IB 

Union Calendar No. 458 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3128 

[Report No. 117–635] 

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 

MAY 11, 2021 

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

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 


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A BILL 

To establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to 

assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants, and for other purposes. 


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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 of 2021’’. 

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— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub10 section (f); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(e) AMERICAN FISHERIES ADVISORY COM14 MITTEE.— 

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 

20 ‘fishing community’ means harvesters, market21 ers, growers, processors, recreational fishermen, 

22 charter fishermen, and persons providing them 

23 with goods and services. 

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

25 term ‘marketing and promotion’ means an acVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3128.RH H3128

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1 tivity aimed at encouraging the consumption of 

2 seafood or expanding or maintaining commer3 cial 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’ 

9 means farm-raised and wild-caught fish, shell10 fish, or marine algae harvested in the United 

11 States or by a United States flagged vessel for 

12 human consumption. 

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

14 after the date of the enactment of the American 

15 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act of 2021, the Sec16 retary shall establish 6 regions within the American 

17 Fisheries Advisory 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 the Territory of the Vir4 gin Islands of the United States. 

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, 

9 North 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 rep18 resented 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 

2 a seafood harvester or processor; 

3 ‘‘(II) one shall have experience as 

4 recreational or commercial fisher or 

5 have experience growing seafood; and 

6 ‘‘(III) one shall be an individual 

7 who represents the fisheries science 

8 community or the relevant Regional 

9 Fishery Management Council; and 

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

11 members of the Committee have experience 

12 or expertise with as many seafood species 

13 as practicable. 

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

15 shall appoint to the Committee at-large mem16 bers as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) One individual with experience in 

18 food distribution, marketing, retail, or food 

19 service. 

20 ‘‘(ii) One individual with experience in 

21 the recreational fishing industry supply 

22 chain, such as fishermen, manufacturers, 

23 retailers, and distributors. 

24 ‘‘(iii) One individual with experience 

25 in the commercial fishing industry supply 


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1 chain, such as fishermen, manufacturers, 

2 retailers, and distributors. 

3 ‘‘(iv) One individual who is an em4 ployee of the National Marine Fisheries 

5 Service with expertise in fisheries research. 

6 ‘‘(C) BALANCED REPRESENTATION.—In 

7 selecting the members described in subpara8 graphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall seek to 

9 maximize on the Committee, to the extent prac10 ticable, a balanced representation of expertise 

11 in United States fisheries, seafood production, 

12 and science. 

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

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

15 Secretary shall designate staggered terms for the 

16 members initially appointed to the Committee. 

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

18 be responsible for— 

19 ‘‘(A) identifying needs of the fishing com20 munity that may be addressed by a project 

21 funded with a grant under subsection (c); 

22 ‘‘(B) developing the request for proposals 

23 for such grants; 

24 ‘‘(C) reviewing applications for such 

25 grants; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) selecting applications for approval 

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

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

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

5 present. 

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

7 of the Committee shall constitute a quorum, but a 

8 lesser number may hold hearings. 

9 ‘‘(8) MEETINGS.— 

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

11 meet not more than 2 times each year. 

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

13 Committee shall rotate between the geographic 

14 regions described under paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(C) MINIMIZING COSTS.—The Committee 

16 shall seek to minimize the operational costs as17 sociated with meetings, hearings, or other busi18 ness of the Committee, including through the 

19 use of video or teleconference. 

20 ‘‘(9) DESIGNATION OF STAFF MEMBER.—The 

21 Secretary shall designate a staff member to coordi22 nate the activities of the Committee and to assist 

23 with administrative and other functions as requested 

24 by the Committee. 


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1 ‘‘(10) PER DIEM AND EXPENSES AND FUND2 ING.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

4 Committee shall serve without compensation, 

5 but shall be reimbursed in accordance with sec6 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for 

7 reasonable travel costs and expenses incurred in 

8 performing duties as a member of the Com9 mittee. 

10 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The costs of reimburse11 ments under subparagraph (A) and the other 

12 costs associated with the Committee shall be 

13 paid from funds made available to carry out 

14 this section (which may include funds described 

15 in subsection (f)(1)(B)), except that no funds 

16 allocated for grants under subsection (f)(1)(A) 

17 shall be expended for any purpose under this 

18 subsection. 

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 

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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 representative. 

10 ‘‘(12) TECHNICAL REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Prior to review of an 

12 application for a grant under subsection (c) by 

13 the Committee, the Secretary shall obtain an 

14 independent written technical evaluation from 3 

15 or more appropriate Federal, private, or public 

16 sector experts (such as industry, academia, or 

17 governmental experts) who— 

18 ‘‘(i) have subject matter expertise to 

19 determine the technical merit of the pro20 posal in the application; 

21 ‘‘(ii) shall independently evaluate each 

22 such proposal; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) shall certify that the expert does 

24 not have a conflict of interest concerning 


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1 the application that the expert is review2 ing. 

3 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of enactment of the American 

5 Fisheries Advisory Committee Act of 2021, the 

6 Secretary shall issue guidance related to car7 rying out the technical evaluations under sub8 paragraph (A). Such guidance shall include cri9 teria for the elimination by the National Oce10 anic and Atmospheric Administration of appli11 cations that fail to meet a minimum level of 

12 technical merit as determined by the review de13 scribed in subparagraph (A).’’. 

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

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

16 3(c)(3)), is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) No application for a grant under this sub18 section may be approved unless the Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(i) is satisfied that the applicant has the req20 uisite technical and financial capability to carry out 

21 the project; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) based on the recommendations of the 

23 American Fisheries Advisory Committee established 

24 in subsection (e), evaluates the proposed project as 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) soundness of design; 

2 ‘‘(II) the possibilities of securing produc3 tive results; 

4 ‘‘(III) minimization of duplication with 

5 other fisheries research and development 

6 projects; 

7 ‘‘(IV) the organization and management of 

8 the project; 

9 ‘‘(V) methods proposed for monitoring and 

10 evaluating the success or failure of the project; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(VI) such other criteria as the Secretary 

13 may require. 

14 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary fails to provide funds to a grant 

15 selected by the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, 

16 the Secretary shall provide a written document to the 

17 Committee justifying the decision.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF SPECIFIED PURPOSES OF FISH19 ERIES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

20 PROJECTS GRANTS PROGRAM TO INCLUDE 

21 FISHERIES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

22 PROJECTS. 

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 4. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS PROPOSALS. 

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

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

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(6) Any person awarded a grant under this sub6 section shall make publicly available a title and abstract 

7 of the project to be carried out by the grant funds that 

8 serves as the public justification for funding the project 

9 that includes a statement describing how the project 

10 serves to enhance United States fisheries, including har11 vesting, processing, marketing, and associated infrastruc12 tures, if applicable.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 458 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3128 

[Report No. 117–635] 

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 14, 2022 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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