R46335 — Saltonstall-Kennedy Act: Background and Issues
Reports · published 2025-11-14 · v7 · Active · crsreports.congress.gov ↗
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- Anthony R. Marshak
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R46335
Summary
The Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954 (S-K Act; 15 U.S.C. §713c-3) established a program to provide financial support for research and development of commercial fisheries. The S-K Act created a fund (known as the S-K fund) that is financed by a permanent appropriation of a portion of import duties on marine fishery products. S-K funds are distributed by the Secretary of Commerce as grants and cooperative agreements to address needs of the U.S. fishing industry, such as harvesting, processing, marketing, and associated infrastructure. Congress typically allocates most S-K funding to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for agency activities related to marine fisheries research and management. Some have questioned whether this allocation of S-K funds reflects the original intent of the S-K Act and addresses the fishing industry’s needs and priorities. Since the creation of the S-K fund, the authorizing language and Congress’s priorities for the fund have evolved with the fishing industry’s needs, new or amended federal laws governing fisheries management, and changes to NMFS responsibilities. In 1980, the American Fisheries Promotion Act (AFPA; P.L. 96-561) amended the S-K Act to authorize a competitive grant program, known as the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program (S-K Grant Program), and the National Program to support fishing industry research and development projects. NMFS administers both programs. In the 1980s, the S-K Grant Program focused on fisheries development; in subsequent years, as U.S. fisheries became fully or overexploited, priorities generally shifted to resource conservation and management. More recently, Congress established the American Fisheries Advisory Committee (AFAC) through the American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act (P.L. 117-121) to administer elements of the S-K Grant Program and recommend projects for funding to NMFS. The AFAC is an industry advisory committee that identifies the fishing industry’s needs, develops requests for proposals, reviews grant applications, and selects grant applications for approval. The S-K Grant Program has supported various projects, such as gear technology research, seafood marketing, and aquaculture. The S-K Grant Program is funded by a permanent appropriation of 30% of the previous calendar year’s customs receipts from imports of fish and fish products. These funds are transferred into NOAA’s Promote and Develop American Fisheries Products and Research Pertaining to American Fisheries Fund (P&D account). Transfers of revenue into the P&D account have grown steadily from $26.7 million in FY1980 to approximately $376.5 million in FY2024 (nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation). Congress subsequently transfers most funds into the Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) account within NOAA. Congress has directed NMFS to use funds allocated to the ORF account for specific activities, including stock assessments, fishing information networks, survey and monitoring projects, cooperative research, and interjurisdictional fisheries. The remaining funds are available to support the annual competitive S-K Grant Program and, in some cases, the National Program. Since the early 1980s, Congress has transferred most P&D account funds into the ORF discretionary account, sometimes leaving little or no funding for the specified purposes of the S-K Act. Some critics have questioned whether funds from the P&D account could be used more effectively by targeting fishing industry needs, as Congress originally intended. For example, in the 119th Congress, some Members have introduced bills that would authorize increased allocations for the S-K Grant Program and other purposes. In previous Congresses, some Members proposed legislation that would have included additional priorities (e.g., climate-related priorities) for the S-K Grant Program or would have proposed using S-K funds to establish a regional fisheries grant program. Some stakeholders have expressed concerns that if significant funding were shifted away from NMFS fisheries management programs, additional funds would need to be appropriated or activities such as data collection and fish population assessments could be compromised. These NMFS activities provide information and analyses used to manage and conserve fishery populations. Additional issues of interest may include potential impacts of tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration to future P&D funding amounts, as well as potential implications of Executive Order (E.O.) 14276, “Restoring America’s Seafood Competitiveness,” and NOAA staffing priorities for ongoing activities with respect to the promotion and development of U.S. fisheries. The impacts of tariffs and E.O. 14276 on S-K funding and the S-K Grant Program are unclear at present, as are NOAA’s ongoing priorities for these efforts under the second Trump Administration.
Bills cited (4)
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