Fisheries Science Modernization Act of 2026

(a) In general. To ensure the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Federal partners can effectively use eDNA and eDNA-based monitoring tools while supporting the growth of United States eDNA service providers, the Administrator, in coordination with the National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network, may carry out activities that strengthen the capabilities of the laboratory and analytical workforce of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(b) Activities. Activities carried out under subsection (a) may include—

(1) supporting training programs and fellowships through the national sea grant college program maintained under section 204(a) of the National Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(a)) and other academic institutions to build expertise in eDNA sampling, genomics, molecular ecology, and bioinformatics;

(2) establishing partnerships and cooperative agreements with private-sector eDNA laboratories, equipment manufacturers, bioinformatics firms, and technology developers—

(A) to facilitate technical skill transfer;

(B) to train personnel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be informed and capable clients;

(C) to ensure interoperability between public and private workflows; and

(D) to develop fit-for-purpose uncrewed aquatic sampling technologies;

(3) expanding the in-house laboratory capacity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—

(A) to receive and process samples at a basic operational level;

(B) to support method development and benchmarking aligned with the national standards developed by the National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network under section 201(d); and

(C) to maintain internal quality assurance and quality control expertise sufficient to verify vendor performance;

(4) encouraging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and partner agencies to contract with accredited external laboratories and service providers for routine eDNA sample processing, sequencing, and interpretation, when feasible, cost-effective, and consistent with the national standards developed by the National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network under section 201(d); and

(5) ensuring that any Federal workforce or laboratory activities are fully interoperable with the national standards and protocols developed by the National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network under section 201(d) for sampling, reporting, and analytical consistency, supporting shared reference materials, proficiency testing, and calibration across Federal agencies and private partners.