HCR 78

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 78
BY REPRESENTATIVES DOMANGUE, BRAUD, BRYANT, GEYMANN, KERNER,
     MACK, ORGERON, AND ZERINGUE
  A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to pass the
       American Seafood Competitiveness Act of 2026.
       WHEREAS, Louisiana's commercial fisheries are a vital part of the state's culture
and economy, with one out of every seventy jobs in the state related to the seafood industry
and an economic impact of over two billion dollars annually for Louisiana, and
       WHEREAS, commercial fishing industries in the state have faced increasing pressure
from imported products and their impact on the domestic seafood market; and
       WHEREAS, the American Seafood Competitiveness Act of 2026, an important step
in fulfilling President Trump's Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood
Competitiveness, expands access to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans,
grants, and credit programs for commercial fishing and seafood processing businesses; and
       WHEREAS, the Act would amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act to include commercial fishing and fish processing as activities eligible for USDA
programs; and
       WHEREAS, the Act would include wild-caught fish and shellfish as eligible
agricultural products under the USDA's Local Agriculture Market Program; and
       WHEREAS, under the Act, commercial fishermen would be eligible for USDA farm
ownership loans, which they could use to purchase commercial fishing licenses and vessels,
and for farm operating loans, which they could use to cover operating and maintenance
costs; and
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HCR NO. 78  ENROLLED
       WHEREAS, under the Act, fish processors would also be eligible for farm ownership
loans, which they could use to acquire or upgrade processing facilities, and for farm
operating loans, which they could use to help address the significant operating and
maintenance costs that continue to rise; and
       WHEREAS, the Act would extend eligibility for farm credit to those businesses that
provide services to commercial fishermen and fish processing facilities so that businesses
and rural communities that rely on the coastal fishing economy would gain an additional
option to finance their businesses in the same way that businesses and communities that rely
on the farming economy do; and
       WHEREAS, to ensure effective implementation, the Act further directs the USDA
to conduct outreach, provide technical assistance, train agency staff, and coordinate with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal and state agencies to
make sure the USDA programs are accessible to the commercial fishing industry; and
       WHEREAS, Louisiana's commercial fishermen and processors, as well as the coastal
communities they support, would gain improved access to capital, strengthened domestic
seafood markets, and support for the long-term competitiveness of domestic commercial
fishing and processing.
       THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to pass the
American Seafood Competitiveness Act of 2026.
       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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