II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 497 

To establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to assist in the 

awarding of fisheries research and development grants, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, 

and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to 

assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Fisheries 

5 Advisory Committee Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 2 of the Act of Au8 gust 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c–3), is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub2 section (f); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(e) AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COM6 MITTEE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Committee’ 

9 means the American Fisheries Advisory Com10 mittee established under paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(B) FISHING COMMUNITY.—The term 

12 ‘fishing community’ means harvesters, market13 ers, growers, processors, recreational fishermen, 

14 charter fishermen, and persons providing them 

15 with goods and services. 

16 ‘‘(C) MARKETING AND PROMOTION.—The 

17 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an ac18 tivity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

19 seafood or expanding or maintaining commer20 cial markets for seafood. 

21 ‘‘(D) PROCESSOR.—The term ‘processor’ 

22 means any person in the business of preparing 

23 or packaging seafood (including seafood of the 

24 processor’s own harvesting) for sale. 


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1 ‘‘(E) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘seafood’ 

2 means farm-raised and wild-caught fish, shell3 fish, or marine algae harvested in the United 

4 States or by a United States flagged vessel for 

5 human consumption. 

6 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of the American 

8 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, the Secretary 

9 shall establish 6 regions within the American Fish10 eries Advisory Committee as follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) Region 1 shall consist of Alaska, Ha12 waii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar13 iana Islands, and the Territories of Guam and 

14 American Samoa. 

15 ‘‘(B) Region 2 shall consist of Maine, New 

16 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and 

17 Connecticut. 

18 ‘‘(C) Region 3 shall consist of Texas, Ala19 bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Arkan20 sas, Puerto Rico, and the Territory of the Vir21 gin Islands of the United States. 

22 ‘‘(D) Region 4 shall consist of California, 

23 Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Region 5 shall consist of New Jersey, 

2 New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 

3 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

4 ‘‘(F) Region 6 shall consist of Michigan, 

5 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, 

6 and Pennsylvania. 

7 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be 

8 composed of the following members: 

9 ‘‘(A) REGIONAL REPRESENTATION.—Each 

10 of the regions listed in subparagraphs (A) 

11 through (F) of paragraph (2) shall be rep12 resented on the Committee by 3 members— 

13 ‘‘(i) who are appointed by the Sec14 retary; 

15 ‘‘(ii) who reside in a State or territory 

16 in the region that the member will rep17 resent; 

18 ‘‘(iii) of which— 

19 ‘‘(I) one shall have experience as 

20 a seafood harvester or processor; 

21 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

22 recreational or commercial fisher or 

23 have experience growing seafood; and 

24 ‘‘(III) one shall be an individual 

25 who represents the fisheries science 


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1 community or the relevant Regional 

2 Fishery Management Council; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) that are selected so that the 

4 members of the Committee have experience 

5 or expertise with as many seafood species 

6 as practicable. 

7 ‘‘(B) AT-LARGE MEMBERS.—The Secretary 

8 shall appoint to the Committee at-large mem9 bers as follows: 

10 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

11 food distribution, marketing, retail, or food 

12 service. 

13 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience in 

14 the recreational fishing industry supply 

15 chain, such as fishermen, manufacturers, 

16 retailers, and distributors. 

17 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

18 in the commercial fishing industry supply 

19 chain, such as fishermen, manufacturers, 

20 retailers, and distributors. 

21 ‘‘(iv) One individual who is an em22 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

23 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

24 ‘‘(C) BALANCED REPRESENTATION.—In 

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1 graphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall seek to 

2 maximize on the Committee, to the extent prac3 ticable, a balanced representation of expertise 

4 in United States fisheries, seafood production, 

5 and science. 

6 ‘‘(4) MEMBER TERMS.—The term for a member 

7 of the Committee shall be 3 years, except that the 

8 Secretary shall designate staggered terms for the 

9 members initially appointed to the Committee. 

10 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall 

11 be responsible for— 

12 ‘‘(A) identifying needs of the fishing com13 munity that may be addressed by a project 

14 funded with a grant under subsection (c); 

15 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals 

16 for such grants; 

17 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such 

18 grants; and 

19 ‘‘(D) selecting applications for approval 

20 under subsection (c)(2)(B). 

21 ‘‘(6) CHAIR.—The Committee shall elect a chair 

22 by a majority of those voting, if a quorum is 

23 present. 


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1 ‘‘(7) QUORUM.—A simple majority of members 

2 of the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a 

3 lesser number may hold hearings. 

4 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) FREQUENCY.—The Committee shall 

6 meet not more than 2 times each year. 

7 ‘‘(B) LOCATION.—The meetings of the 

8 Committee shall rotate between the geographic 

9 regions described under paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(C) MINIMIZING COSTS.—The Committee 

11 shall seek to minimize the operational costs as12 sociated with meetings, hearings, or other busi13 ness of the Committee, including through the 

14 use of video or teleconference. 

15 ‘‘(9) DESIGNATION OF STAFF MEMBER.—The 

16 Secretary shall designate a staff member to coordi17 nate the activities of the Committee and to assist 

18 with administrative and other functions as requested 

19 by the Committee. 

20 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND21 ING.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

23 Committee shall serve without compensation, 

24 but shall be reimbursed in accordance with sec25 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for 


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1 reasonable travel costs and expenses incurred in 

2 performing duties as a member of the Com3 mittee. 

4 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The costs of reimburse5 ments under subparagraph (A) and the other 

6 costs associated with the Committee shall be 

7 paid from funds made available to carry out 

8 this section (which may include funds described 

9 in subsection (f)(1)(B)), except that no funds 

10 allocated for grants under subsection (f)(1)(A) 

11 shall be expended for any purpose under this 

12 subsection. 

13 ‘‘(11) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The conflict of 

14 interest and recusal provisions set out in section 

15 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva16 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall 

17 apply to any decision by the Committee and to all 

18 members of the Committee as if each member of the 

19 Committee is an affected individual within the mean20 ing of such section 302(j), except that in addition to 

21 the disclosure requirements of section 302(j)(2)(C) 

22 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)(2)(C)), each member 

23 of the Committee shall disclose any financial interest 

24 or relationship in an organization or with an indi25 vidual that is applying for a grant under subsection 


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1 (c) held by the member of the Committee, including 

2 an interest as an officer, director, trustee, partner, 

3 employee, contractor, agent, or other representative. 

4 ‘‘(12) TECHNICAL REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Prior to review of an 

6 application for a grant under subsection (c) by 

7 the Committee, the Secretary shall obtain an 

8 independent written technical evaluation from 3 

9 or more appropriate Federal, private, or public 

10 sector experts (such as industry, academia, or 

11 governmental experts) who— 

12 ‘‘(i) have subject matter expertise to 

13 determine the technical merit of the pro14 posal in the application; 

15 ‘‘(ii) shall independently evaluate each 

16 such proposal; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) shall certify that the expert does 

18 not have a conflict of interest concerning 

19 the application that the expert is review20 ing. 

21 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of the American 

23 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, the Sec24 retary shall issue guidance related to carrying 

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1 graph (A). Such guidance shall include criteria 

2 for the elimination by the National Oceanic and 

3 Atmospheric Administration of applications that 

4 fail to meet a minimum level of technical merit 

5 as determined by the review described in sub6 paragraph (A).’’. 

7 (b) ROLE IN APPROVAL OF GRANTS.—Section 

8 2(c)(3) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c– 

9 3(c)(3)), is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(3)(A) No application for a grant under this sub11 section may be approved unless the Secretary— 

12 ‘‘(i) is satisfied that the applicant has the req13 uisite technical and financial capability to carry out 

14 the project; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) based on the recommendations of the 

16 American Fisheries Advisory Committee established 

17 in subsection (e), evaluates the proposed project as 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(I) soundness of design; 

20 ‘‘(II) the possibilities of securing produc21 tive results; 

22 ‘‘(III) minimization of duplication with 

23 other fisheries research and development 

24 projects; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the organization and management of 

2 the project; 

3 ‘‘(V) methods proposed for monitoring and 

4 evaluating the success or failure of the project; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(VI) such other criteria as the Secretary 

7 may require. 

8 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary fails to provide funds to a grant 

9 selected by the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, 

10 the Secretary shall provide a written document to the 

11 Committee justifying the decision.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF SPECIFIED PURPOSES OF FISH13 ERIES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

14 PROJECTS GRANTS PROGRAM TO INCLUDE 

15 FISHERIES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

16 PROJECTS. 

17 Section 2(c)(1) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 

18 U.S.C. 713c–3(c)(1)), is amended by inserting ‘‘fisheries 

19 science, recreational fishing,’’ before ‘‘harvesting,’’. 

20 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS PROPOSALS. 

21 Section 2(c) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 

22 U.S.C. 713c–3(c)), is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(6) Any person awarded a grant under this 

25 subsection shall make publicly available a title and 


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1 abstract of the project to be carried out by the grant 

2 funds that serves as the public justification for fund3 ing the project that includes a statement describing 

4 how the project serves to enhance United States 

5 fisheries, including harvesting, processing, mar6 keting, and associated infrastructures, if applica7 ble.’’. 

Æ 


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