II 

Calendar No. 283 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1322 

[Report No. 115–193] 

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, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 11, 2017 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Advisory Committee Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 2 of the Act of Au6 gust 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c–3), is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

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

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

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

11 means the American Fisheries Advisory Com12 mittee established under paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(B) FISHING COMMUNITY.—The term 

14 ‘fishing community’ means harvesters, market15 ers, growers, processors, recreational fishermen, 

16 charter fishermen, and persons providing them 

17 with goods and services. 

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

19 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an ac20 tivity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

21 seafood or expanding or maintaining commer22 cial markets for seafood. 

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

24 means any person in the business of preparing 

25 or packaging seafood (including seafood of the 

26 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 territory of the Virgin Is21 lands. 

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; 

21 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

22 a processor; and 

23 ‘‘(III) one shall have experience 

24 as a recreational fisher; and 


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

2 members of the Committee have experience 

3 or expertise with as many seafood species 

4 as practicable. 

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

6 shall appoint to the Committee at-large mem7 bers to ensure that the Committee fairly re8 flects the expertise and interest of the fishing 

9 community located in each region, as follows: 

10 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

11 mass market food distribution. 

12 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience in 

13 mass market food retail or food service. 

14 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

15 in the marketing of seafood. 

16 ‘‘(iv) One individual with experience 

17 in growing seafood. 

18 ‘‘(v) One individual with experience as 

19 a recreational fisher. 

20 ‘‘(vi) One individual who is an em21 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

22 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

23 ‘‘(vii) One individual that represents 

24 the fisheries science community. 


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

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

3 Secretary shall designate staggered terms for the 

4 members initially appointed to the Committee. 

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

6 be responsible for— 

7 ‘‘(A) identifying needs of the fishing com8 munity that may be addressed by a project 

9 funded with a grant under subsection (c); 

10 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals 

11 for such grants; 

12 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such 

13 grants; and 

14 ‘‘(D) selecting applications for approval 

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

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

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

18 present. 

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

20 of the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a 

21 lesser number may hold hearings. 

22 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

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

24 meet not more than 2 times each year. 


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

2 Committee shall rotate between the geographic 

3 regions described under paragraph (2). 

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

5 as necessary. 

6 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND7 ING.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

9 Committee shall serve without compensation, 

10 but shall be reimbursed in accordance with sec11 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for 

12 reasonable travel costs and expenses incurred in 

13 performing duties as a member of the Com14 mittee. 

15 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The reimbursements 

16 made under subparagraph (A) shall be paid 

17 with the funds made available for grants under 

18 subsection (c). 

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

20 interest and recusal provisions set out in section 

21 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva22 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall 

23 apply to any decision by the Committee and to all 

24 members of the Committee as if each member of the 

25 Committee is an affected individual within the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Dec 11, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1322.RS S1322

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1 ing of such section 302(j), except that in addition to 

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

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

4 of the Committee shall disclose any financial interest 

5 or relationship in an organization or with an indi6 vidual that is applying for a grant under subsection 

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

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

9 employee, contractor, agent, or other representa10 tive.’’. 

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

12 2(c)(3) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c– 

13 3(c)(3)), is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) No application for a grant under this sub15 section may be approved unless— 

16 ‘‘(i) the Secretary is satisfied that the ap17 plicant has the requisite technical and financial 

18 capability to carry out the project; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary evaluates the proposed 

20 project as to— 

21 ‘‘(I) the selections of the Committee 

22 established in subsection (f); 

23 ‘‘(II) soundness of design; 

24 ‘‘(III) the possibilities of securing pro25 ductive results; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) minimization of duplication with 

2 other fisheries research and development 

3 projects; 

4 ‘‘(V) the organization and manage5 ment of the project; 

6 ‘‘(VI) methods proposed for moni7 toring and evaluating the success or failure 

8 of the project; and 

9 ‘‘(VII) such other criteria as the Sec10 retary may require; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the application selected for funding 

12 meets the proposal developed by the American 

13 Fisheries Advisory Committee under subsection 

14 (f). 

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

16 provide funds to a grant selected by the Committee, 

17 the Secretary shall provide a written document to 

18 the Committee justifying the decision.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS PROPOSALS. 

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

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

22 following: 

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

24 subsection shall make publicly available a title and 

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


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1 funds that serves as the public justification for fund2 ing the project that includes a statement describing 

3 how the project serves to enhance United States 

4 fisheries, including harvesting, processing, mar5 keting, and associated infrastructures, if applica6 ble.’’. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Fisheries Ad9 visory Committee Act’’. 

10 SEC. 2. AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 2 of the Act of August 

12 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c–3), is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

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

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

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

17 means the American Fisheries Advisory Com18 mittee established under paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(B) FISHING COMMUNITY.—The term ‘fish20 ing community’ means harvesters, marketers, 

21 growers, processors, recreational fishermen, char22 ter fishermen, and persons providing them with 

23 goods and services. 

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

25 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an activVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Dec 11, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1322.RS S1322

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1 ity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

2 seafood or expanding or maintaining commercial 

3 markets for seafood. 

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

5 means any person in the business of preparing 

6 or packaging seafood (including seafood of the 

7 processor’s own harvesting) for sale. 

8 ‘‘(E) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘seafood’ means 

9 farm-raised and wild-caught fish, shellfish, or 

10 marine algae harvested in the United States or 

11 by a United States flagged vessel for human con12 sumption. 

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

14 after the date of the enactment of the American Fish15 eries Advisory Committee Act, the Secretary shall es16 tablish 6 regions within the American Fisheries Advi17 sory Committee as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) Region 1 shall consist of Alaska, Ha19 waii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar20 iana Islands, and the Territories of Guam and 

21 American Samoa. 

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

23 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and 

24 Connecticut. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Region 3 shall consist of Texas, Ala2 bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Arkan3 sas, Puerto Rico, and territory of the Virgin Is4 lands. 

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

6 Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 

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

8 New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 

9 Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

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

11 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, 

12 and Pennsylvania. 

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

14 composed of the following members: 

15 ‘‘(A) REGIONAL REPRESENTATION.—Each 

16 of the regions listed in subparagraphs (A) 

17 through (F) of paragraph (2) shall be represented 

18 on the Committee by 3 members— 

19 ‘‘(i) who are appointed by the Sec20 retary; 

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

22 in the region that the member will rep23 resent; 

24 ‘‘(iii) of which— 


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1 ‘‘(I) one shall have experience as a 

2 seafood harvester; 

3 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

4 a processor; and 

5 ‘‘(III) one shall have experience as 

6 a recreational fisher; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) that are selected so that the mem8 bers of the Committee have experience or ex9 pertise with as many seafood species as 

10 practicable. 

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

12 shall appoint to the Committee at-large members 

13 to ensure that the Committee fairly reflects the 

14 expertise and interest of the fishing community 

15 located in each region, as follows: 

16 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

17 mass market food distribution. 

18 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience 

19 in mass market food retail or food service. 

20 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

21 in the marketing of seafood. 

22 ‘‘(iv) One individual with experience 

23 in growing seafood. 

24 ‘‘(v) One individual with experience as 

25 a recreational fisher. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) One individual who is an em2 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

3 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

4 ‘‘(vii) One individual that represents 

5 the fisheries science community. 

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

7 of the Committee shall be 3 years, except that the Sec8 retary shall designate staggered terms for the members 

9 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 fund14 ed with a grant under subsection (c); 

15 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals for 

16 such grants; 

17 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such grants; 

18 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 present. 

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

24 of the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a 

25 lesser number may hold hearings. 


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1 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

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

3 meet not more than 2 times each year. 

4 ‘‘(B) LOCATION.—The meetings of the Com5 mittee shall rotate between the geographic regions 

6 described under paragraph (2). 

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

8 as necessary. 

9 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND10 ING.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Com12 mittee shall serve without compensation, but 

13 shall be reimbursed in accordance with section 

14 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for reason15 able travel costs and expenses incurred in per16 forming duties as a member of the Committee. 

17 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The reimbursements made 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall be paid with the 

19 funds made available for grants under subsection 

20 (c). 

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

22 interest and recusal provisions set out in section 

23 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

24 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall apply 

25 to any decision by the Committee and to all members 


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1 of the Committee as if each member of the Committee 

2 is an affected individual within the meaning of such 

3 section 302(j), except that in addition to the disclo4 sure requirements of section 302(j)(2)(C) of such Act 

5 (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)(2)(C)), each member of the Com6 mittee shall disclose any financial interest or rela7 tionship in an organization or with an individual 

8 that is applying for a grant under subsection (c) held 

9 by the member of the Committee, including an inter10 est as an officer, director, trustee, partner, employee, 

11 contractor, agent, or other representative.’’. 

12 (b) ROLE IN APPROVAL OF GRANTS.—Section 2(c)(3) 

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

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(3)(A) No application for a grant under this sub16 section may be approved unless— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Secretary is satisfied that the appli18 cant has the requisite technical and financial ca19 pability to carry out the project; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary evaluates the proposed 

21 project as to— 

22 ‘‘(I) the selections of the Committee es23 tablished in subsection (f); 

24 ‘‘(II) soundness of design; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the possibilities of securing pro2 ductive results; 

3 ‘‘(IV) minimization of duplication 

4 with other fisheries research and develop5 ment projects; 

6 ‘‘(V) the organization and management 

7 of the project; 

8 ‘‘(VI) methods proposed for monitoring 

9 and evaluating the success or failure of the 

10 project; and 

11 ‘‘(VII) such other criteria as the Sec12 retary may require; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the application selected for funding 

14 meets the proposal developed by the American 

15 Fisheries Advisory Committee under subsection 

16 (f). 

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

18 provide funds to a grant selected by the Committee, 

19 the Secretary shall provide a written document to the 

20 Committee justifying the decision.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF SPECIFIED PURPOSES OF FISHERIES 

2 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 

3 GRANTS PROGRAM TO INCLUDE FISHERIES 

4 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. 

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

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

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

8 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS PROPOSALS. 

9 Section 2(c) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 

10 713c–3(c)), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

12 subsection shall make publicly available a title and 

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

14 funds that serves as the public justification for fund15 ing the project that includes a statement describing 

16 how the project serves to enhance United States fish17 eries, including harvesting, processing, marketing, 

18 and associated infrastructures, if applicable.’’. 


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Calendar No. 283 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1322 

[Report No. 115–193] 

A BILL 

To establish the American Fisheries Advisory Compurposes. search and development grants, and for other mittee to assist in the awarding of fisheries reDECEMBER 11, 2017 

Reported with an amendment 


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