119-s1947

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1947 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1947

To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 
 from authorizing commercial octopus aquaculture operations in the 
 United States, the exclusive economic zone, and the waters of the 
 United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 June 4, 2025

Mr. Whitehouse (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
 Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 
 from authorizing commercial octopus aquaculture operations in the 
 United States, the exclusive economic zone, and the waters of the 
 United States, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Opposing the Cultivation and Trade 
of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies Act of 2025'' or the 
``OCTOPUS Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Commercial octopus aquaculture.--The term ``commercial 
 octopus aquaculture'' means the farming of octopuses to be 
 slaughtered for human consumption or use and sold through 
 marketplaces.

    (2) Exclusive economic zone.--The term ``exclusive economic 
 zone'' means the zone established by Presidential Proclamation 
 Number 5030, dated March 10, 1983 (16 U.S.C. 1453 note; 
 relating to the exclusive economic zone of the United States of 
 America).

    (3) Octopus.--The term ``octopus'' means a member of the 
 order Octopoda.

    (4) Reexport.--The term ``reexport'' has the meaning given 
 that term in 

section 1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 
 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801).

    (5) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the 50 
 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and 
 possessions of the United States.

    (6) Waters of the united states.--The term ``waters of the 
 United States'' has the meaning given that term in 

section 120.2 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON AUTHORIZING COMMERCIAL OCTOPUS AQUACULTURE.

 The Secretary of Commerce--

    (1) shall not issue any permit or in any other way 
 authorize any person to conduct commercial octopus aquaculture 
 operations in the United States, the exclusive economic zone of 
 the United States, or the waters of the United States;

    (2) shall coordinate with the Secretary of Interior to 
 ensure commercial octopus aquaculture is not permitted or 
 authorized through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
 or any other department; and

    (3) not later than one year after the date of the enactment 
 of this Act and jointly with the Secretary of the Interior, 
 shall issue a final rule to prohibit commercial octopus 
 aquaculture operations in the United States, the exclusive 
 economic zone of the United States, and the waters of the 
 United States.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION AND REEXPORT OF COMMERCIALLY FARMED 
 OR AQUACULTURED OCTOPUS.

    (a) In General.--The following are prohibited:

    (1) The importation into the United States of commercially 
 aquacultured octopus, including any living or dead specimens, 
 parts, or derivatives, or any product containing specimens, 
 parts, or derivatives of such octopus.

    (2) The reexport of octopus described in paragraph

    (1) .

    (b) Effective Date.--Subsection

    (a) applies with respect to 
articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or 
after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
            (c) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection

    (a) shall, for 
each violation, be subject to a civil penalty of not more than 
$100,000, or the fair market value of the octopus involved, whichever 
is greater.
            (d) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with 
the Secretary of the Interior and in consultation with the Commissioner 
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall issue a final rule to 
prohibit octopus described by subsection

    (a)

    (1) from being imported 
into or reexported from the United States.

SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION UPON IMPORTATION.

 A person that imports into the United States an octopus, including 
any living or dead specimens, parts, or derivatives, or any product 
containing specimens, parts, or derivatives of such octopus, shall 
certify on the date of importation that such octopus is not a 
commercially aquacultured octopus.

SEC. 6. EXCEPTIONS.

 Sections 3, 4, and 5 shall not apply with respect to octopus that 
are used solely--

    (1) for public display by an accredited or licensed 
 aquarium or zoo;

    (2) in a breeding program of an accredited or licensed 
 aquarium or zoo; or

    (3) for research purposes carried out by an accredited or 
 licensed aquarium or zoo, a museum, a college, a university, a 
 Federal or State agency, or any other person under a State or 
 Federal permit to conduct noncommercial scientific research.

SEC. 7. REPORTING OF HARVEST METHODS FOR OCTOPUS IMPORTS.

 The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration shall ensure that one or more trade programs of the 
National Marine Fisheries Service require the reporting of harvest 
methods for imports of octopus, including any value-added product that 
is composed fully or partially of octopus.
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