Key Takeaways

• Timber trafficking and fisheries enforcement may be areas where the Trump administration will increase enforcement efforts.
• This type of enforcement intertwines with the Administration’s priorities of combating transnational crime, strengthening customs and border enforcement, and protecting American industries.
• Companies that import wood, wood products, and fish should be aware of the origins, management, and labeling of their imports.
• These companies should also prepare for increased government scrutiny and potential investigations.

Wildlife trafficking enforcement has been a significant area of environmental criminal enforcement in the second Trump administration. Illegal fishing and timber trafficking, both closely related to wildlife trafficking, are also emerging as enforcement priorities. President Trump recently expressed interest in bolstering the domestic timber and seafood industries. One method to accomplish this is to increase federal enforcement against illegal fish and timber imports – such an increase overlaps with Administration priorities, including border security and transnational organized crime. Therefore, increased enforcement may be on the horizon.

Illegal Timber Trade

On March 1, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) No. 14223, "Addressing the Threat to National Security from Imports of Timber, Lumber," directing the Secretary of Commerce to launch an investigation into how imports of “timber, lumber, and their derivative products” impact national security and economic interests. The executive order notes “[f]oreign supply chains and major exporters increasingly fill U.S. demand” and “an overreliance on foreign timber, lumber, and their derivative products could jeopardize the United States’ defense capabilities, construction industry, and economic strength.” An investigation into the timber importing industry could trigger a crackdown on illegal trafficking, or at the very least, ignite government investigations.

The illicit timber trade is the most profitable natural resource crime on Earth and the third most profitable transnational crime. Accordingly, it has become a popular source of revenue for transnational criminal organizations. Illegally harvested timber makes up 15–30% of all timber traded globally, with an illicit market valued at $51–152 billion. Illegal logging contributes to deforestation, habitat loss, and species extinction around the globe. Given the pervasiveness of illegally harvested timber, enforcement against illegal timber imports is crucial for protecting against unfair competition.

Timber and derivative product imports are governed in part by the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any illegally sourced fish, animal, plant, or their derivative products. Importing any plant product not made from 100% composite materials, including baskets, umbrellas, clocks, furniture, and more, requires a Lacey Act declaration. The declaration must contain information including the plant’s name, country of harvest, quantity, and value. Falsifying information on these declarations is prohibited under the Lacey Act and may incur additional penalties for unlawful importation, recordkeeping noncompliance, and fraud.

Lacey Act violation penalties include fines, prison time, or both. Civil penalties go up to $10,000 per violation. Criminal penalties can include imprisonment for up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations. In February 2024, a Florida couple was sentenced to almost five years in prison and charged with nearly $45 million in fines for illegally smuggling plywood in one of the largest Lacey Act penalties ever. Lacey Act violations can also come from a lack of due diligence. For instance, in 2016 a federal court ordered a flooring company to pay over $13 million in fines because it failed to act on warnings of illegally harvested timber. Thus far in 2025, there have been two cases enforcing against the illegal harvest of American ginseng, another plant covered by the Lacey Act.

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

On April 17, 2025, President Trump issued EO No. 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness." Importantly, it calls for developing a “seafood trade strategy to address unfair competition, low environmental and labor standards, and illegally sourced seafood from abroad” and “improving the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to better detect high-risk shipments from countries that violate international laws.” In his prior term, President Trump established the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force—a sign that this Administration may have an interest in addressing forced labor issues in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Like illegal timber, IUU fishing has ties to organized crime. IUU fishing is also associated with forced labor and human trafficking—the isolation of fishing vessels can make conducive conditions for worker mistreatment. IUU fishing depletes fishery stocks, contributes to food insecurity in coastal communities, and threatens protected species. This fishing practice is estimated to account for 10–22% of total global fisheries production and is valued at $143 billion annually.

The Lacey Act is the primary statute involved in fisheries enforcement for illegally harvested seafood. Like the illegal timber trade, illegal fish traffickers may try to obfuscate the origin of their catch by engaging in fraud and falsifying records.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act (“Act”) concerns the management of marine fisheries in U.S. waters and prohibits shipping, transporting, selling, purchasing, importing, exporting, or possessing fish and shellfish acquired in violation of the Act. The Act also requires marine fisheries to adhere to regional catch limits and maintain regular recordkeeping and reporting. For example, as mandated under the Act, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program requires importers to report information about harvesting entities, fish species, and harvest locations for a variety of species. The Act makes it unlawful to knowingly and willfully submit false information about seafood harvest.

Similar to the Lacey Act, violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Act can result in civil or criminal penalties. Civil penalties can be up to $100,000 per violation. Criminal penalties can include fines of up to $200,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years. Violations may also result in fishing permit sanctions. In September 2018, a federal court sentenced a seafood distributor to pay over $1.2 million in fines for importing more than $17 million worth of illegally harvested sea cucumbers, in violation of both the Magnuson-Stevens and Lacey Acts. More recently, in January 2025, a federal court sentenced a fishing captain to 30 months in prison and $725,000 in restitution for falsifying Fishing Vessel Trip Reports to hide 200,000 pounds of illegally harvested fluke and black sea bass in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice also enforced against the illegal harvest and falsification of records for scallops, tilefish, and grouper in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and the unlawful transport of crab and red snapper in violation of the Lacey Act.

Potential Considerations for the Regulated Community

By tackling priority issues such as transnational organized crime and border security, the second Trump administration may increase enforcement efforts against illegal timber and fish imports. Companies that import wood, wood products, and fish should be aware and informed of their products’ origins, management, and labeling. These companies should also prepare for increased government scrutiny and potential investigations.

Dorje Wu contributed to this article