10 



aquaculture industry, and it imports over 60 percent of its seafood 

 from other countries. 



The U.S. Grovernment needs to do a better job of fostering the 

 growth of a globally competitive domestic aquaculture industry. 

 Mr. Chairman, in the interests of time, I would like to comment 

 briefly on the bill, but would also request that we be allowed to 

 submit to the committee a report on S. 1288.2 



Senator Daschle. Without objection, the report will be made 

 part of the record. 



Dr. Parker. S. 1288 would amend and reauthorize the National 

 Aquaculture Act of 1980, which is scheduled to expire in 1993. The 

 bill designates USDA as "the lead Federal agency for the develop- 

 ment, implementation, promotion and coordination of national pol- 

 icy and programs for private aquaculture." As chair of the Joint 

 Subcommittee on Aquaculture, Secretary Espy welcomes the oppor- 

 tunity for the Federal Government to provide strong leadership on 

 this issue. 



Although the Department of Agriculture currently plays a lead- 

 ing role in developing national policy and programs for private 

 aquaculture, there are also a number of agencies, including the De- 

 partments of Interior and Commerce, that have responsibility for 

 different facets of aquaculture. Because of the number of agencies 

 involved, the administration is still developing a position on this 

 bill. However, we do have some specific concerns with S. 1288. 



First, the Department is in the process of developing legislation 

 to reform the crop insurance program to replace ad hoc disaster 

 payment assistance. We recognize that aquaculture and many spe- 

 cialty crops are not covered by crop insurance. Therefore, we antici- 

 pate that our proposal will provide for a standing disaster payment 

 assistance where crop insurance is not offered. Such assistance 

 would be available to all commodities on an equal basis. 



Second, section five directs the Secretary to use section 32 funds 

 for aquaculture export promotion, research development, education, 

 market development and demonstration projects. 0MB advises that 

 this provision could be subject to the pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, provi- 

 sions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and result 

 in significant PAYGO costs, approximately $40 million annually. 



Third, S. 1288 would include aquaculture farms in the Emer- 

 gency Conservation Program, ECP. The Department has concerns 

 about the inclusion of aquaculture operations as eligible farmland 

 in the ECP. Presently, ECP funds are authorized for the rehabilita- 

 tion of farmland damaged by natural disaster. Costs for restoration 

 work and technical assistance for damaged aquaculture operations 

 would place additional burdens on available ECP funds. 



The bill establishes an aquaculture commercialization research 

 program. This would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to un- 

 dertake a new program of support for highly focused research, 

 product/process development, commercial testing and other activi- 

 ties that would accelerate commercialization of promising aqua- 

 culture technologies. 



The program could fill a gap between research/technology devel- 

 opment and the commercialization of promising results, products. 



2 Retained in Committee files. 



