predicate offense under the federal money laundering criminal statute, as well as recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking. The bill also directs any civil penalties, fines, forfeitures, and restitution from such violations to wildlife conservation.
2. Strengthens enforcement of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (“IUU”) fishing – H.R. 6059 makes...

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