In our Spotlight on Business report, Congressman Frank Pallone wants U.S. Customs to step up enforcement when screening seafood products imported from China, which account for about $2 billion worth of goods brought in annually here.

The demand follows a sweeping investigation that revealed much of that seafood is produced through illegal and unethical labor practices, driving American seafood companies out of the market and harming the fishing industry.

Ted Goldberg reports.

The Belford Seafood Co-op sells a ton of fish, even as they face stiff competition from other countries.

The problem with that fish come in there a lot cheaper than ours, and we can't go that cheaper because if we go that cheap, we can't pay our crews.

While Belford has its regulars, most Americans get their seafood from non American companies.

We can't fish for 80 cent fish and pay three or $4 a gallon for fuel.

80% of all seafood consumed is imported and the country that produces the largest portion of that is China.

China has essentially cornered the global seafood market, according to four years of reporting from the Outlaw Ocean Project.

Chinese ships have done so.

Thanks to overfishing and human rights abuses, especially on fishing vessels.

Death rates are high.

Sometimes the death rates are from avoidable injuries.

Other times of death rates are from malnutrition, disease or straight up violence.

Ian Urbina leads the Outlaw Ocean Project.

He says workers on Chinese ships risk being blacklisted if they complain about their conditions.

While we are people working in processing, plants are forced to work there.

These workers do not have the option of saying no when the recruiter comes knocking and said so.

This is textbook state sponsored forced labor.

They have to go when they're called.

When they get there, they're under close watch.

They stay there.

A lot of their earnings are confiscated by the government.

Urbina says boycotting China is difficult because those processing plants also take care of fish scooped up from American waters.

A lot of US seafood fished in the last skin waters or the coast of California or the coast of Maine, wherever gets frozen, sent to China for processing, frozen and again sent back.

And some of that seafood is going through processing plants in China.

Politicians have gotten involved from both sides of the aisle, hoping to boost American businesses that are falling behind China.

I'm sending a letter to the Customs office.

We want them to step up enforcement in light of this report and other reports.

We want them to do better screening of seafood products coming into the country.

At this point, Pallone says this is a problem that doesn't require Congress to come up with a set of new laws.

While that could always change, Pelosi says the current issue is regulation or a lack of it.

We want them to report back to us about exactly what they're doing to prevent illegal Chinese seafood from coming into the country.

You can't compete when you have forced labor with no real overhead.

It's unfair trade, but it's also a gross violation of human rights.

Congressman Chris Smith also says it's an enforcement issue since there are laws on the books against doing business with companies that commit abuses against human rights.

He says this is also a national security issue.

They use those ships for other extracurricular type of activities, like spying, severing cables, as they did in the South China Sea.

You know, these are their fishing boats.

And the other Soviets were good at that, too.

Smith wrote the Department of Homeland Security in October asking for the supply chain to be investigated.

He says he hasn't heard a response.

At least one New Jersey based company has dropped the supplier accused of using forced labor.

Lund's fisheries in Cape May said in October, quote, Although our investigation did not find any evidence of illegal activity or forced labor in the operations of ranching high bow seafood, we are maintaining our cessation of new businesses pending further investigation.

In Port Monmouth, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.