II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3615 

To enhance national seafood marketing efforts through the creation of a 

National Seafood Marketing and Development Fund, Regional Seafood 

Marketing Boards and a National Coordinating Committee and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To enhance national seafood marketing efforts through the 

creation of a National Seafood Marketing and Development Fund, Regional Seafood Marketing Boards and 

a National Coordinating Committee 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 ‘‘National Seafood Mar5 keting and Development Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The fishery resources of the United States 

5 are valuable and renewable natural resources that 

6 provide a major source of employment and con7 tribute significantly to the food supply, economy, 

8 and health of the United States. 

9 (2) Increased consumption of seafood would 

10 provide significant nutritional and health benefits for 

11 many people in the United States and help to reduce 

12 childhood obesity. 

13 (3) The fishery resources of the United States 

14 are not fully developed and utilized because of un15 derdeveloped markets. 

16 (4) United States seafood companies have the 

17 potential to expand their contribution to interstate 

18 and foreign commerce, favorably affecting the bal19 ance of trade. 

20 (5) A national program for marketing seafood 

21 is needed to realize the full potential of the fishery 

22 resources of the United States and to assure that 

23 the people of the United States benefit from the em24 ployment, food supply, and revenue that could be 

25 generated by such realization. 

26 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to improve and expand markets for seafood 

2 and strengthen the competitive position of the 

3 United States in domestic and international mar4 kets; 

5 (2) to encourage the sustainable development 

6 and utilization of the seafood resources of the 

7 United States through enhancement of markets, pro8 motion, and public education; 

9 (3) to assist growers, harvesters, and processors 

10 in improving the safety, traceability, quality, market11 ability, and sustainability of United States seafood 

12 products; 

13 (4) to assist growers, harvesters, and processors 

14 of United States seafood products in the develop15 ment and promotion of markets for seafood and im16 prove coordination of their marketing activities; and 

17 (5) to educate and inform consumers about the 

18 nutritional and health benefits of seafood. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means a Re22 gional Seafood Marketing Board established under 

23 section 4. 

24 (2) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘con25 sumer education’’ means actions undertaken to inVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:30 Sep 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3615.IS S3615

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1 form consumers on matters related to the consump2 tion of seafood products. 

3 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Na4 tional Seafood Marketing and Development Fund es5 tablished by section 5. 

6 (4) GROWER.—The term ‘‘grower’’ means any 

7 person in the business of growing or farming sea8 food. 

9 (5) HARVESTER.—The term ‘‘harvester’’ means 

10 any person in the business of harvesting seafood 

11 from the wild. 

12 (6) MARKETER.—The term ‘‘marketer’’ means 

13 any person in the business of selling seafood in the 

14 wholesale, retail, or restaurant trade, but whose pri15 mary business function is not the processing or 

16 packaging of seafood in preparation for sale. 

17 (7) MARKETING AND PROMOTION.—The term 

18 ‘‘marketing and promotion’’ means an activity aimed 

19 at encouraging the consumption of seafood or ex20 panding or maintaining commercial markets for sea21 food. 

22 (8) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

23 individual, group of individuals, partnership, cor24 poration, association, cooperative, or any private en25 tity organized or existing under the laws of the 


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1 United States or any State, commonwealth, terri2 tory, or possession of the United States. 

3 (9) PROCESSOR.—The term ‘‘processor’’ means 

4 any person in the business of preparing or pack5 aging seafood (including seafood of the processor’s 

6 own harvesting) for sale. 

7 (10) RESEARCH.—The term ‘‘research’’ means 

8 any study or project designed to advance the image, 

9 desirability, usage, marketability, production, or 

10 quality of seafood. 

11 (11) SEAFOOD.—The term ‘‘seafood’’ means 

12 farm-raised and wild-caught fish or shellfish har13 vested in the United States or by a United States 

14 flagged vessel for human consumption. 

15 (12) SEAFOOD INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘seafood 

16 industry’’ means harvesters, marketers, growers, 

17 processors, and persons providing them with goods 

18 and services. 

19 (13) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise specifi20 cally provided, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec21 retary of Commerce. 

22 (14) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

23 States’’, when used in the geographic sense, means 

24 the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

25 Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 


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1 the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other terri2 tory, possession, or commonwealth of the United 

3 States. 

4 SEC. 4. REGIONAL SEAFOOD MARKETING BOARDS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL SEAFOOD MAR6 KETING BOARDS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 

8 Regional Seafood Marketing Boards as follows: 

9 (1) NORTHEAST ATLANTIC BOARD.—The 

10 Northeast Atlantic Board shall consist of the fol11 lowing members: 

12 (A) Twelve members from the State of 

13 Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 

14 Island, or Connecticut. 

15 (B) One member from the State of 

16 Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michi17 gan, Indiana, or Ohio. 

18 (2) MID AND SOUTH ATLANTIC BOARD.—The 

19 Mid and South Atlantic Board shall consist of the 

20 following members: 

21 (A) Twelve members from the State of 

22 New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsyl23 vania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 

24 South Carolina, or Georgia. 


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1 (B) One member from the State of West 

2 Virginia, Kentucky, or Tennessee. 

3 (3) GULF AND CARIBBEAN BOARD.—The Gulf 

4 and Caribbean Board shall consist of the following 

5 members: 

6 (A) Twelve members from the State of 

7 Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, or 

8 Texas, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or 

9 the territory of the Virgin Islands. 

10 (B) One member from the State of Okla11 homa, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, or 

12 Kansas. 

13 (4) PACIFIC BOARD.—The Pacific Board shall 

14 consist of the following members: 

15 (A) Twelve members from the State of 

16 Idaho, Washington, Oregon, or California. 

17 (B) One member from the State of Ari18 zona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, 

19 Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, or South 

20 Dakota. 

21 (5) WEST AND NORTH PACIFIC BOARD.—The 

22 West and North Pacific Board shall consist of thir23 teen members from the State of Alaska or Hawaii 

24 or the territory of Guam or American Samoa. 

25 (b) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 


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1 (1) NOMINATION.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall solicit nominations for members of each 

4 Board from the public. 

5 (2) CONSULTATION.—Prior to appointing an in6 dividual to the Board, the Secretary shall consult 

7 with and seek the recommendations of the Governors 

8 of the States in the geographical area of the Board. 

9 (3) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 270 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary shall appoint the members of each Board 

12 from among the nominees received under paragraph 

13 (1) and the recommendations received under para14 graph (2). 

15 (4) MEMBER EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 

16 ensure that the members of each Board fairly reflect 

17 the expertise and interest of the seafood industry lo18 cated in the geographical area of the Board, and 

19 that the members of each Board include the fol20 lowing: 

21 (A) Three individuals with experience in 

22 harvesting. 

23 (B) Two individuals with experience in 

24 processing, including one having experience 


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1 with large processors and one having experience 

2 with small processors. 

3 (C) One individual with experience in 

4 transportation and logistics. 

5 (D) One individual with experience in mass 

6 market food distribution. 

7 (E) One individual with experience in mass 

8 market food retail or food service. 

9 (F) One individual with experience in the 

10 marketing of seafood. 

11 (G) One individual recommended by a re12 gional or State seafood marketing organization. 

13 (H) One individual with experience in 

14 growing seafood. 

15 (I) Two individuals that represent the gen16 eral public and are familiar with the seafood in17 dustry as a whole. 

18 (5) MEMBER TERMS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term for a member 

20 of a Board shall be 3 years unless the Secretary 

21 designates a shorter term to provide for stag22 gered expirations of terms of office. 

23 (B) TERM LIMITS.—No member of a 

24 Board may serve more than 3 consecutive 

25 terms, except that a member may continue to 


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1 serve on a Board beyond that member’s term 

2 until a successor is appointed. 

3 (c) VACANCIES.— 

4 (1) REMOVAL.—A Board may remove a mem5 ber from the Board for failure to attend 3 consecu6 tive Board meetings without reasonable excuse, or 

for other cause by not less than 2 7 ⁄3 of the members 

8 of the Board. 

9 (2) EFFECT OF VACANCY.—A vacancy shall not 

10 affect the ability of a Board to function. 

11 (3) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENT.—A vacancy 

12 on a Board shall be filled by the manner in which 

13 the original appointment was made. 

14 (d) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES.—A member of a 

15 Board shall serve without compensation, but shall be reim16 bursed in accordance with section 5703 of title 5, United 

17 States Code, for reasonable travel costs and expenses in18 curred in performing duties as a member of a Board. 

19 (e) CHAIRMAN.—Each Board shall elect a chairman 

20 by a majority of those voting, if a quorum is present. 

21 (f) QUORUM.—A simple majority of members of a 

22 Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may 

23 hold hearings. 

24 (g) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STAFF, ADMINISTRATIVE

25 ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A Board may employ 

3 and determine the salary of an executive direc4 tor, but such salary shall not exceed level II of 

5 the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of 

6 title 5, United States Code. 

7 (B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The individual 

8 selected as the executive director shall have 

9 demonstrated expertise in the marketing and 

10 promotion of food products. 

11 (2) STAFF.—With the approval of the Board, 

12 the executive director may select and employ addi13 tional staff as necessary without regard to the provi14 sions of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Sec16 retary shall provide each Board such administrative 

17 assistance as requested by the Board for purposes of 

18 its initial organization and operation. 

19 (h) NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The chairman and 2 

21 members of each Board shall establish a National 

22 Coordinating Committee— 

23 (A) to exchange information and, if appro24 priate, coordinate the activities of the Boards; 

25 and 


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1 (B) to conduct other business consistent 

2 with the policies and purposes of this Act. 

3 (2) MEETING.—The National Coordinating 

4 Committee shall meet at least once each year. 

5 (i) VOLUNTARY PAYMENTS.—Any person may make 

6 a voluntary payment to the Secretary to assist a Board 

7 in carrying out their marketing plans. Such payments 

8 shall be disbursed to the appropriate Board from the 

9 Fund. 

10 (j) ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN.— 

11 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR PLAN.—Each Board 

12 may prepare an annual marketing plan that de13 scribes the consumer education, research, and other 

14 marketing activities of the Board for the following 

15 year, including the selection procedures and criteria 

16 the Board plans to use for the solicitation and 

17 awarding of grants and its plans to coordinate its 

18 activities with those of the other Boards established 

19 under this Act. Plans may include marketing activi20 ties that reference a particular brand or trade name, 

21 and may include projects designed to promote the 

22 consumption or purchase of a specific seafood spe23 cies or group of similar seafood. 

24 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of each annual 

25 marketing plan shall be to— 


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1 (A) increase consumer demand for seafood; 

2 (B) encourage, expand, or improve the 

3 marketing and utilization of seafood; and 

4 (C) improve consumer education, research, 

5 and other marketing activities regarding sea6 food. 

7 (k) ACCOUNTING.— 

8 (1) RECORDS.—Each Board shall maintain ac9 counting records of the receipt and disbursement of 

10 all funds of the Board, which shall be subject to the 

11 review of the Secretary. 

12 (2) REPORTS.—Each Board shall submit an an13 nual report to the Secretary, detailing the expendi14 tures of the Board. 

15 (3) FUNDS.—Each Board shall keep the monies 

16 distributed to it from the Fund on deposit in appro17 priate interest-bearing accounts that shall be estab18 lished by the Board or invested in obligations of, or 

19 guaranteed by, the United States. Any revenue ac20 cruing from such deposits and investments shall be 

21 available to the Board for carrying out its marketing 

22 plans. 

23 (l) LIMITATIONS ON DECEPTIVE OR NEGATIVE MAR24 KETING.—Consumer education and other marketing and 

25 promotion activities of the Boards shall avoid use of decepVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:30 Sep 27, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3615.IS S3615

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1 tive or negative acts or practices on behalf of fish or fish 

2 products or with respect to the quality, value, or use of 

3 any competing product or group of products. 

4 (m) GRANTS.— 

5 (1) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE.—Each Board 

6 shall make grants to persons to carry out projects 

7 subject to such terms and conditions as the Board 

8 may require, consistent with the purposes of this Act 

9 and any marketing plan the Board has adopted. 

10 (2) COST-SHARING.—A grant made by a Board 

11 under paragraph (1) may not exceed 50 percent of 

12 the total estimated cost of the project. The remain13 ing 50 percent shall be provided by the grantee, 

14 which may include the value of in-kind contributions 

15 from the grantee. 

16 (3) AWARD.—Each Board shall award at least 

17 10 percent of the grant funds awarded by the Board 

18 under this paragraph each year to minority-owned, 

19 veteran-owned, or small businesses. 

20 (n) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The conflict of inter21 est and recusal provisions set forth in section 302(j) of 

22 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage23 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) shall apply to any decision 

24 by the Board and to all members of the Board as if each 

25 member of the Board is an affected individual within the 


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

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

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

4 shall disclose any financial interest or relationship in an 

5 organization or with an individual that is applying for 

6 funding from the Board held by the Board member, in7 cluding an interest as an officer, director, trustee, partner, 

8 employee, contractor, agent, or other representative. 

9 SEC. 5. NATIONAL SEAFOOD MARKETING AND DEVELOP10 MENT FUND. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

12 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 

13 National Seafood Marketing and Development Fund. 

14 (b) EXCLUSIVE USE OF FUND.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of law, all amounts in the Fund shall 

16 be used exclusively by the Secretary for making grants to 

17 the Boards under this Act and no such amount shall be 

18 transferred from the Fund for any other purpose. 

19 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount available in the 

21 Fund for each fiscal year shall be disbursed by the 

22 Secretary for such fiscal year to the Boards as fol23 lows: 


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1 (A) Eighty percent of such amount in the 

2 Fund shall be distributed equally among the 

3 Boards. 

4 (B) Twenty percent shall be distributed to 

5 the Boards based on a ratio of the total pounds 

6 of seafood harvested in the geographical area of 

7 each Board to the total pounds of seafood har8 vested in the United States. 

9 (2) RATIO CALCULATION.—The ratio referred 

10 to in subparagraph (B) shall be calculated by the 

11 Secretary every 3 years using data collected by the 

12 Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agri13 culture. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund $50,000,000 

16 for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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