[House Report 116-429]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 116-429
======================================================================
YOUNG FISHERMEN'S DEVELOPMENT ACT
_______
June 4, 2020.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Grijalva, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1240]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1240) to preserve United States fishing heritage
through a national program dedicated to training and assisting
the next generation of commercial fishermen, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and
recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Young Fishermen's Development Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Sea grant institution.--The term ``Sea Grant
Institution'' means a sea grant college or sea grant institute,
as those terms are defined in section 203 of the National Sea
Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1122).
(2) Tribal organization.--The term ``Tribal organization''
has the meaning given the term ``tribal organization'' in
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(3) Young fisherman.--The term ``young fisherman'' means an
individual who--
(A) desires to participate in the commercial
fisheries of the United States, including the Great
Lakes fisheries;
(B) has worked as a captain, crew member, or deckhand
on a commercial fishing vessel for not more than 10
years of cumulative service;
(C) is a beginning commercial fisherman; or
(D) is less than 35 years of age.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the National Sea Grant
Office, shall establish a program to provide training, education,
outreach, and technical assistance initiatives for young fishermen, to
be known as the ``Young Fishermen's Development Grant Program''
(referred to in this section as the ``Program'').
SEC. 4. GRANTS.
(a) In General.--In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall
make competitive grants to support new and established local and
regional training, education, outreach, and technical assistance
initiatives for young fishermen, including programs, workshops, and
services relating to--
(1) seamanship, navigation, electronics, and safety;
(2) vessel and engine care, maintenance, and repair;
(3) innovative conservation fishing gear engineering and
technology;
(4) sustainable fishing practices;
(5) entrepreneurship and good business practices;
(6) direct marketing, supply chain, and traceability;
(7) financial and risk management, including vessel, permit,
and quota purchasing;
(8) State and Federal legal requirements for specific
fisheries, including reporting, monitoring, licenses, and
regulations;
(9) State and Federal fisheries policy and management;
(10) mentoring, apprenticeships, or internships; and
(11) any other activities, opportunities, or programs, as the
Secretary determines appropriate.
(b) Eligibility.--
(1) Applicants.--To be eligible to receive a grant under the
Program, a recipient shall be a collaborative State, Tribal,
local, or regionally based network or partnership of public or
private entities, which may include--
(A) a Sea Grant Institution;
(B) a Federal or State agency or a Tribal
organization;
(C) a community-based nongovernmental organization;
(D) fishermen's cooperatives or associations;
(E) an institution of higher education (including an
institution awarding an associate's degree), or a
foundation maintained by an institution of higher
education; or
(F) any other appropriate entity, as the Secretary
determines appropriate.
(2) Participants.--All young fishermen seeking to participate
in the commercial fisheries of the United States and the Great
Lakes are eligible to participate in the activities funded
through grants provided for in this section, except that
participants in such activities shall be selected by each grant
recipient.
(c) Maximum Term and Amount of Grant.--
(1) In general.--A grant under this section shall--
(A) have a term of no more than 3 fiscal years; and
(B) be in an amount that is not more than $200,000
for each fiscal year.
(2) Consecutive grants.--An eligible recipient may receive
consecutive grants under this section.
(d) Matching Requirement.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a recipient shall provide a match in the form of cash or
in-kind contributions from the recipient in the amount equal to or
greater than 25 percent of the funds provided by the grant.
(e) Regional Balance.--In making grants under this section, the
Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure geographic
diversity.
(f) Cooperation and Evaluation Criteria.--In carrying out this
section and in developing criteria for evaluating grant applications,
the Secretary shall consult, to the maximum extent practicable, with--
(1) Sea Grant Institutions and extension agents of such
institutions;
(2) community-based nongovernmental fishing organizations;
(3) Federal and State agencies, including Regional Fishery
Management Councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et
seq.);
(4) institutions of higher education with fisheries expertise
and programs; and
(5) partners, as the Secretary determines.
(g) Prohibition.--A grant under this section may not be used to
purchase any fishing license, permit, quota, or other harvesting right.
SEC. 5. FUNDING.
Of the amount made available to the Secretary of Commerce under
section 311(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861(e)) for each of fiscal years 2021
through 2025, the Secretary shall use $2,000,000 to carry out section 4
of this Act.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1240 is to preserve United States
fishing heritage through a national program dedicated to
training and assisting the next generation of commercial
fishermen.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Limited-entry programs to commercial fisheries and
individual fishing quotas, which have been beneficial in
managing fisheries stocks, have also made permits more
expensive. Consolidation and relocation of permit holders,
combined with limited access to financing, capital, and credit
for young, rural, and indigenous fishers creates an economic
barrier to enter the fishing industry, as permits alone can
account for 83 percent of the value of a fishing operation.\1\
Research funded by Alaska Sea Grant found that the average age
of Alaskan fishers was over 50 years old (an increase of 10
years over the past generation) and that rural communities had
lost 30 percent of local permit holders.\2\ Similarly, in the
Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
reports that almost 40 percent of Gulf States fishers and
owners are 55 years old or older, and that fishers and owners
under age 35 comprise only 13.6 percent of the commercial
fishing population.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Rachel Donkersloot & Courtney Carothers, The Graying of the
Alaskan Fishing Fleet, 58(3) Env't: Sci. & Pol'y For Sustainable Dev.
30 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2016.1162011.
\2\Paula Cullenberg, Rachel Donkersloot, Courtney Carothers, Jesse
Coleman & Danielle Ringer, Turning the Tide: How Can Alaska Address the
`Graying of the Fleet' and Loss of Rural Fisheries Access? (2017),
available at https://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/M-215.html (last
visited May 15, 2020).
\3\Ben Posadas, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, Know More
About the Commercial Fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico States (Jan. 18,
2018), http://masgc.org/news/article/know-more-about-the-commercial-
fishermen-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-states.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to social and financial barriers, advances in
marine technology, such as electronic navigation systems,
vessel propulsion systems, and more sophisticated fishing gear
have improved the efficiency of fishing operations, while also
steepening the learning curve for new fishers.
This bill creates a Young Fishermen's Development Grant
Program to train and assist the next generation of commercial
fishers. This proposed program is modeled after the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Beginning Farmer and Rancher
Development Program, which provides grants to educate beginning
farmers and ranchers.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), USDA
Nat'l Institute of Food & Agric., https://nifa.usda.gov/program/
beginning-farmer-and-rancher-development-program-bfrdp (last visited
May 15, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funding for the Young Fishermen's Development Grant
Program, authorized at $2 million per year through Fiscal Year
2025, is to be allocated from the Fisheries Asset Forfeiture
Fund (Fund), which is managed by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement
and consists of funding from fines, penalties, and forfeiture
proceeds received for violations of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Fund has held a
balance between $14 and $17 million per year from 2014 to 2019,
with collections exceeding obligations in all but one year
during this period. Unless there are significant changes in the
amounts collected from noncompliance or amounts needed to
administer NOAA's enforcement program, the Committee does not
anticipate that the obligation of an additional $2 million per
year will deplete or diminish the Fund within five years.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1240 was introduced on February 14, 2019, by
Representative Don Young (R-AK). The bill was referred solely
to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee
to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. On May 8,
2019, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On January
29, 2020, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent.
Chair Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the
nature of a substitute. The amendment in the nature of a
substitute offered by Chair Grijalva was agreed to by unanimous
consent. The bill, as amended, was adopted and ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
HEARINGS
For the purposes of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6 of the
116th Congress--the following hearing was used to develop or
consider H.R. 1240: legislative hearing by the Subcommittee on
Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held on May 8, 2019.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the short title of the bill, the
``Young Fishermen's Development Act.''
Section 2. Definitions
This section defines relevant terms.
Section 3. Establishment of program
This section directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting
through the National Sea Grant Office, to establish the Young
Fishermen's Development Grant Program to provide training,
education, outreach, and technical assistance initiatives for
young fishers.
Section 4. Grants
This section authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to make
competitive grants to provide assistance for programs,
workshops, and services relating to topics including the
operation and maintenance of fishing vessels; innovative
conservation fishing gear; sustainable fishing practices;
entrepreneurship; and marketing and seafood traceability. Under
this program, grants would be limited to three fiscal years at
no more than $200,000 per fiscal year and require that
recipients provide a match in cash or in-kind contributions of
at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant. Grants would be
prohibited from being used to purchase fishing licenses,
permits, quotas, or other harvesting rights.
Section 5. Funding
This section authorizes $2 million per year for Fiscal
Years 2021 through 2025, to be taken from funds collected from
fines, penalties, and forfeitures of property for violations of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act or
other marine resource laws enforced by the Secretary of
Commerce.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\See 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1861(e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office
Washington, DC, February 5, 2020.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1240, the Young
Fishermen's Development Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine
Fox.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 1240 would require the Secretary of Commerce to
establish a program to provide grants for training, education,
outreach, and technical assistance to young fishermen. The bill
would authorize the expenditure of $2 million a year over the
2021-2025 period from the Fisheries Enforcement Asset
Forfeiture Fund for those purposes. (Grants would be capped at
$200,000 for each recipient and could be renewed for up to
three fiscal years.)
Amounts in the fisheries fund are available to be spent on
authorized purposes without further appropriation. That fund
has a balance of about $17 million and collects about $4
million a year in penalties. CBO estimates that authorizing the
grant program would increase direct spending by $10 million
from the fund over the 2020-2025 period.
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-
reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting
direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays that
are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in
Table 1.
TABLE 1.--CBO'S ESTIMATE OF THE STATUTORY PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS OF H.R. 1240, YOUNG FISHERMEN'S DEVELOPMENT ACT, AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON JANUARY 29, 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2020-2025 2020-2030
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net Increase in the Deficit
Pay-As-You-Go Effect................................. 0 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 18, 2019, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
496, the Young Fishermen's Development Act, as ordered reported
by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation on July 24, 2019. The period over which the
funds would be authorized to be expended is different for each
bill and CBO's cost estimates reflect that difference.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox.
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Director of Budget Analysis.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and
objectives of this bill are to preserve United States fishing
heritage through a national program dedicated to training and
assisting the next generation of commercial fishermen.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EXISTING PROGRAMS
This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of
the federal government known to be duplicative of another
program. Such program was not included in any report from the
Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to
section 21 of Public Law 111-139. The Young Fishermen's
Development Grant Program to be established under this bill is
related and complementary to, but not duplicative of, the
following programs identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to 31 U.S.C.
Sec. 6104: Fishermen's Contingency Fund (CFDA No. 11.408),
Fisheries Finance Program (CFDA No. 11.415), Sea Grant Support
(CFDA No. 11.417), Regional Fishery Management Councils (CFDA
No. 11.441), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (CFDA No.
20.807).
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing
law.
SUPPLEMENTAL, MINORITY, ADDITIONAL, OR DISSENTING VIEWS
None.
[all]