I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1218 

To establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to assist in the 

awarding of fisheries research and development grants, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

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) MARKETING AND PROMOTION.—The 

7 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an ac8 tivity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

9 seafood or expanding or maintaining commer10 cial markets for seafood. 

11 ‘‘(C) PROCESSOR.—The term ‘processor’ 

12 means any person in the business of preparing 

13 or packaging seafood (including seafood of the 

14 processor’s own harvesting) for sale. 

15 ‘‘(D) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘seafood’ 

16 means farm-raised and wild-caught fish or 

17 shellfish harvested in the United States or by a 

18 United States flagged vessel for human con19 sumption. 

20 ‘‘(E) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘sea21 food industry’ means harvesters, marketers, 

22 growers, processors, and persons providing 

23 them with goods and services. 

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

25 after the date of the enactment of the American 


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1 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, the Secretary 

2 shall establish five regions within the American 

3 Fisheries Advisory Committee as follows: 

4 ‘‘(A) Region 1 shall consist of Alaska, Ha5 waii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar6 iana Islands, and the territories of Guam and 

7 American Samoa. 

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

9 Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con10 necticut, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Wis11 consin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsyl12 vania. 

13 ‘‘(C) Region 3 shall consist of Texas, Ala14 bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Puerto 

15 Rico, and the territory of the Virgin Islands. 

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

17 Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 

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

19 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 

20 South Carolina, and Georgia. 

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

22 composed of the following members: 

23 ‘‘(A) REGIONAL REPRESENTATION.—Each 

24 of the regions listed in subparagraphs (A) 


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1 through (E) of paragraph (2) shall be rep2 resented on the Committee by two members— 

3 ‘‘(i) who are appointed by the Sec4 retary; 

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

6 in the region that the member will rep7 resent; 

8 ‘‘(iii) of which— 

9 ‘‘(I) one shall have experience as 

10 a seafood harvester; and 

11 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

12 a processor; and 

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

14 members of the Committee have experience 

15 or expertise with as many seafood species 

16 as practicable. 

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

18 shall appoint to the Committee at-large mem19 bers to ensure that the Committee fairly re20 flects the expertise and interest of the seafood 

21 industry located in each region, as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

23 mass market food distribution. 

24 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience in 

25 mass market food retail or food service. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

2 in the marketing of seafood. 

3 ‘‘(iv) One individual with experience 

4 in growing seafood. 

5 ‘‘(v) One individual who is an em6 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

7 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

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

9 of the Committee shall be three years, except that 

10 the Secretary shall designate staggered terms for the 

11 members initially appointed to the Committee. 

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

13 be responsible for— 

14 ‘‘(A) identifying needs of the seafood in15 dustry that may be addressed by a project 

16 funded with a grant under subsection (c); 

17 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals 

18 for such grants; 

19 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such 

20 grants; and 

21 ‘‘(D) selecting applications for approval 

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

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

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

25 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 two 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) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

11 ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

12 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Committee. 

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

14 as necessary without regard to the provisions of title 

15 5, United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND17 ING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

19 Committee shall serve without compensation, 

20 but shall be reimbursed in accordance with sec21 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for 

22 reasonable travel costs and expenses incurred in 

23 performing duties as a member of the Com24 mittee. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The reimbursements 

2 made under subparagraph (A) shall be paid 

3 with the funds made available for grants under 

4 subsection (c). 

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

6 interest and recusal provisions set out in section 

7 302(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva8 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall 

9 apply to any decision by the Committee and to all 

10 members of the Committee as if each member of the 

11 Committee is an affected individual within the mean12 ing of such section 302(j), except that in addition to 

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

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

15 of the Committee shall disclose any financial interest 

16 or relationship in an organization or with an indi17 vidual that is applying for a grant under subsection 

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

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

20 employee, contractor, agent, or other representa21 tive.’’. 

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

23 2(c)(3) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c– 

24 3(c)(3)), is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(3) No application for a grant under this subsection 

2 may be approved unless— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Secretary is satisfied that the appli4 cant has the requisite technical and financial capa5 bility to carry out the project; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the application is selected for funding by 

7 the American Fisheries Advisory Committee under 

8 subsection (f).’’. 

Æ 


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