II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1323 

To preserve United States fishing heritage through a national program dedicated to training and assisting the next generation of commercial fishermen, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2017 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 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 preserve United States fishing heritage through a national program dedicated to training and assisting the 

next generation of commercial fishermen, 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 ‘‘Young Fishermen’s 

5 Development Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) SEA GRANT INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘Sea 

2 Grant Institution’’ means a sea grant college or sea 

3 grant institute, as those terms are defined in section 

4 203 of the National Sea Grant College Program Act 

5 (33 U.S.C. 1122). 

6 (2) YOUNG FISHERMAN.—The term ‘‘young 

7 fisherman’’ means an individual who— 

8 (A)(i) desires to participate in the commer9 cial fisheries of the United States, including the 

10 Great Lakes fisheries; 

11 (ii) has worked as a captain, crew member, 

12 deckhand, or other at-sea position on a com13 mercial fishing vessel for not more than 10 

14 years of cumulative service; or 

15 (iii) is a beginning commercial fisherman; 

16 and 

17 (B) is less than 35 years of age. 

18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, act20 ing through the National Sea Grant Office, shall establish 

21 a program to provide training, education, outreach, and 

22 technical assistance initiatives for young fishermen. 

23 (b) DESIGNATION.—The program established under 

24 subsection (a) shall be known as the ‘‘Young Fishermen’s 

25 Development Grant Program’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Young Fisher3 men’s Development Grant Program (referred to in this 

4 section as the ‘‘Program’’), the Secretary shall make com5 petitive grants to support new and established local and 

6 regional training, education, outreach, and technical as7 sistance initiatives for young fishermen, including pro8 grams, workshops, and services relating to— 

9 (1) seamanship, navigation, electronics, and 

10 safety; 

11 (2) vessel and engine care, maintenance, and 

12 repair; 

13 (3) innovative conservation fishing gear engi14 neering and technology; 

15 (4) sustainable fishing practices; 

16 (5) entrepreneurship and good business prac17 tices; 

18 (6) direct marketing, supply chain, and 

19 traceability; 

20 (7) financial and risk management, including 

21 vessel, permit, and quota purchasing; 

22 (8) State and Federal legal requirements for 

23 specific fisheries, including reporting, monitoring, li24 censes, and regulations; 

25 (9) State and Federal fisheries policy and man26 agement; 


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1 (10) mentoring, apprenticeships, or internships; 

2 and 

3 (11) any other activities, opportunities, or pro4 grams as determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

5 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

6 (1) APPLICANTS.—To be eligible to receive a 

7 grant under the Program, the recipient must be a 

8 collaborative State, Tribal, local, or regionally based 

9 network or partnership of public or private entities, 

10 which may include— 

11 (A) a Sea Grant Institution; 

12 (B) a Federal, State, or tribal agency; 

13 (C) a community-based or nongovern14 mental organization; 

15 (D) fishermen’s cooperatives or associa16 tions, including permit banks and trusts; 

17 (E) Alaska Native corporations; 

18 (F) a college or university (including an in19 stitution awarding an associate’s degree), or a 

20 foundation maintained by a college or univer21 sity; or 

22 (G) any other appropriate entity as deter23 mined by the Secretary. 

24 (2) PARTICIPANTS.—All young fishermen seek25 ing to participate in the commercial fisheries of the 


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1 United States and the Great Lakes are eligible to 

2 participate in the activities funded through grants 

3 provided for in this section, except that participants 

4 in such activities shall be selected by each grant re5 cipient. 

6 (c) MAXIMUM TERM AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

8 shall— 

9 (A) have a term of no more than 3 fiscal 

10 years; and 

11 (B) be in an amount that is not more than 

12 $200,000 for each fiscal year. 

13 (2) CONSECUTIVE GRANTS.—An eligible recipi14 ent may receive consecutive grants under this sec15 tion. 

16 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to re17 ceive a grant under this section, a recipient shall provide 

18 a match in the form of cash or in-kind contributions in 

19 the amount equal to or greater than 25 percent of the 

20 funds provided by the grant. 

21 (e) REGIONAL BALANCE.—In making grants under 

22 this section, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent 

23 practicable, ensure geographic diversity. 

24 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec25 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to partnerships and 


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1 collaborations that are led by or include nongovernmental 

2 fishing community-based organizations and school-based 

3 fisheries educational organizations with expertise in fish4 eries and sustainable fishing training and outreach. 

5 (g) COOPERATION AND EVALUATION CRITERIA.—In 

6 carrying out this section and especially in developing cri7 teria for evaluating grant applications, the Secretary shall 

8 cooperate, to the maximum extent practicable, with— 

9 (1) Sea Grant Institutions and extension agents 

10 of such institutions; 

11 (2) community-based and nongovernmental 

12 fishing organizations; 

13 (3) Federal and State agencies, including Re14 gional Fishery Management Councils established 

15 under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

16 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.); 

17 (4) colleges and universities with fisheries ex18 pertise and programs; and 

19 (5) other appropriate partners as determined by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 (h) PROHIBITION.—A grant under this section may 

22 not be used to purchase any fishing license, permit, quota, 

23 or other harvesting right. 


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1 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made available to 

3 the Secretary of Commerce under section 311(e) of the 

4 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage5 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1861(e)) for each of fiscal years 

6 2018 through 2022, the Secretary shall use $2,000,000 

7 to carry out section 4 of this Act. 

8 (b) PROPORTIONAL ALLOCATION.—The amount obli9 gated under this section each fiscal year for activities in 

10 each fishery management region shall be in the same pro11 portion as the portion of the total amount obligated under 

12 this section for that fiscal year that was collected in that 

13 region. 

Æ 


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