II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1322 

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 

JUNE 8, 2017 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) 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 by adding 

9 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

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

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

4 means the American Fisheries Advisory Com5 mittee established under paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(B) FISHING COMMUNITY.—The term 

7 ‘fishing community’ means harvesters, market8 ers, growers, processors, recreational fishermen, 

9 charter fishermen, and persons providing them 

10 with goods and services. 

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

12 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an ac13 tivity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

14 seafood or expanding or maintaining commer15 cial markets for seafood. 

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

17 means any person in the business of preparing 

18 or packaging seafood (including seafood of the 

19 processor’s own harvesting) for sale. 

20 ‘‘(E) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘seafood’ 

21 means farm-raised and wild-caught fish, shell22 fish, or marine algae harvested in the United 

23 States or by a United States flagged vessel for 

24 human consumption. 


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

2 after the date of the enactment of the American 

3 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, the Secretary 

4 shall establish 6 regions within the American Fish5 eries Advisory Committee as follows: 

6 ‘‘(A) Region 1 shall consist of Alaska, Ha7 waii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar8 iana Islands, and the Territories of Guam and 

9 American Samoa. 

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

11 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and 

12 Connecticut. 

13 ‘‘(C) Region 3 shall consist of Texas, Ala14 bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Arkan15 sas, Puerto Rico, and territory of the Virgin Is16 lands. 

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

18 Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 

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

20 New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 

21 North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

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

23 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, 

24 and Pennsylvania. 


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

2 composed of the following members: 

3 ‘‘(A) REGIONAL REPRESENTATION.—Each 

4 of the regions listed in subparagraphs (A) 

5 through (F) of paragraph (2) shall be rep6 resented on the Committee by 3 members— 

7 ‘‘(i) who are appointed by the Sec8 retary; 

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

10 in the region that the member will rep11 resent; 

12 ‘‘(iii) of which— 

13 ‘‘(I) one shall have experience as 

14 a seafood harvester; 

15 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

16 a processor; and 

17 ‘‘(III) one shall have experience 

18 as a recreational fisher; and 

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

20 members of the Committee have experience 

21 or expertise with as many seafood species 

22 as practicable. 

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

24 shall appoint to the Committee at-large mem25 bers to ensure that the Committee fairly reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Jun 14, 2017 Jkt 069000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322

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1 flects the expertise and interest of the fishing 

2 community located in each region, as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

4 mass market food distribution. 

5 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience in 

6 mass market food retail or food service. 

7 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

8 in the marketing of seafood. 

9 ‘‘(iv) One individual with experience 

10 in growing seafood. 

11 ‘‘(v) One individual with experience as 

12 a recreational fisher. 

13 ‘‘(vi) One individual who is an em14 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

15 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

16 ‘‘(vii) One individual that represents 

17 the fisheries science community. 

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

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

20 Secretary shall designate staggered terms for the 

21 members initially appointed to the Committee. 

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

23 be responsible for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) identifying needs of the fishing com2 munity that may be addressed by a project 

3 funded with a grant under subsection (c); 

4 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals 

5 for such grants; 

6 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such 

7 grants; and 

8 ‘‘(D) selecting applications for approval 

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

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

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

12 present. 

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

14 of the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a 

15 lesser number may hold hearings. 

16 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

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

18 meet not more than 2 times each year. 

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

20 Committee shall rotate between the geographic 

21 regions described under paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(9) STAFF.—The Committee may employ staff 

23 as necessary. 

24 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND25 ING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

2 Committee shall serve without compensation, 

3 but shall be reimbursed in accordance with sec4 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for 

5 reasonable travel costs and expenses incurred in 

6 performing duties as a member of the Com7 mittee. 

8 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The reimbursements 

9 made under subparagraph (A) shall be paid 

10 with the funds made available for grants under 

11 subsection (c). 

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

13 interest and recusal provisions set out in section 

14 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva15 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall 

16 apply to any decision by the Committee and to all 

17 members of the Committee as if each member of the 

18 Committee is an affected individual within the mean19 ing of such section 302(j), except that in addition to 

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

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

22 of the Committee shall disclose any financial interest 

23 or relationship in an organization or with an indi24 vidual that is applying for a grant under subsection 

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


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

2 employee, contractor, agent, or other representa3 tive.’’. 

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

5 2(c)(3) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c– 

6 3(c)(3)), is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) No application for a grant under this sub8 section may be approved unless— 

9 ‘‘(i) the Secretary is satisfied that the ap10 plicant has the requisite technical and financial 

11 capability to carry out the project; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary evaluates the proposed 

13 project as to— 

14 ‘‘(I) the selections of the Committee 

15 established in subsection (f); 

16 ‘‘(II) soundness of design; 

17 ‘‘(III) the possibilities of securing pro18 ductive results; 

19 ‘‘(IV) minimization of duplication with 

20 other fisheries research and development 

21 projects; 

22 ‘‘(V) the organization and manage23 ment of the project; 


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1 ‘‘(VI) methods proposed for moni2 toring and evaluating the success or failure 

3 of the project; and 

4 ‘‘(VII) such other criteria as the Sec5 retary may require; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the application selected for funding 

7 meets the proposal developed by the American 

8 Fisheries Advisory Committee under subsection 

9 (f). 

10 ‘‘(B) JUSTIFICATION.—If the Secretary fails to 

11 provide funds to a grant selected by the Committee, 

12 the Secretary shall provide a written document to 

13 the Committee justifying the decision.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS PROPOSALS. 

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

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

17 following: 

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

19 subsection shall make publicly available a title and 

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

21 funds that serves as the public justification for fund22 ing the project that includes a statement describing 

23 how the project serves to enhance United States 

24 fisheries, including harvesting, processing, marVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Jun 14, 2017 Jkt 069000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322

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1 keting, and associated infrastructures, if applica2 ble.’’. 

Æ 


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