I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3108 
To strengthen Federal consumer protection and product traceability with 
respect to commercially marketed seafood, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 29, 2017 
Mr. FARENTHOLD (for himself, Mr. PALAZZO, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Nat-
ural Resources, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen Federal consumer protection and product 
traceability with respect to commercially marketed sea-
food, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Honest 
Fishermen Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. SEAFOOD SAFETY. 
(a) COORDINATION.— 
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(1) NATIONAL
SEA
GRANT
COLLEGE
PRO-
GRAM.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration shall ensure that 
the Administration’s seafood inspection activities are 
coordinated with the national sea grant college pro-
gram to provide outreach to the States, local health 
agencies, consumers, and the seafood industry on 
seafood safety. 
(2) 
INSPECTING
TO
PREVENT
SEAFOOD 
FRAUD.—The Secretary of Commerce and the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, ensure that inspections 
and tests for seafood safety also collect information 
for seafood fraud detection and prevention. 
(b) LIST OF OFFENDERS.—The Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Commerce, shall develop, maintain, and post on the 
public website of the Department of Health and Human 
Services a list that— 
(1) includes, by country, each exporter whose 
seafood is imported or offered for import into the 
United States; and 
(2) for each such exporter, tracks the timing, 
type, and frequency of violations of Federal law re-
lating to seafood safety. 
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(c) IMPACT ON EXISTING FOOD SAFETY AUTHOR-
ITY.—Nothing in this section limits the authority of the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to execute or 
enforce food safety laws, including the FDA Food Safety 
Modernization Act (Public Law 111–353). 
SEC. 3. SEAFOOD IDENTIFICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than the end 
of calendar year 2018, the Secretary of Commerce, in con-
sultation with the Secretaries of Health and Human Serv-
ices and Homeland Security, shall implement the following 
requirements with respect to seafood imported into the 
United States or otherwise distributed or offered for sale 
in interstate commerce. 
(1) TRACEABILITY.—In addition to disclosure 
of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation Major Fishing Area, or a more specific loca-
tion, in which the fish was caught, and of the infor-
mation required to be submitted to the Secretary of 
Commerce under section 303(a)(5) of the Magnu-
son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)(5)), at a minimum the fol-
lowing information shall be displayed on the pack-
aging of, or otherwise accompany, seafood through 
processing, distribution, and final sale: 
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(A)(i) The acceptable market name (as de-
termined by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion) for the seafood species; and 
(ii) the scientific name or the common 
name for the seafood species. 
(B) Whether the seafood was harvested 
wild or was farm-raised. 
(C) If the seafood was farm-raised, infor-
mation regarding the country of cultivation, the 
location of the aquaculture production area, and 
the method of cultivation. 
(D) The method of harvest of the seafood 
including gear type as listed in section 600.725 
of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, and 
defined in section 600.10 of such title. 
(E) The date of the catch. 
(F) The weight or number, as appropriate, 
of product for an individual fish or lot. 
(2) OTHER
LABELING
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
following information shall be included in the label-
ing of seafood through processing, distribution, and 
final sale: 
(A) Whether the seafood was previously 
frozen. 
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(B) Whether the seafood was treated with 
any substance (other than ice or water) that 
may affect the true weight of the seafood. 
(C) Whether the seafood was landed or 
harvested in a country other than that in which 
it was processed. 
(3) EXCEPTION FOR PREVIOUSLY MISLABELED 
SEAFOOD.—No importer, processor, distributor, or 
retailer may be found to be in violation of the re-
quirements under this subsection for unknowingly 
selling a product that was already mislabeled upon 
receipt, provided that the importer, processor, dis-
tributor, or retailer can provide the required product 
traceability documentation. 
(4) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DISCLOSURE FOR 
CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-
graphs (1) and (2), instead of including any 
category of information described in subpara-
graph (B) in the packaging or labeling of sea-
food, an importer, processor, distributor, or re-
tailer (including a restaurant) may, with respect 
to such category, choose to satisfy the require-
ments of this paragraph by making the infor-
mation available upon request to any Federal, 
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