Supporting Equity for Aquaculture and Seafood Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Supporting Equity for Aquaculture and Seafood Act or the SEAS Act
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase support for aquaculture grants and assistance. Aquaculture is the controlled breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and sea vegetables.
Specifically, the bill directs USDA to give aquaculture producers the same consideration as animal agriculture producers in awarding grants or other assistance. Further, USDA must ensure adequate and fair funding levels are provided to aquaculture producers under USDA programs. USDA must also provide its staff with specific education and trainings on aquaculture.
USDA must make competitive grants (e.g., to regional aquaculture centers or nonprofit organizations) to develop next generation technology to reduce pollution and fuel usage in the seafood and aquaculture industries. Further, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program grants must address methods of increasing the survival rate and adaptability of shellfish, including resistance to heat, disease, salinity, and acidification.
In addition, the federal crop insurance program (FCIP) must research and develop a policy to insure aquaculture products. Further, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (the agency that finances FCIP operations) must establish a policy to insure aquaculture products.
USDA must submit to Congress (1) an annual report that includes information on USDA seafood and aquaculture purchases and grants, and (2) a report on USDA's role in supporting aquaculture and the seafood industry.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on August 5, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 5, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced it on August 5, 2025, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on August 5, 2025, 401 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 401 days ago, on August 5, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers