I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8788 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to establish the Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program and to 

direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood producers 

in domestic and global seafood trade. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2024 

Mrs. PELTOLA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to establish the Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program and to direct the Comptroller 

General of the United States to submit to Congress 

a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood producers in domestic and global seafood trade. 

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 ‘‘Fisheries Improvement 

3 and Seafood Health Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RESILIENT FISHERIES. 

5 (a) FISHERIES AND ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE PRO6 GRAM.—Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

7 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(l) FISHERIES AND ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE PRO10 GRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

12 through the Director of the National Marine Fish13 eries Service, shall establish a program in the Na14 tional Marine Fisheries Service to be known as the 

15 ‘Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program’ (re16 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘Program’). 

17 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary, acting 

18 through the Director of the National Marine Fish19 eries Service, shall appoint a senior official of the 

20 National Marine Fisheries Service to serve as the di21 rector of the Program (referred to in this subsection 

22 as the ‘Program Director’). 

23 ‘‘(3) MISSION.—The mission of the Program 

24 shall be to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) advance ocean and ecosystem under2 standing and modeling to project future ocean 

3 conditions and to inform fishery management; 

4 ‘‘(B) assess the current and anticipated 

5 impacts from, and vulnerability of, stocks of 

6 fish to changing environmental and ecological 

7 conditions; 

8 ‘‘(C) assess the anticipated impacts to 

9 coastal communities, economies, and traditional 

10 ways of life due to changing fishing and marine 

11 ecosystem conditions; 

12 ‘‘(D) develop innovative, science-based 

13 tools, processes, and decision support systems 

14 for meeting conservation and management 

15 standards under this Act in response to chang16 ing environmental and ecological conditions; 

17 ‘‘(E) engage with and educate fishers, fish18 ing communities, State, local, Tribal, and com19 munity leaders, and others on future ocean con20 ditions and the impacts of changing environ21 mental and ecological conditions on fisheries; 

22 ‘‘(F) create and provide tools, training, 

23 and support to Councils for management of and 

24 adaptation to changing ecosystems and fish25 eries; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) coordinate across the National Oce2 anic and Atmospheric Administration and other 

3 relevant agencies to increase synergies and 

4 streamline efforts to better understand and 

5 model changing ocean ecosystems and increase 

6 fishery resilience. 

7 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Program Direc8 tor shall be responsible for carrying out activities to 

9 implement the mission in paragraph (3), including 

10 by— 

11 ‘‘(A) conducting cooperative research with 

12 fishers, communities, academic institutions, 

13 nongovernmental organizations, and other inter14 est parties on changing ecological and environ15 mental conditions and impacts to stocks of fish 

16 and other marine resources; 

17 ‘‘(B) coordinating across the National Oce18 anic and Atmospheric Administration to 

19 produce and collate information about ocean 

20 and ecosystem modeling, forecasts, and projec21 tions for fishery management purposes; 

22 ‘‘(C) communicating to fishers, fishing 

23 communities, and the public about the risks 

24 posed by changing ecological and environmental 


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1 conditions to the conservation and management 

2 of stocks of fish and other marine resources; 

3 ‘‘(D) conducting assessments to determine 

4 the vulnerability of stocks of fish to impacts 

5 from changing ecological and environmental 

6 conditions; 

7 ‘‘(E) identifying and improving existing 

8 processes and structures to incorporate ecologi9 cal and environmental information into manage10 ment of stocks of fish; 

11 ‘‘(F) identifying gaps where innovative 

12 management processes can be developed to fa13 cilitate incorporation of rapidly changing eco14 logical and environmental information; 

15 ‘‘(G) piloting innovative tools and ap16 proaches to increase the adaptive capacity of 

17 fisheries managers to the impacts of changing 

18 ecological and environmental conditions on 

19 stocks of fish; 

20 ‘‘(H) providing the Councils with assess21 ments and guidance on management actions 

22 and structured processes to increase the resil23 ience of stocks of fish identified as vulnerable to 

24 impacts from changing ecological and environ25 mental conditions; 


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1 ‘‘(I) incorporating qualitative data, lived 

2 experiences, and priorities of fishers, commu3 nities, and other interested parties in initiatives 

4 to increase the resilience of stocks of fish and 

5 the communities that rely on them to changing 

6 ecological and environmental conditions; 

7 ‘‘(J) communicating frequently with and 

8 creating opportunities for cross-regional collabo9 ration and learning among Councils and re10 gional offices and regional science centers of the 

11 National Marine Fisheries Service; 

12 ‘‘(K) collaborating with the National 

13 Ocean Service, the Office of Oceanic and At14 mospheric Research, National Oceanic and At15 mospheric Administration Cooperative Insti16 tutes, the Integrated Ocean Observing System 

17 Regional Associations, and others to maintain a 

18 comprehensive digital database of ecological and 

19 environmental information relevant to fisheries 

20 and marine ecosystems, including regional 

21 ocean model outputs, ecosystem projections, 

22 and other data and information; 

23 ‘‘(L) conducting a cross-agency assessment 

24 to avoid redundancies and consolidate fishery 


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1 resilience efforts and ecosystem modeling under 

2 the Program; and 

3 ‘‘(M) compiling information and analyzing 

4 progress made to implement management meas5 ures to increase resilience to changing ecological 

6 and environmental conditions and respond to 

7 shifting populations of stocks of fish and chang8 ing productivity. 

9 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION.—The mission of the Pro10 gram and the activities of the Program Director 

11 shall be carried out in coordination with other offices 

12 of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the 

13 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

14 the Councils and respective advisory panels, fishers, 

15 academic institutions, nongovernmental organiza16 tions, and other interested parties. 

17 ‘‘(6) STAFF.—In carrying out the requirements 

18 of this subsection, the Program Director shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) appoint full- and part-time employees; 

20 ‘‘(B) establish a regional ocean modeling 

21 and prediction coordination team to fund part22 nerships with relevant experts across the Na23 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

24 regional science centers, National Oceanic and 

25 Atmospheric Administration Cooperative InstiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Aug 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8788.IH H8788

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1 tutes, Integrated Ocean Observing System Re2 gional Associations, and others to produce and 

3 deliver coordinated regional forecasts, projec4 tions, and other resources to improve regional 

5 understand and forecasting of ecosystem 

6 changes as needed to inform fishery manage7 ment decisions; and 

8 ‘‘(C) establish management and decision 

9 support teams that will support the Councils by 

10 utilizing the information produced by the teams 

11 authorized in subparagraph (B) for developing 

12 assessments and guidance on management ac13 tions to increase the resilience of stocks of fish 

14 vulnerable to impacts from changing ecological 

15 and environmental conditions. 

16 ‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 

17 years after the date of the enactment of the Fish18 eries Improvement and Seafood Health Act of 2024, 

19 and every 2 years thereafter during the period in 

20 which appropriations are authorized for the Program 

21 under paragraph (8), the Program Director shall 

22 submit to Congress a report on actions taken to ful23 fill the requirements of this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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1 retary to carry out this subsection $30,000,000 for 

2 each of the fiscal years 2025 through 2030.’’. 

3 (b) COUNCIL TRAINING PROGRAM.—Section 

4 302(k)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

5 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(k)(1)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through 

8 (H) as subparagraphs (D) through (I), respectively; 

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub10 paragraph (K); 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(C) relevant impacts from changing envi14 ronmental and ecological conditions on fisheries 

15 health, range, and other factors that would af16 fect the conservation and management of a 

17 stock of fish;’’; 

18 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the 

19 end of subparagraph (I), as so redesignated; and 

20 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (I), as so 

21 redesignated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(J) ecosystem-based fishery management; 

23 and’’. 


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1 (c) FISHERIES RESEARCH.—Section 404 of the Mag2 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

3 (16 U.S.C. 1881c) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘, on changes 

5 in geographic range, spatial distribution, and pro6 ductivity of a fishery or interrelated fisheries,’’ after 

7 ‘‘management’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘changes 

9 in geographic range, spatial distribution, and pro10 ductivity of a fishery or interrelated fisheries,’’after 

11 ‘‘degradation,’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REPORT ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF DOMESTIC 

13 SEAFOOD PRODUCERS IN DOMESTIC AND 

14 GLOBAL SEAFOOD TRADE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller 

17 General of the United States shall submit to the Congress 

18 a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood pro19 ducers in domestic and global seafood trade. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

21 (a) shall— 

22 (1) identify Federal laws, regulations, and poli23 cies that directly affect the costs of domestic seafood 

24 production and seafood industry investment in the 

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1 duction and investment in other seafood-producing 

2 countries; 

3 (2) analyze the competitive position of United 

4 States seafood in domestic and global markets, given 

5 differences in tariffs and nontariff barriers among 

6 countries and changes in trade flows and market 

7 share over the last 5 years, highlighting the relative 

8 position of the United States compared to other sea9 food-producing countries; 

10 (3) include an inventory and assessment of 

11 Federal domestic programs to help manage costs, fa12 cilitate and incentivize domestic capacity and mod13 ernization, and facilitate domestic and overseas mar14 ket access for United States seafood producers, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) identification of programs available 

17 and unavailable to wild and farmed domestic 

18 seafood producers; 

19 (B) recommendations to improve the utility 

20 of these programs for domestic seafood pro21 ducers; and 

22 (C) the financial health and stability of the 

23 Seafood Inspection Program as provider of sea24 food health and catch certificates and other 


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1 services to domestic seafood producers and ex2 porters; 

3 (4) provide recommendations for a new Na4 tional Seafood Trade Policy to improve the competi5 tiveness of United States seafood producers, includ6 ing— 

7 (A) ways to facilitate interagency coordina8 tion under existing authorities and consultation 

9 with domestic seafood producers around com10 mon goals for seafood tariffs, nontariff barriers, 

11 and market access policy; 

12 (B) domestic seafood cost control and in13 vestment programs; and 

14 (C) domestic seafood producers’ access to 

15 financial support programs; 

16 (5) identify trade barriers to United States sea17 food production that are vulnerable to dispute settle18 ment through the World Trade Organization or oth19 erwise under trade agreements; 

20 (6) include a strategy for enforcing violations of 

21 trade agreements related to such trade barriers; and 

22 (7) identify like-minded trading partners for 

23 specific trade barriers that could act as co-complain24 ants or primary complainants on disputes that are 


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1 systemically or economically important to the United 

2 States. 

3 (c) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Following the submis4 sion of the report required by subsection (a), the Comp5 troller General of the United States shall submit to the 

6 Congress quarterly reports on progress towards resolving 

7 cases or filing disputes to resolve trade barriers described 

8 in subsection (b)(5). 

9 SEC. 4. ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDER10 ATIONS. 

11 Section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

12 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and;’’ and 

15 inserting a semicolon; 

16 (2) in paragraph (15), by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(16) consider and account for the effects of 

20 changing ecological and environmental conditions on 

21 the fishery and describe how the management meas22 ures contained in the plan or plan amendment ad23 dress such changing conditions.’’. 

Æ 


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