This bill reauthorizes funding for American aquaculture assistance programs through 2030 and updates the rules for how indirect costs are calculated for those awards.
Jill Tokuda
Representative
HI-2
This bill, the Promoting American Competition in Aquaculture Research Act, reauthorizes critical federal aquaculture assistance programs with dedicated funding set through Fiscal Year 2030. It also updates the administrative rules for these awards by clarifying how indirect (overhead) costs are calculated. The legislation ensures continued support for American aquaculture research and competitiveness.
Aquaculture Research Gets $15 Million Annual Funding Boost Through 2030, Changes Overhead Rules
The “Promoting American Competition in Aquaculture Research Act” is about making sure that the U.S. doesn’t fall behind in the crucial field of aquaculture—that’s essentially farming fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. This bill reauthorizes and earmarks $15,000,000 annually for aquaculture assistance programs starting in fiscal year 2026 and running through 2030, providing a solid five-year commitment to research funding (SEC. 2).
Securing the Research Pipeline
For anyone working in the food supply chain, or just eating seafood, this stable funding is a big deal. The bill ensures that institutions focused on developing better, more sustainable ways to grow aquatic food sources can count on this federal money. Think of a university lab working on disease-resistant shrimp or a startup developing new feed technologies—this funding keeps their lights on and their research moving, which ultimately helps keep seafood affordable and sustainable for consumers.
The Fine Print: Changing How Overhead Gets Paid
While the funding is the headline, the second part of the bill deals with the less glamorous but very important administrative details: indirect costs, or overhead. When a university or research group gets a federal grant, they also get money to cover administrative costs—things like electricity, IT support, and accounting. This bill changes the rulebook for how those costs are calculated for these specific aquaculture awards (SEC. 2).
Instead of following the cost limitations previously set in Section 1473 of the Food and Agriculture Act, the awards will now follow the rules laid out in Section 1462. This is a technical shift, but it matters because it dictates how much money institutions can claim for running the program. If Section 1462 allows for a lower reimbursement rate than the old rule (1473), it means the research institution will have to cover more of the administrative burden themselves. For smaller research centers or labs that rely heavily on grant overhead to manage their operations, this change could tighten their budgets, even though the overall research funding is secure.