Sponsors (8)
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a program to sequence the genomes of aquatic species.
Introduced February 13, 2025 by Dave Min · Last progress February 13, 2025
The bill creates publicly accessible, high‑quality genomic resources and funds local sequencing capacity to improve aquatic species conservation and science, while imposing modest federal costs and raising data-sensitivity, administrative, and biosecurity concerns that will need mitigation.
Researchers, conservation managers, and the public gain access to reference‑quality genomes and associated metadata for aquatic species, improving species identification, monitoring, and enabling broader scientific use and innovation through public availability.
The program prioritizes sequencing for species of conservation concern (ESA, MMPA, Magnuson‑Stevens), directing resources toward threatened and ecologically important species and informing recovery and management actions.
Tribes, universities, and nonprofits can receive funding and technical assistance to carry out sequencing, building local capacity, creating research partnerships, and supporting regional scientific expertise.
Public release requirements risk revealing sensitive location or cultural information about species, which could enable exploitation or harm to tribal cultural resources and small-scale fisheries.
Making genomic data public could create biosecurity or commercial risks (e.g., misuse related to pathogens or aquaculture), potentially harming aquaculture businesses and raising commercial-competition concerns.
Collecting, vouching, sequencing, and managing metadata creates administrative burdens for NOAA and covered entities that could divert staff time and resources from other priorities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a NOAA‑run program to sequence aquatic species genomes, require NCBI submission within 360 days, and authorize $2M/year for FY2025–2031; Tribes control release of Tribal data.
Creates a federal program to sequence and publish high-quality genomes of aquatic species to support science, conservation, fisheries management, and enforcement. The Secretary (through NOAA) must inventory vouchered, taxonomist-verified specimens held by covered entities; collect, process, and sequence genetic samples; adopt FAIR data principles; require submission of genomes, raw data, and metadata to NCBI within 360 days; and provide funding and technical assistance. Tribal governments retain exclusive authority over whether and when they submit sequence data they generate for public release. The program is authorized at $2 million per year for FY2025–2031.