Fluke Fairness Act of 2021

II Calendar No. 213 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1747 To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder based on geographic, scientific, and economic data, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder based on geographic, scientific, and economic data, 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 ‘‘Fluke Fairness Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1747 RS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Summer flounder is an important economic 3 fish stock for commercial and recreational fishermen 4 across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United 5 States. 6 (2) The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva- 7 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) 8 was reauthorized in 2006 and instituted annual 9 catch limits and accountability measures for impor- 10 tant fish stocks. 11 (3) That reauthorization prompted fishery man- 12 agers to look at alternate management schemes to 13 rebuild depleted stocks like summer flounder. 14 (4) Summer flounder occur in both State and 15 Federal waters and are managed through a joint 16 fishery management plan between the Council and 17 the Commission. 18 (5) The Council and the Commission decided 19 that each State’s recreational and commercial har- 20 vest limits for summer flounder would be based upon 21 landings in previous years. 22 (6) These historical landings were based on 23 flawed data sets that no longer provide fairness or 24 flexibility for fisheries managers to allocate resources 25 based on the best science. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1747 RS (7) This allocation mechanism resulted in an 1 uneven split among the States along the East Coast 2 which is problematic. 3 (8) The fishery management plan for summer 4 flounder does not account for regional changes in 5 the location of the fluke stock even though the stock 6 has moved further to the north and changes in effort 7 by anglers along the East Coast. 8 (9) The States have been locked in a manage- 9 ment system based on data collected from 1981 to 10 1989, thus, the summer flounder stock is not being 11 managed using the best available science and mod- 12 ern fishery management techniques. 13 (10) It is in the interest of the Federal Govern- 14 ment to establish a new fishery management plan 15 for summer flounder that is based on current geo- 16 graphic, scientific, and economic realities. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 20 means the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commis- 21 sion. 22 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 23 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council estab- 24 lished under section 302(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1747 RS Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 1 U.S.C. 1852(a)). 2 (3) NATIONAL STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘Na- 3 tional Standards’’ means the national standards for 4 fishery conservation and management set out in sec- 5 tion 301(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con- 6 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)). 7 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of Commerce. 9 (5) SUMMER FLOUNDER.—The term ‘‘summer 10 flounder’’ means the species Paralichthys dentatus 11 (commonly known as ‘‘Fluke’’). 12 SEC. 4. SUMMER FLOUNDER MANAGEMENT REFORM. 13 (a) FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN MODIFICATION.— 14 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 15 Act, the Council shall submit to the Secretary, and the 16 Secretary may approve, a modified fishery management 17 plan for the commercial management of summer flounder 18 under title III of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva- 19 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) or an 20 amendment to such plan that— 21 (1) shall be based on the best scientific infor- 22 mation available; 23 (2) establishes commercial quotas in direct pro- 24 portion to the distribution, abundance, and location 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1747 RS of summer flounder as reflected by fishery inde- 1 pendent surveys conducted by the National Marine 2 Fisheries Service and State agencies; 3 (3) considers regional, coastwide, or other man- 4 agement measures for summer flounder that comply 5 with the National Standards; and 6 (4) prohibits the establishment of commercial 7 catch quotas for summer flounder on a State-by- 8 State basis using historical landings data that does 9 not reflect the status of the summer flounder stock, 10 based on the most recent scientific information. 11 (b) CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMISSION.—In 12 preparing the modified fishery management plan or an 13 amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a), 14 the Council shall consult with the Commission to ensure 15 consistent management throughout the range of the sum- 16 mer flounder. 17 (c) FAILURE TO SUBMIT PLAN.—If the Council fails 18 to submit a modified fishery management plan or an 19 amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a) 20 that may be approved by the Secretary, the Secretary shall 21 prepare and consider such a modified plan or amendment. 22 SEC. 5. REPORT. 23 Not later than 1 year after the date of the approval 24 under section 4 of a modified fishery management plan 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1747 RS for the commercial management of summer flounder or 1 an amendment to such plan, the Comptroller General of 2 the United States shall submit to Congress a report on 3 the implementation of such modified plan or amendment 4 that includes an assessment of whether such implementa- 5 tion complies with the National Standards. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 213 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1747 A BILL To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder based on geographic, scientific, and eco- nomic data, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 17, 2021 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Dec 19, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1747.RS S1747 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS