HM 9

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to support the marketing of Florida seafood.
4
5	WHEREAS, Florida seafood products face constantly
6	increasing domestic competition from imported seafood products,
7	with more than 80 percent of the total seafood consumed in the
8	United States currently originating in foreign countries, and
9	WHEREAS, effective domestic marketing of Florida seafood in
10	the face of aggressive competition from foreign products
11	requires innovative, forceful, and consistent promotion, and
12	WHEREAS, current annual funding for the domestic promotion
13	of Florida seafood is insufficient to effectively develop the
14	thriving markets that sustainable Florida seafood products
15	merit, especially when competing with nationally supported
16	promotional programs aimed at United States consumers by rival
17	seafood-producing countries, and
18	WHEREAS, duties and tariffs on imported seafood products
19	generate approximately $280,000,000 annually for the United
20	States Treasury, and
21	WHEREAS, revenue from anti-dumping and countervailing
22	duties on imported seafood products collected by the Federal
23	Government total hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and
24	WHEREAS, federal revenue derived from the importation of
25	competing seafood products is not presently made available for
26	the marketing of seafood harvested and produced domestically,
27	and
28	WHEREAS, using a portion of the revenue collected on the
29	importation of foreign seafood products to promote United States
30	seafood to domestic consumers will secure United States
31	fisheries and seafood processing jobs, create robust and
32	enduring domestic markets, and greatly enhance the nutritional
33	value of national diets, and
34	WHEREAS, throughout recent history each spill or leak
35	associated with the transportation or production of oil
36	negatively affects the seafood industry through the closure of
37	commercial and recreational fishing operations, the destruction
38	of wildlife and natural habitat, or loss of market share, and
39	WHEREAS, in a recent survey conducted by the University of
40	Minnesota, 54 percent of respondents said the Deepwater Horizon
41	oil spill has affected their seafood consumption habits
42	somewhat, 44 percent said they will not eat seafood from the
43	Gulf of Mexico, and 31 percent said they will eat less seafood
44	regardless of its origin, and
45	WHEREAS, a new National Seafood Marketing Fund designed to
46	promote and develop United States produced seafood would help
47	the United States seafood industry now and in the future recoup
48	damages related to oil spills that result in decreased market
49	demand for seafood, and
50	WHEREAS, a small portion of oil revenues are a logical
51	source of funding for a National Seafood Marketing Fund as
52	mitigation for real damages incurred by the seafood industry and
53	coastal communities, NOW, THEREFORE,
54
55	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56
57	That the Congress of the United States is requested to
58	allocate moneys generated from federal marine and fishery
59	product import tariffs for the domestic marketing of Florida
60	seafood.
61	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress of the United
62	States is urged to pass legislation dedicating a significant
63	portion of marine and fishery product import tariffs to a
64	national seafood marketing fund to promote domestic seafood
65	products that face competition from foreign imports.
66	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Congressional
67	Delegation is urged to work with representatives of other
68	seafood-producing states to secure adequate funding for
69	effective and sustained domestic marketing of United States
70	seafood.
71	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
72	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
73	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
74	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
75	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.