[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8788 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8788

 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
  to establish the Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program and to 
   direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to 
Congress a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood producers 
                 in domestic and global seafood trade.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2024

 Mrs. Peltola introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
  to establish the Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program and to 
   direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to 
Congress a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood producers 
                 in domestic and global seafood trade.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fisheries Improvement and Seafood 
Health Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. RESILIENT FISHERIES.

    (a) Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program.--Section 305 of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1855) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, shall 
        establish a program in the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
        be known as the `Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program' 
        (referred to in this subsection as the `Program').
            ``(2) Director.--The Secretary, acting through the Director 
        of the National Marine Fisheries Service, shall appoint a 
        senior official of the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
        serve as the director of the Program (referred to in this 
        subsection as the `Program Director').
            ``(3) Mission.--The mission of the Program shall be to--
                    ``(A) advance ocean and ecosystem understanding and 
                modeling to project future ocean conditions and to 
                inform fishery management;
                    ``(B) assess the current and anticipated impacts 
                from, and vulnerability of, stocks of fish to changing 
                environmental and ecological conditions;
                    ``(C) assess the anticipated impacts to coastal 
                communities, economies, and traditional ways of life 
                due to changing fishing and marine ecosystem 
                conditions;
                    ``(D) develop innovative, science-based tools, 
                processes, and decision support systems for meeting 
                conservation and management standards under this Act in 
                response to changing environmental and ecological 
                conditions;
                    ``(E) engage with and educate fishers, fishing 
                communities, State, local, Tribal, and community 
                leaders, and others on future ocean conditions and the 
                impacts of changing environmental and ecological 
                conditions on fisheries;
                    ``(F) create and provide tools, training, and 
                support to Councils for management of and adaptation to 
                changing ecosystems and fisheries; and
                    ``(G) coordinate across the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration and other relevant agencies 
                to increase synergies and streamline efforts to better 
                understand and model changing ocean ecosystems and 
                increase fishery resilience.
            ``(4) Responsibilities.--The Program Director shall be 
        responsible for carrying out activities to implement the 
        mission in paragraph (3), including by--
                    ``(A) conducting cooperative research with fishers, 
                communities, academic institutions, nongovernmental 
                organizations, and other interest parties on changing 
                ecological and environmental conditions and impacts to 
                stocks of fish and other marine resources;
                    ``(B) coordinating across the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration to produce and collate 
                information about ocean and ecosystem modeling, 
                forecasts, and projections for fishery management 
                purposes;
                    ``(C) communicating to fishers, fishing 
                communities, and the public about the risks posed by 
                changing ecological and environmental conditions to the 
                conservation and management of stocks of fish and other 
                marine resources;
                    ``(D) conducting assessments to determine the 
                vulnerability of stocks of fish to impacts from 
                changing ecological and environmental conditions;
                    ``(E) identifying and improving existing processes 
                and structures to incorporate ecological and 
                environmental information into management of stocks of 
                fish;
                    ``(F) identifying gaps where innovative management 
                processes can be developed to facilitate incorporation 
                of rapidly changing ecological and environmental 
                information;
                    ``(G) piloting innovative tools and approaches to 
                increase the adaptive capacity of fisheries managers to 
                the impacts of changing ecological and environmental 
                conditions on stocks of fish;
                    ``(H) providing the Councils with assessments and 
                guidance on management actions and structured processes 
                to increase the resilience of stocks of fish identified 
                as vulnerable to impacts from changing ecological and 
                environmental conditions;
                    ``(I) incorporating qualitative data, lived 
                experiences, and priorities of fishers, communities, 
                and other interested parties in initiatives to increase 
                the resilience of stocks of fish and the communities 
                that rely on them to changing ecological and 
                environmental conditions;
                    ``(J) communicating frequently with and creating 
                opportunities for cross-regional collaboration and 
                learning among Councils and regional offices and 
                regional science centers of the National Marine 
                Fisheries Service;
                    ``(K) collaborating with the National Ocean 
                Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration Cooperative Institutes, the Integrated 
                Ocean Observing System Regional Associations, and 
                others to maintain a comprehensive digital database of 
                ecological and environmental information relevant to 
                fisheries and marine ecosystems, including regional 
                ocean model outputs, ecosystem projections, and other 
                data and information;
                    ``(L) conducting a cross-agency assessment to avoid 
                redundancies and consolidate fishery resilience efforts 
                and ecosystem modeling under the Program; and
                    ``(M) compiling information and analyzing progress 
                made to implement management measures to increase 
                resilience to changing ecological and environmental 
                conditions and respond to shifting populations of 
                stocks of fish and changing productivity.
            ``(5) Coordination.--The mission of the Program and the 
        activities of the Program Director shall be carried out in 
        coordination with other offices of the National Marine 
        Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, the Councils and respective advisory panels, 
        fishers, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, 
        and other interested parties.
            ``(6) Staff.--In carrying out the requirements of this 
        subsection, the Program Director shall--
                    ``(A) appoint full- and part-time employees;
                    ``(B) establish a regional ocean modeling and 
                prediction coordination team to fund partnerships with 
                relevant experts across the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration, regional science centers, 
                National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                Cooperative Institutes, Integrated Ocean Observing 
                System Regional Associations, and others to produce and 
                deliver coordinated regional forecasts, projections, 
                and other resources to improve regional understand and 
                forecasting of ecosystem changes as needed to inform 
                fishery management decisions; and
                    ``(C) establish management and decision support 
                teams that will support the Councils by utilizing the 
                information produced by the teams authorized in 
                subparagraph (B) for developing assessments and 
                guidance on management actions to increase the 
                resilience of stocks of fish vulnerable to impacts from 
                changing ecological and environmental conditions.
            ``(7) Report to congress.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of the Fisheries Improvement and Seafood 
        Health Act of 2024, and every 2 years thereafter during the 
        period in which appropriations are authorized for the Program 
        under paragraph (8), the Program Director shall submit to 
        Congress a report on actions taken to fulfill the requirements 
        of this subsection.
            ``(8) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this 
        subsection $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 
        through 2030.''.
    (b) Council Training Program.--Section 302(k)(1) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(k)(1)) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through (H) as 
        subparagraphs (D) through (I), respectively;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subparagraph (K);
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
                    ``(C) relevant impacts from changing environmental 
                and ecological conditions on fisheries health, range, 
                and other factors that would affect the conservation 
                and management of a stock of fish;'';
            (4) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of 
        subparagraph (I), as so redesignated; and
            (5) by inserting after subparagraph (I), as so 
        redesignated, the following:
                    ``(J) ecosystem-based fishery management; and''.
    (c) Fisheries Research.--Section 404 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, on changes in 
        geographic range, spatial distribution, and productivity of a 
        fishery or interrelated fisheries,'' after ``management''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ``changes in 
        geographic range, spatial distribution, and productivity of a 
        fishery or interrelated fisheries,''after ``degradation,''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF DOMESTIC SEAFOOD PRODUCERS IN 
              DOMESTIC AND GLOBAL SEAFOOD TRADE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Congress a report on the competitiveness of 
domestic seafood producers in domestic and global seafood trade.
    (b) Contents.--The report required by subsection (a) shall--
            (1) identify Federal laws, regulations, and policies that 
        directly affect the costs of domestic seafood production and 
        seafood industry investment in the United States, compared to 
        the costs of seafood production and investment in other 
        seafood-producing countries;
            (2) analyze the competitive position of United States 
        seafood in domestic and global markets, given differences in 
        tariffs and nontariff barriers among countries and changes in 
        trade flows and market share over the last 5 years, 
        highlighting the relative position of the United States 
        compared to other seafood-producing countries;
            (3) include an inventory and assessment of Federal domestic 
        programs to help manage costs, facilitate and incentivize 
        domestic capacity and modernization, and facilitate domestic 
        and overseas market access for United States seafood producers, 
        including--
                    (A) identification of programs available and 
                unavailable to wild and farmed domestic seafood 
                producers;
                    (B) recommendations to improve the utility of these 
                programs for domestic seafood producers; and
                    (C) the financial health and stability of the 
                Seafood Inspection Program as provider of seafood 
                health and catch certificates and other services to 
                domestic seafood producers and exporters;
            (4) provide recommendations for a new National Seafood 
        Trade Policy to improve the competitiveness of United States 
        seafood producers, including--
                    (A) ways to facilitate interagency coordination 
                under existing authorities and consultation with 
                domestic seafood producers around common goals for 
                seafood tariffs, nontariff barriers, and market access 
                policy;
                    (B) domestic seafood cost control and investment 
                programs; and
                    (C) domestic seafood producers' access to financial 
                support programs;
            (5) identify trade barriers to United States seafood 
        production that are vulnerable to dispute settlement through 
        the World Trade Organization or otherwise under trade 
        agreements;
            (6) include a strategy for enforcing violations of trade 
        agreements related to such trade barriers; and
            (7) identify like-minded trading partners for specific 
        trade barriers that could act as co-complainants or primary 
        complainants on disputes that are systemically or economically 
        important to the United States.
    (c) Quarterly Reports.--Following the submission of the report 
required by subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall submit to the Congress quarterly reports on progress 
towards resolving cases or filing disputes to resolve trade barriers 
described in subsection (b)(5).

SEC. 4. ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS.

    Section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ``and;'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (15), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(16) consider and account for the effects of changing 
        ecological and environmental conditions on the fishery and 
        describe how the management measures contained in the plan or 
        plan amendment address such changing conditions.''.
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