Sponsor
Nicholas LaLota
Representative · R-NY
Representative · R-NY
The bill aims to grow U.S. aquaculture by providing targeted assistance, stakeholder advice, and greater transparency, but it adds administrative costs, may pressure state regulators, and could limit advisory-board diversity because members are unpaid.
Aquaculture farmers and small aquaculture businesses will receive targeted technical assistance for shellfish, algae, and land-based systems, improving operational efficiency and productivity.
Producers and industry stakeholders gain a formal 14-member nonfederal Advisory Committee to provide industry-informed recommendations, increasing stakeholder input into USDA aquaculture policy.
Taxpayers, Congress, and industry will get annual reports that increase transparency about federal aquaculture spending, grants, and agency roles, helping identify gaps and track progress.
Implementing new reporting, committee, and planning requirements will create administrative costs for USDA and partner agencies, potentially diverting staff time and funds from other priorities.
Requiring catalogs of regulatory barriers and pushing targeted responses could pressure states or agencies to change rules, creating uncertainty for regulators and affected rural communities during review.
Committee members serve without pay (only travel reimbursed), which may limit participation to those who can afford unpaid service and reduce diversity of perspectives on the advisory body.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Amends the National Aquaculture Act to add catalogs of capital and regulatory constraints to the development plan and requires a 14‑member Aquaculture Advisory Committee to be created within 180 days.
Official title: To amend the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 to extend aquaculture programs under such Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Nicholas LaLota · Last progress September 18, 2025
Amends the National Aquaculture Act to correct a typographical error, expand required content in the National Aquaculture Development Plan to include catalogs of capital constraints and regulatory barriers, and requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a 14‑member Aquaculture Advisory Committee within 180 days to advise on program oversight, technical assistance, research review, and implementation. The Committee must include non‑federal members, have staggered initial terms, meet at least three times per year, and provide recommendations on barriers, research, and program coordination. The changes are procedural and programmatic: they add planning requirements for identifying capital and regulatory constraints facing aquaculture and create a formal advisory body to guide Department implementation. The bill does not itself appropriate new funding or change tax policy in the text provided.