The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced its version of the Farm Bill on 16 September, approving multiple provisions meant to support the domestic seafood industry.
The Farm Bill is the main piece of legislation dictating U.S. agriculture policy, and the seafood industry has pushed to use the latest Farm Bill renewal as a mechanism to ensure more support for the domestic fishing and seafood sectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The last Farm Bill was approved in 2018 and expired in 2023, but lawmakers have continuously extended the legislation following multiple failed renewal attempts.
Congress has made another push to renew the Farm Bill this year. The Senate Republican-authored bill was approved in a 12-11 party-line vote, clearing the legislation for consideration by the full Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the Farm Bill in May, and the two bodies will need to align the two versions before sending it on to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
“Farm country is hurting and needs results now. Advancing this bill out of committee is a critical step toward getting a fully updated Farm Bill signed into law,” U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman (R-Arkansas) said in a release. “While this is clearly welcome progress, we need more of our colleagues’ votes to reflect the urgency of supporting farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and rural communities. I will always stand with the families who feed America and the world. They continue to have my commitment on getting bipartisan Farm Bill 2.0 across the finish line.”
Like the House bill, the Senate legislation includes several seafood-related measures.
Most notably, the bill would enshrine the newly established USDA Office of Seafood in law. Congress had previously authorized fiscal year 2026 funding for the office, and the Trump administration officially announced its creation in April. U.S. seafood advocates claim the office is necessary to raise the profile of seafood within USDA and ensure the sector has the same access to financial support and federal programs as agricultural companies.
The Farm Bill would also guarantee commercial fishers can apply for USDA farm loans, changing the definition of “farmer” or “rancher” to include commercial fishers and changing the definition of “farm” or “ranch” to include commercial fishing vessels.
The U.S. House of Representatives also looked to secure USDA loans for commercial fishers, incorporating language from the American Seafood Competitiveness Act that guarantees commercial fishing and seafood processors equal access to USDA programs, loans, and financial services through an amendment. A separate House amendment codified the new Office of Seafood.
The Senate version also included a provision requiring country-of-origin labeling for cooked salmon, king crab, and tanner crab, as well as canned salmon.
The legislation also mandates two reports relating to the seafood industry. The first is a report on the international shrimp trade, with lawmakers demanding a list of “policy options available ... to boost the competitiveness of domestic shrimp in global and domestic markets.” In March, NOAA Fisheries released a report finding that the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet “cannot sustainably compete” with shrimp imports, claiming that domestic shrimp could be successful if marketed as a differentiated or premium product.
A second report would include a study on how the government could “facilitate more domestic processing of United States-caught seafood in coastal communities.”
