II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2209 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to establish a safety net program for commercial fishermen and aquaculture producers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2019 

Mrs. HYDE-SMITH (for herself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to establish a safety net program for 

commercial fishermen and aquaculture producers. 

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 ‘‘Commercial Fishing 

5 and Aquaculture Protection Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE ASSISTANCE FOR COM2 MERCIAL FISHERMEN AND FARM-RAISED 

3 FISH PRODUCERS. 

4 The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

5 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended by 

6 inserting after section 320 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 321. SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE ASSISTANCE FOR 

8 COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN AND FARM-RAISED 

9 FISH PRODUCERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

13 commercial fisherman’ means an individual or 

14 entity described in subparagraph (B) that, as 

15 determined by the Secretary, assumes the fi16 nancial risks associated with harvesting fish in17 tended for commerce. 

18 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION.—An individual or en19 tity is described in this subparagraph if the in20 dividual or entity is— 

21 ‘‘(i) a citizen of the United States; 

22 ‘‘(ii) a partnership of citizens of the 

23 United States; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) a corporation, limited liability 

25 corporation, or other organizational struc26 ture organized under State law. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FARM-RAISED FISH PRO2 DUCER.—The term ‘eligible farm-raised fish pro3 ducer’ means an individual or entity described under 

4 paragraph (1)(B) that, as determined by the Sec5 retary, assumes the production and market risks as6 sociated with the production of fish in a controlled 

7 environment intended for commerce. 

8 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE LOSS.—The term ‘eligible loss’, 

9 with respect to a calendar year, means when actual 

10 gross revenue associated with commercial fishing or 

11 farm-raised fish production for such calendar year is 

12 less than 85 percent of the average gross revenue for 

13 the 3 previous calendar years. 

14 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE LOSS CONDITION.—The term 

15 ‘eligible loss condition’ means a condition that re16 sulted in eligible loss due to algae bloom, freshwater 

17 intrusion, adverse weather, bird depredation, disease, 

18 or other condition, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(5) FISH.—The term ‘fish’ includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) shellfish (including oysters, shrimp, 

21 crawfish, and crab); 

22 ‘‘(B) finfish (including catfish); and 

23 ‘‘(C) any other species of aquatic organism 

24 harvested with the intent of entering commerce. 


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1 ‘‘(6) VERIFIABLE RECORDS.—The term 

2 ‘verifiable records’ means a document provided by a 

3 commercial fisherman or farm-raised fish producer 

4 that reasonably supports, and can be verified and 

5 used to substantiate claimed eligible loss, includ6 ing— 

7 ‘‘(A) trip tickets or their equivalents, such 

8 as dealer forms, which show fish harvest vol9 umes and sales prices; 

10 ‘‘(B) Federal or State tax and financial in11 formation to identify components of gross rev12 enue derived from commercial fishing or farm13 raised fish production; or 

14 ‘‘(C) any other form of reliable record that 

15 reasonably supports the eligible loss as well as 

16 the average gross revenue for the 3 previous 

17 calendar years. 

18 ‘‘(b) SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE ASSISTANCE PRO19 GRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 

21 of funds, the Secretary shall use such sums as are 

22 necessary to provide compensation to eligible com23 mercial fishermen and eligible farm-raised fish pro24 ducers that have incurred eligible losses, based on 

25 verifiable records, due to eligible loss conditions. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The amount of the 

2 compensation to be paid to an eligible commercial 

3 fisherman or eligible farm-raised fish producer under 

4 paragraph (1) for an eligible loss for a calendar year 

5 shall be equal to the difference between— 

6 ‘‘(A) 85 percent of the average gross rev7 enue for the 3 previous calendar years, cal8 culated by multiplying the average volume of 

9 fish harvested or produced by the average fair 

10 market value or price received; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the actual total gross revenue re12 ceived during the calendar year of claimed eligi13 ble loss. 

14 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT LIMITATION.—The total amount 

15 of compensation received by a person or entity (ex16 cluding a joint venture or general partnership) under 

17 this section for a calendar year shall not exceed 85 

18 percent of the average gross revenue received during 

19 the 3 previous calendar years. 

20 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—If eligible losses have oc21 curred due to eligible loss conditions, the Secretary 

22 shall provide assistance under this section whether 

23 or not a fishery resource disaster determination has 

24 been made under section 312(a). 


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1 ‘‘(5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Compensation author2 ized under this section shall apply to eligible losses 

3 suffered during the 2019 calendar year and each 

4 year thereafter, subject to the availability of funds.’’. 

Æ 


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