H.R. 6150 — Protect American Fisheries Act of 2025

This section expands the allowable causes for a fishery resource disaster under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to include economic causes (i.e., activities by a foreign person—newly defined to encompass non-U.S. citizens, foreign governments, international financial institutions, and certain foreign-controlled entities—that distort fishery markets, disrupt sustainable harvests, or hinder operational or economic viability). It further revises the definition of fishery resource disaster to encompass significant disruptions to the economy of a fishing community (in addition to losses of access to fishery resources); requires disaster relief applicants to document adverse effects of foreign activities such as illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing (including forced or child labor), predatory pricing, or distorting subsidies; directs the Secretary of Commerce, in disaster determinations, to consider U.S. and export market prices for affected seafood and any foreign contributions to economic causes; and authorizes economic causes as a basis for disaster relief payments (alongside natural and anthropogenic causes). (As background, the program enables the Secretary to declare fishery disasters and provide financial assistance to commercial, recreational, subsistence, and processing sectors and affected communities.)