Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 59 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide flexibility for fishery managers and stability for fishermen, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide flexibility for fishery man- agers and stability for fishermen, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Fishing 4 Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Man- 5 agement Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 59 IH Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. References. TITLE I—MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT FINDINGS AND DEFINITIONS AMENDMENTS AND REAUTHORIZATION Sec. 101. Amendments to findings. Sec. 102. Amendments to definitions. Sec. 103. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE II—FISHERIES MANAGEMENT FLEXIBILITY AND MODERNIZATION Sec. 201. Definitions. Sec. 202. Process for allocation review for South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico mixed-use fisheries. Sec. 203. Alternative fishery management measures. Sec. 204. Modifications to the annual catch limit requirement. Sec. 205. Limitation on future catch share programs. Sec. 206. Study of limited access privilege programs for mixed-use fisheries. Sec. 207. Cooperative data collection. Sec. 208. Recreational fishing data. Sec. 209. Miscellaneous amendments relating to fishery management councils. Sec. 210. Northeast regional pilot research trawl survey and study. TITLE III—HEALTHY FISHERIES THROUGH BETTER SCIENCE Sec. 301. Healthy fisheries through better science. Sec. 302. Transparency and public process. Sec. 303. Flexibility in rebuilding fish stocks. Sec. 304. Exempted fishing permits. Sec. 305. Cooperative research and management program. Sec. 306. Federal Gulf of Mexico red snapper management. TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING FISHING COMMUNITIES Sec. 401. Estimation of cost of recovery from fishery resource disaster. Sec. 402. Deadline for action on request by Governor for determination regard- ing fishery resource disaster. Sec. 403. North Pacific Fishery management clarification. Sec. 404. Limitation on harvest in North Pacific directed pollock fishery. Sec. 405. Arctic community development quota. Sec. 406. Reallocation of certain unused harvest allocation. Sec. 407. Community Development Quota Program panel voting procedures. Sec. 408. Prohibition on shark feeding off coast of Florida. Sec. 409. Restoration of historically freshwater environment. TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 501. Mitigation for impacts to submerged aquatic vegetation. Sec. 502. Plan for electronic monitoring and reporting procedures for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery. Sec. 503. Study of fees charged to lobster fishing industry. Sec. 504. Limitation on application of prohibition on Atlantic striped bass fish- ing in Block Island Sound transit zone. Sec. 505. Funding for monitoring implementation of Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 59 IH TITLE VI—REEF ASSASSIN ACT Sec. 601. Short title. Sec. 602. Encouraging elimination of lionfish. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act, any term used that is defined in section 2 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 3 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802) shall have the same 4 meaning such term has under that section. 5 SEC. 4. REFERENCES. 6 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 7 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 8 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the ref- 9 erence shall be considered to be made to a provision of 10 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage- 11 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 12 TITLE I—MAGNUSON-STEVENS 13 ACT FINDINGS AND DEFINI- 14 TIONS AMENDMENTS AND RE- 15 AUTHORIZATION 16 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO FINDINGS. 17 Section 2(a) (16 U.S.C. 1801) is amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘cultural 19 well-being,’’ after ‘‘economy,’’; and 20 (2) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘and tradi- 21 tional ways of life’’ after ‘‘economic growth’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 59 IH SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is 2 amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘management 4 program’’; 5 (2) in paragraph (34), by striking ‘‘The terms 6 ‘overfishing’ and ‘overfished’ mean’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘The term ‘overfishing’ means’’; 8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(8a) The term ‘depleted’ means, with respect 11 to a stock of fish or stock complex, that the stock 12 or stock complex has a biomass that has declined 13 below a level that jeopardizes the capacity of the 14 stock or stock complex to produce maximum sustain- 15 able yield on a continuing basis.’’; and 16 (4) by inserting after paragraph (43) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(43a)(A) The term ‘subsistence fishing’ means 19 fishing in which the fish harvested are intended for 20 customary and traditional uses, including for direct 21 personal or family consumption as food or clothing; 22 for the making or selling of handicraft articles out 23 of nonedible byproducts taken for personal or family 24 consumption, for barter, or sharing for personal or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 59 IH family consumption; and for customary exchange or 1 trade. 2 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 3 ‘‘(i) the term ‘family’ means all persons re- 4 lated by blood, marriage, or adoption, or any 5 person living within the household on a perma- 6 nent basis; and 7 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘barter’ means the exchange 8 of a fish or fish part— 9 ‘‘(I) for another fish or fish part; or 10 ‘‘(II) for other food or for nonedible 11 items other than money if the exchange is 12 of a limited and noncommercial nature.’’. 13 (b) SUBSTITUTION OF TERM.—The Magnuson-Ste- 14 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 15 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended— 16 (1) in the heading of section 304(e), by striking 17 ‘‘OVERFISHED’’ and inserting ‘‘DEPLETED’’; and 18 (2) by striking ‘‘overfished’’ each place it ap- 19 pears and inserting ‘‘depleted’’. 20 (c) CLARITY IN ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 21 304(e)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(1)) is amended by adding 22 at the end the following: ‘‘The report shall distinguish be- 23 tween fisheries that are depleted (or approaching that con- 24 dition) as a result of fishing and fisheries that are depleted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 59 IH (or approaching that condition) as a result of factors other 1 than fishing. The report shall state, for each fishery iden- 2 tified as depleted or approaching that condition, whether 3 the fishery is the target of directed fishing.’’. 4 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 5 Section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1803) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and all that follows 7 through ‘‘(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; and 8 (2) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2013’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 10 TITLE II—FISHERIES MANAGE- 11 MENT FLEXIBILITY AND MOD- 12 ERNIZATION 13 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 14 For the purposes of implementing this title: 15 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 16 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 17 gress’’ means— 18 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 19 and Transportation of the Senate; and 20 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 21 of the House of Representatives. 22 (2) LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAM.— 23 The term ‘‘limited access privilege program’’ means 24 a program that meets the requirements of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 59 IH 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva- 1 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a). 2 (3) MIXED-USE FISHERY.—The term ‘‘mixed- 3 use fishery’’ means a Federal fishery in which two 4 or more of the following occur: 5 (A) Recreational fishing. 6 (B) Charter fishing. 7 (C) Commercial fishing. 8 SEC. 202. PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION REVIEW FOR SOUTH 9 ATLANTIC AND GULF OF MEXICO MIXED-USE 10 FISHERIES. 11 (a) STUDY OF ALLOCATIONS IN MIXED-USE FISH- 12 ERIES.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enact- 13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall seek 14 to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy 15 of Sciences to conduct a study of South Atlantic and Gulf 16 of Mexico mixed-use fisheries— 17 (1) to provide guidance to each applicable 18 Council on criteria that could be used for allocating 19 fishing privileges, including consideration of the con- 20 servation and socioeconomic benefits of the commer- 21 cial, recreational, and charter components of a fish- 22 ery, in the preparation of a fishery management 23 plan; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 59 IH (2) to identify sources of information that could 1 reasonably support the use of such criteria in alloca- 2 tion decisions; 3 (3) to develop procedures for allocation reviews 4 and potential adjustments in allocations; and 5 (4) that shall consider the ecological, economic 6 and social factors relevant to each component of the 7 mixed-use fishery including but not limited to: fair- 8 ness and equitability of all current allocations; per- 9 cent utilization of available allocations by each com- 10 ponent; consumer and public access to the resource; 11 and the application of economic models for fully esti- 12 mating the direct and indirect value-added contribu- 13 tions of the various commercial and recreational 14 fishing industry market sectors throughout chain of 15 custody. 16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 17 an arrangement is entered into under subsection (a), the 18 National Academy of Sciences shall submit to the appro- 19 priate committees of Congress a report on the study con- 20 ducted under that subsection. 21 (c) PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION REVIEW AND ESTAB- 22 LISHMENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 24 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 59 IH thereafter, an applicable Council shall perform a re- 1 view of the allocations to the commercial fishing sec- 2 tor and the recreational fishing sector of all applica- 3 ble fisheries in its jurisdiction. 4 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting a review 5 under paragraph (1), an applicable Council shall 6 consider, in each allocation decision, the conserva- 7 tion and socioeconomic benefits of— 8 (A) the commercial fishing sector; and 9 (B) the recreational fishing sector. 10 (d) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE COUNCIL.—In this 11 section, the term ‘‘applicable Council’’ means— 12 (1) the South Atlantic Fishery Management 13 Council; or 14 (2) the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 15 Council. 16 SEC. 203. ALTERNATIVE FISHERY MANAGEMENT MEAS- 17 URES. 18 Section 302(h) (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 20 inserting a semicolon; 21 (2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para- 22 graph (10); and 23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8), the fol- 24 lowing: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 59 IH ‘‘(9) have the authority to use alternative fish- 1 ery management measures in a recreational fishery 2 (or the recreational component of a mixed-use fish- 3 ery), including extraction rates, fishing mortality 4 targets, and harvest control rules, in developing a 5 fishery management plan, plan amendment, or pro- 6 posed regulations; and’’. 7 SEC. 204. MODIFICATIONS TO THE ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT 8 REQUIREMENT. 9 (a) REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS.— 10 Section 302 (16 U.S.C. 1852) is amended by adding at 11 the end the following: 12 ‘‘(m) CONSIDERATIONS FOR MODIFICATIONS TO AN- 13 NUAL CATCH LIMIT REQUIREMENTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT REQUIREMENT FOR 15 CERTAIN DATA-POOR FISHERIES.—Notwithstanding 16 subsection (h)(6), in the case of a stock of fish for 17 which the total annual catch limit is 25 percent or 18 more below the overfishing limit, a peer-reviewed 19 stock survey and stock assessment have not been 20 performed during the preceding 5 fishing years, and 21 the stock is not subject to overfishing, a Council 22 may, after notifying the Secretary, maintain the cur- 23 rent annual catch limit for the stock until a peer-re- 24 viewed stock survey and stock assessment are con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Jan 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H59.IH H59 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 59 IH ducted and the results are considered by the Council 1 and its scientific and statistical committee. 2 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF ECOSYSTEM AND ECO- 3 NOMIC IMPACTS.—In establishing annual catch lim- 4 its a Council may, consistent with subsection (h)(6), 5 consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic 6 needs of the fishing communities. 7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS TO ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT 8 REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL FISHERIES.—Notwith- 9 standing subsection (h)(6), a Council is not required 10 to develop an annual catch limit for— 11 ‘‘(A) an ecosystem-component species; 12 ‘‘(B) a fishery for a species that has a life 13 cycle of approximately 1 year, unless the Sec- 14 retary has determined the fishery is subject to 15 overfishing; or 16 ‘‘(C) a stock for which— 17 ‘‘(i) more than half of a single-year 18 class will complete their life cycle in less 19 than 18 months; and 20 ‘‘(ii) fishing mortality will have little 21 impact on the stock. 22 ‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO INTERNATIONAL FISH- 23 [Text truncated for display. 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