The MAWS Act creates a pilot program run by the Secretary of Commerce (through NOAA) to pay qualified manufacturers or processors to buy blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) that were caught within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The program will award funds to "covered entities" that make pet food, animal feed, or aquaculture feed. Covered entities must apply to the Secretary. Funds must be used to purchase blue catfish from watermen or from seafood processors that bought those fish from watermen. Covered entities may use up to 15% of award amounts to help pay transport to processors. Watermen and seafood processors must certify that the fish were caught (or purchased from a waterman who caught them) within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The Secretary will set a minimum price per pound for purchases, considering market factors and participant feedback and differentiating fillets and byproducts. The pilot runs January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029. The Secretary must report to Congress within 180 days after the program ends with information on fish population size and diet, catch amounts, effects on other species and the environment, economic effects on participating watermen, market response, covered-entity processing and transport practices, and policy recommendations. The law defines terms such as blue catfish, covered entity, seafood processor, and Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The act authorizes $2,000,000 to be appropriated to the Secretary for each fiscal year while the pilot runs (the pilot period is January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2029). No publicly available information beyond this authorization is provided in the bill text.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.