[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 216

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator  BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Senator  LINDA R. GREENSTEIN

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Testa, Polistina, Tiver and Amato

SYNOPSIS

     Directs Department of Agriculture to advertise and promote State aquaculture products through Jersey Fresh Program; establishes annual $100,000 appropriation; appropriates $100,000.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on March 17, 2025, with amendments.

An Act concerning the promotion of aquaculture products through the Jersey Fresh Program, supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    a.  ¹[In addition to any monies otherwise appropriated or allocated to the Jersey Fresh Program, there shall be annually appropriated $100,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture for the sole purpose of the promotion of aquaculture products produced in the State as part of the Jersey Fresh Program.

     b.]¹  The department ¹[shall develop and implement]¹, as part of the Jersey Fresh Program, ¹[a program to] shall¹ advertise and promote aquaculture products ¹[produced in the State, and shall allocate the], the quality of which complies with standards adopted by the department and is verified thereby through the use of an appropriate quality grading system.  The department shall develop and implement an appropriate quality grading system specific to the grading of aquaculture products, as distinguished from wild-caught seafood products, which system shall be consistent with, and similar to, the quality grading system that is used, by the department, to grade the quality of other agricultural commodities for the purposes of the Jersey Fresh Program.

b.    In addition to the¹ monies appropriated pursuant to ¹section 2 of this act and otherwise appropriated or allocated to the Jersey Fresh Program, in each fiscal year following the effective date of this act, there shall be annually appropriated, from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture, $100,000 for the sole purpose of facilitating the department’s advertisement and promotion of aquaculture products, under the Jersey Fresh Program, as provided by¹ subsection a. of this section ¹[to the program’s advertising and promotion of aquaculture products]¹.

     c.     As used in this section:

¹“Aquaculture product” means fish or shellfish that is produced in the State, or in State waters, through means of aquaculture, as defined by section 3 of the “New Jersey Aquaculture Development Act,” P.L.1997, c.236 (C.4:27-3).¹

     “Department” means the Department of Agriculture.

     “Jersey Fresh Program” means the ¹[same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2017, c.197 (C.54A:9-25.44)] agricultural commodity marketing and quality grading program established by the department pursuant to R.S.4:10-6, P.L.1971, c.308 (C.4:10-43 et seq.), and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto¹.

     2.    There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture the sum of $100,000 for the purpose of the promotion of aquaculture products produced in the State as part of the Jersey Fresh Program.

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.