Election 2026

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Checked against the record · Alaska Senate 2026

Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

Matches stated direction. The laws this desk read ban no such imports; a 2025 defense law section, credited to him by his office and Rep. Chris Smith, stops the Pentagon buying seafood from China and Russia.

Dan S. Sullivan

A ban on Russian and Chinese seafood imports

Matches stated direction

What they say

His election pamphlet statement says “We’ve passed historic legislation” to do four things: clean up our oceans, strengthen salmon runs, reduce bycatch, and ban the importation of Russian and Chinese trawl-caught fish. A campaign ad released on August 11, 2026 says he banned the importation of Russian and Chinese fish.

“He banned the importation of Russian and Chinese troll caught fish”

What the record shows ·

No law this desk read bans importing Russian or Chinese fish. His two bills to restrict Russian seafood imports, the United States-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Acts of 2022 (S. 3614) and 2023 (S. 2011), were referred to the Finance Committee and went no further. His Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act, S. 688, passed the Senate by unanimous consent on March 22, 2026 and is held at the House desk; it orders a study of Russian and Chinese seafood reprocessing and says it carries no authority to impose sanctions on imports. The closest enacted provision is section 831 of the defense authorization for Fiscal Year 2026, Public Law 119-60, signed December 18, 2025, which stops the Defense Department buying seafood from China, Russia, Iran or North Korea for dining halls, ships and commissaries, with waivers. That limits what the Pentagon buys, not what enters the country, and it is not limited to trawl-caught fish. The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the bill, reported July 15, 2025, carried a China-only provision as its section 628; the committee's report presents it as the committee's recommendation and names no author. His Senate office says he offered it, and Representative Chris Smith said on April 16, 2026 that the final bill “included a sweeping Sullivan amendment” on Chinese seafood in commissaries. Imports of Russian seafood are banned by executive order: Executive Order 14068 of March 2022, and Executive Order 14114 of December 22, 2023, which let the ban reach Russian-caught fish processed in another country. Neither is legislation.

Limit: No law bans those imports. The closest is a 2025 defense-law section, which his office and Rep. Chris Smith credit to him, that stops the Pentagon buying seafood from China, Russia, Iran or North Korea.

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Sources15 source records

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  1. Official election pamphlet statement: Sullivan, Dan S. (document)

    Alaska Division of Elections · Reviewed Sep 24, 2026

    Candidate-written and candidate-paid statement published by the Division, which says the views are the candidate's and not endorsed by it. A PDF, saved and hashed in the research folder; the seafood sentence the desk quotes is checked against the Division's copy.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  2. NEW AD: Seward Fishing Captain Says Sullivan Delivered on Bycatch While Peltola Made Excuseshttps://dansullivanforalaska.com/new-ad-seward-fishing-captain-says-sullivan-delivered-on-bycatch-while-peltola-made-excuses/

    Alaskans for Dan Sullivan · Published Aug 11, 2026 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Campaign release of August 11, 2026 with the transcript of its ad “Captain Bob”; the speaker is a Seward charter captain in the campaign's own ad, and the transcript spells trawl-caught as “troll caught”. Only the ad's claims about his own record are used here; its statements about his opponent are out of scope. Campaign-controlled source; claims are attributed, not independently verified. The committee's filed website is WWW.DANSULLIVANFORALASKA.COM; the www host fails a secure connection, so the site was read at the bare domain, confirmed by its line "Paid for by Alaskans for Dan Sullivan". The whole site was read through its public content feed on September 23, 2026: nine pages and 33 posts, and no issues page.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  3. S. 3614, United States-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act of 2022https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3614

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan; referred to the Finance Committee on February 9, 2022, with no further action.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  4. S. 2011, United States-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act of 2023https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2011

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan; referred to the Finance Committee on June 15, 2023, with no further action.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  5. S. 688, Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/688

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Sponsored by Dan S. Sullivan. Passed the Senate with an amendment by unanimous consent on March 22, 2026; received in the House and held at the desk on March 24, 2026. The Senate-passed text (read from GovInfo) orders a study of Russian and Chinese fishing industries and seafood reprocessing in China (section 12(b)), and section 14 says the Act includes no authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  6. Public Law 119-60, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ60

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Enacted text, approved December 18, 2025. Section 831 applies the Berry Amendment to seafood from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. The text of this law and ten others he voted on or sponsored, and the enrolled H.R. 5334, were searched for a seafood import ban; none has one.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  7. S. 2296, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, as reportedhttps://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2296/text/rs

    Congress.gov · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    The Senate Armed Services Committee's bill as reported on July 15, 2025, read from GovInfo. Section 628 bars Defense Department procurement and commissary sale of seafood from China only.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  8. S. Rept. 119-39, report of the Senate Armed Services Committee on S. 2296https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CRPT-119srpt39

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    The committee report. It describes section 628 as a provision the committee recommends and names no author; its tabulation of roll-call votes in markup, which lists Dan S. Sullivan as a member voting, contains no vote on seafood.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  9. Executive Order 14068, Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Aggressionhttps://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/15/2022-05554/prohibiting-certain-imports-exports-and-new-investment-with-respect-to-continued-russian-federation

    Federal Register · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Presidential order of March 11, 2022, published March 15, 2022. Section 1(a)(i) prohibits importing fish, seafood and preparations of Russian origin. An executive action, not legislation.

    official office record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  10. Executive Order 14114, Taking Additional Steps With Respect to the Russian Federation's Harmful Activitieshttps://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/26/2023-28662/taking-additional-steps-with-respect-to-the-russian-federations-harmful-activities

    Federal Register · Published Dec 26, 2023 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Presidential order of December 22, 2023. It amends Executive Order 14068 so that the import ban can reach fish and seafood harvested in Russian waters or by Russia-flagged vessels even when processed into other products outside Russia. An executive action, not legislation.

    official office record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  11. Public Law 117-263, FY2023 National Defense Authorization Acthttps://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ263

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Enacted text, searched for seafood provisions: it enhances the Seafood Import Monitoring Program and adds import audits. Monitoring, not a ban.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  12. Sullivan Secures 53 Provisions, Prioritizes Alaska in FY 2026 Defense Authorizationhttps://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-secures-53-provisions-prioritizes-alaska-in-fy-2026-defense-authorization/

    Office of Senator Dan Sullivan · Published Oct 21, 2025 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Release from his Senate office, dated 10.21.25, after Senate passage of its defense bill. It says the bill “includes 53 provisions and amendments offered by Sen. Sullivan” and lists among them: “Prohibit military dining facilities and commissaries from purchasing or selling seafood that originates or is processed in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)”. His office's own account; attributed, not independently verified.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  13. Final FY 2026 Defense Bill Includes 19 Sullivan Provisions, Prioritizes Alaskahttps://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/final-fy-2026-defense-bill-includes-19-sullivan-provisions-prioritizes-alaska/

    Office of Senator Dan Sullivan · Published Dec 17, 2025 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Release from his Senate office, dated 12.17.25, after final Senate passage. It says the final bill “includes 19 provisions and amendments offered by Sen. Sullivan” and lists the same China seafood item among them. His office's own account; attributed, not independently verified.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  14. U.S. Treasury Finally Takes Action on Russian Seafood Imports Following 2-Year Sullivan-Led Campaignhttps://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/us-treasury-finally-takes-action-on-russian-seafood-imports-following-2-year-sullivan-led-campaign/

    Office of Senator Dan Sullivan · Published Dec 22, 2023 · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Release from his Senate office, dated 12.22.23, lauding Executive Order 14114 and the Treasury determination under it, and crediting nearly two years of his advocacy with federal agencies. A statement of December 2023; his office's own account; attributed, not independently verified.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?

  15. Opening statement of Co-Chairman Smith at CECC hearing on China's IUU fishing and seafood supply chainhttps://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415468

    Office of Representative Chris Smith · Published Apr 16, 2026 · Reviewed Sep 24, 2026

    Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, at its April 16, 2026 hearing. He says last year's defense bill “included a sweeping Sullivan amendment” barring Chinese seafood from Pentagon commissaries. It concerns military purchasing, not imports, and names no amendment number. He dates the Senate's passage of S. 688 to March 24; Congress.gov gives March 22, the date this desk uses. Found by outside research (brief of September 23, 2026, item 12).

    official office record

    For: Did Dan Sullivan ban imports of Russian and Chinese fish?