The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations has approved legislation that would create a new seafood industry liaison position within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
On 10 July, senators on the committee voted unanimously in favor of the 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which provides annual funding and guidance for the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The legislation included several seafood and aquaculture appropriations, most notably establishing a new seafood representative within the USDA.
The seafood industry liaison would be located within the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the coordination of seafood policies and activities at USDA. According to a senate report on the bill, the liaison would support “domestically harvested and processed wild and farmed seafood” and coordinate efforts between USDA, the Department of Commerce – which oversees NOAA Fisheries and most of the nation’s aquaculture programs – and the U.S. Trade Representative.
The legislation includes USD 625,000 (EUR 535,132) to establish the new position.
The provision was not included in the House version of the same appropriations bill.
Creating a representative for seafood within USDA has been a long-standing goal for the nation's seafood industry, as seafood harvesters, processors, and aquaculture operations work to raise their profile within the department and secure some of the benefits USDA offers farmers and other agricultural sectors.
In 2023, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), the Seafood Harvesters of America (SHA), the Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA), and the At-Sea Processors Association (APA), as well as seafood processors Pacific Seafood and Trident Seafoods, pushed for Congress to establish a seafood liaison as one of three industry priorities, alongside increasing the amount of seafood in school lunches and ensuring that commercial fishing and seafood businesses can access USDA grants and financial services.
Senate Republicans incorporated all three of those requests into their legislation renewing the Farm Bill – the most important law governing U.S. agriculture policy – last summer, but the legislation has largely stalled since then as lawmakers have worked to avoid government shutdowns via continuing resolutions and focused on passing U.S. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Now, lawmakers are hoping to get many of the seafood sector’s priorities passed through the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process. In addition to the seafood industry liaison position, the Senate Appropriations Committee also called on USDA to work with NOAA “to address factors limiting seafood consumption in schools.” A 2022 General Accountability Office (GAO) report found the average quantity of USDA-purchased seafood consumed per student through the National School Lunch Program was lower than federal guidelines.
Lawmakers on the committee also directed the FDA to provide clarity around plant-based seafood alternative labeling to make sure consumers understand what they’re purchasing. Similar language was incorporated in the doomed fiscal 2025 appropriations bill.
The bill also includes a provision creating a pilot program to help states buy “locally grown priority agricultural products” – including seafood – for distribution via emergency feeding organizations. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut spending for the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Program, which uses federal funding to buy local products and seafood for food banks.
The Senate version of the agriculture appropriations bill also includes support for aquaculture; the legislation includes fiscal 2024 levels of funding for “the implementation of precision aquaculture in land-based, closed-containment aquaculture systems” and “to support recirculating aquaculture systems to expand production and resilience in domestic finfish aquaculture.”
Finally, the Senate committee report on the bill calls on the USDA to explore the creation of a North Coasts Regional Food Business Center “to strengthen supply chains and increase and diversify market access” for seafood and to direct other regional food business centers “to identify ways to strengthen seafood networks, increase market access for small and mid-sized food entities, and improve the viability of the industry and its products.”
The House version of the bill includes some similar provisions, including encouraging more seafood consumption in school lunches, funding aquaculture improvements, and clarifying labeling for plant-based seafood alternatives. Notably, however, the House version does not include the seafood industry liaison position.
Differences between the two versions will need to be resolved and passed by both houses before the agriculture appropriations bill becomes law.
