Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1372 To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Mor- atorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks, 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 ‘‘Sustainable Shark 4 Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS CER- 6 TIFICATION. 7 Section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Mora- 8 torium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1372 IS (1) in subsection (a)(2)— 1 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(A) that nation or any individual or entity 4 from that nation has imported shark products 5 into the United States or seeks to import shark 6 products into the United States; and’’; and 7 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘adopted’’ and insert- 9 ing ‘‘sought and obtained, not later than 10 the effective date specified in paragraph 11 (8) of subsection (g), a certification from 12 the Secretary under that subsection that 13 the nation has in effect’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘, taking into account 15 different conditions’’; 16 (2) in subsection (b), in paragraphs (2) and 17 (3), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ each place it ap- 18 pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 19 (3) in subsection (c)— 20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 21 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 22 and 23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1372 IS ‘‘(6) APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES.— 1 This subsection does not apply to nations identified 2 under subsection (a)(2).’’; 3 (4) in subsection (d)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or (g)’’ 5 after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 6 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or (g)’’ 7 after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 8 (5) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(g) SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS 10 CERTIFICATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 13 subparagraph (B), shark products may not be 14 imported into the United States unless the 15 shark products were landed in a nation to 16 which the Secretary has issued a certification or 17 partial certification under paragraph (2). 18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under 19 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to shark 20 products that are— 21 ‘‘(i) traded, owned, held, or otherwise 22 possessed by an employee or agent of a 23 governmental agency for law enforcement 24 purposes; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1372 IS ‘‘(ii) used for noncommercial subsist- 1 ence purposes in accordance with Federal, 2 State, tribal, or territorial law; 3 ‘‘(iii) used solely for display, edu- 4 cation, conservation, or research purposes 5 by an accredited zoo, aquarium, museum, 6 college, or university; or 7 ‘‘(iv) used by any other person under 8 a State or Federal permit to conduct non- 9 commercial scientific research. 10 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS.—Pursuant to the regu- 11 lations prescribed under paragraph (5), the Sec- 12 retary— 13 ‘‘(A) shall grant a certification to any na- 14 tion that has adopted and effectively enforces 15 regulatory programs to provide for the con- 16 servation and management of sharks, and 17 measures to prohibit shark finning, that are 18 comparable to those of the United States; and 19 ‘‘(B) may grant a partial certification to a 20 nation if the Secretary determines that the na- 21 tion— 22 ‘‘(i) has adopted and effectively en- 23 forces regulatory programs that are com- 24 parable to the regulatory programs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1372 IS United States to provide for the conserva- 1 tion and management of a specific species 2 of shark imported into the United States 3 or used to produce shark products im- 4 ported into the United States; and 5 ‘‘(ii) has in effect an effective ban on 6 shark finning that is comparable to that of 7 the United States. 8 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION; RENEWAL.—A certification 9 or partial certification issued under this sub- 10 section— 11 ‘‘(A) shall be effective for not more than 3 12 years from the date of issuance; and 13 ‘‘(B) may be renewed in accordance with 14 the provisions of this subsection relating to the 15 initial issuance of the certification. 16 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS.—The Sec- 17 retary shall make a determination with respect to 18 whether to renew under paragraph (3) or revoke 19 pursuant to paragraph (5)(A)(ii) a certification or 20 partial certification issued under this subsection not 21 later than 180 days after the submission of the ap- 22 plication for renewal or the petition for revocation, 23 as the case may be. 24 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1372 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of the enactment of the Sustain- 2 able Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021, 3 the Secretary shall prescribe regulations under 4 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, with 5 respect to the submission, evaluation, revoca- 6 tion, and renewal of applications for certifi- 7 cations and partial certifications under para- 8 graph (2). Such regulations shall— 9 ‘‘(i) prescribe the content and format 10 of applications and standards for the infor- 11 mation to be provided in such applications; 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) establish a process for petitioning 14 the Secretary for revocation of the certifi- 15 cation or partial certification of any nation, 16 including standards for the information re- 17 quired to be provided to demonstrate that 18 the nation no longer meets the criteria es- 19 tablished under this subsection for the cer- 20 tification. 21 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATION OR 22 PARTIAL CERTIFICATION.—The regulations pre- 23 scribed under subparagraph (A) shall establish 24 criteria for determining whether a nation has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1372 IS and effectively enforces regulatory programs to 1 provide for the conservation and management 2 of sharks, and measures to prohibit shark fin- 3 ning, that are comparable to those of the 4 United States, which shall include, at a min- 5 imum, a requirement that such programs— 6 ‘‘(i) be consistent with the national 7 standards for fishery conservation and 8 management set forth at section 301(a) of 9 the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and 10 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)); 11 ‘‘(ii) provide for regularly updated 12 management plans, scientifically estab- 13 lished catch limits, and bycatch assess- 14 ments and minimization; 15 ‘‘(iii) include a program to prevent 16 overfishing of sharks and rebuild over- 17 fished stocks; 18 ‘‘(iv) require reporting and data col- 19 lection; 20 ‘‘(v) be consistent with the Inter- 21 national Plan of Action for Conservation 22 and Management of Sharks of the Food 23 and Agriculture Organization of the 24 United Nations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1372 IS ‘‘(vi) include a mechanism to ensure 1 that, if the nation allows landings of 2 sharks by foreign vessels that are not sub- 3 ject to such programs, only shark products 4 that comply with such programs are ex- 5 ported to the United States. 6 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION; PUBLIC COMMENT.—The 7 Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register notice 9 of applications, petitions, and decisions with re- 10 spect to certifications, renewal of certifications, 11 or revocation of certifications under this sub- 12 section; and 13 ‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for public 14 comment with respect to such applications, peti- 15 tions, and decisions. 16 ‘‘(7) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—A decision of the 17 Secretary with respect to the issuance, renewal, or 18 revocation of a certification or partial certification 19 under this subsection, or a failure to make a deter- 20 mination under paragraph (4) in the time required 21 by that paragraph, shall be considered a final agency 22 action for the purposes of chapter 7 of title 5, 23 United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1372 IS ‘‘(8) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The prohibition under 1 paragraph (1) shall take effect on the earlier of— 2 ‘‘(A) the date on which regulations are 3 prescribed under paragraph (5); or 4 ‘‘(B) the date that is 3 years after the date 5 of the enactment of the Sustainable Shark 6 Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021. 7 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 ‘‘(A) SHARK.—The term ‘shark’ means 9 any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii. 10 ‘‘(B) SHARK PRODUCT.—The term ‘shark 11 product’ means live sharks, whole sharks, and 12 the meat, skin, oil, fins (including wings and 13 tails), gill rakers, cartilage, jaws, teeth, liver, or 14 any product containing meat, skin, oil, fins (in- 15 cluding wings and tails), gill rakers, cartilage, 16 jaws, teeth, or liver derived from sharks. 17 ‘‘(C) SHARK FINNING.—The term ‘shark 18 finning’ means the removal of a shark’s fins, in- 19 cluding the tail, and discarding the remaining 20 carcass of the shark at sea.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1372 IS SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL FISH- 1 ERY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 2 Section 608(a) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing 3 Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826i(a)) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph 6 (F) and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(F) to adopt shark conservation and man- 8 agement measures and measures to prevent 9 shark finning that are consistent with the Inter- 10 national Plan of Action for Conservation and 11 Management of Sharks of the Food and Agri- 12 culture Organization of the United Nations;’’; 13 and 14 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(3) seeking to enter into international agree- 17 ments that require measures for the conservation 18 and management of sharks and measures to prevent 19 shark finning that are consistent with the Inter- 20 national Plan of Action for Conservation and Man- 21 agement of Sharks; and’’. 22 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD 23 TRACEABILITY PROGRAM. 24 Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 25 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1372 IS section 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations 1 to include rays and skates on the list provided for under 2 subsection (a)(2) of that section. 3 SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 4 (a) ADDITIONAL OR MORE STRINGENT REQUIRE- 5 MENTS.—Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by 6 this Act, shall be construed to preempt any Federal or 7 State law establishing additional or more stringent re- 8 quirements than the requirements of subsection (g) of sec- 9 tion 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 10 Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k), as added by section 11 3. 12 (b) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Nothing in this 13 Act, or an amendment made by this Act, shall be con- 14 strued to infringe on the duties of any agency other than 15 the Department of Commerce, or to impose additional du- 16 ties, in enforcing the agency’s responsibilities related to 17 imports. 18 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 20 retary of Commerce to carry out this Act, and the amend- 21 ments made by this Act— 22 (1) $325,000 for fiscal year 2022; 23 (2) $325,000 for fiscal year 2023; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1372 IS (3) $400,000 for each of fiscal years 2024, 1 2025, and 2026; and 2 (4) $250,000 for fiscal year 2027. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS