Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 788 To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2019 Mr. WEBSTER of Florida (for himself, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illi- nois, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. JONES, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. YOHO, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. POSEY, and Mr. HIGGINS of New York) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat- ural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Mor- atorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. 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 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 788 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to establish a certification 2 process to ensure that foreign nations engaging in shark 3 trade into or through the United States conserve and man- 4 age populations of sharks in a manner that is comparable 5 to regulatory programs in the United States and that ef- 6 fectively prohibits the practice of removing shark fins and 7 discarding the carcass at sea. 8 SEC. 3. SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS CER- 9 TIFICATION. 10 Section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Mora- 11 torium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (a)— 13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ 14 after the semicolon at the end; 15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 16 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(3) a nation if— 19 ‘‘(A) that nation or any individual or entity 20 of that nation has imported shark products into 21 the United States or seeks to import shark 22 products into the United States; and 23 ‘‘(B) the nation has not sought and ob- 24 tained, by not later than the effective date of 25 subsection (g)(1), a certification from the Sec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 788 IH retary under that subsection that the nation 1 has in effect a regulatory program to provide 2 for the conservation of sharks, including meas- 3 ures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of 4 a shark (including the tail) and discarding the 5 carcass of the shark at sea, that is comparable 6 to that of the United States.’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b), in paragraphs (2) and 8 (3), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ each place it ap- 9 pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 10 (3) in subsection (c)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 12 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 13 and 14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(6) APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES.— 16 This subsection does not apply to a nation identified 17 under subsection (a)(3).’’; 18 (4) in subsection (d)— 19 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 20 (g)’’after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 21 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or (g)’’ 22 after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 23 (5) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 788 IH ‘‘(g) SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS 1 CERTIFICATION.— 2 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4 subparagraph (B), shark products shall not be 5 imported into the United States unless the 6 shark products are of a species of shark that 7 were landed in a nation to which the Secretary 8 has granted a certification or partial certifi- 9 cation for such species under paragraph (2). 10 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 11 shall not apply to shark products that are— 12 ‘‘(i) traded, owned, held, or otherwise 13 possessed by an employee or agent of a 14 governmental agency for law enforcement 15 purposes; 16 ‘‘(ii) used for noncommercial subsist- 17 ence purposes in accordance with Federal, 18 State, Tribal, or territorial law; 19 ‘‘(iii) used solely for display, edu- 20 cation, conservation, or research purposes, 21 by an accredited zoo, aquarium, museum, 22 college, or university; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 788 IH ‘‘(iv) used by any other person under 1 a State or Federal permit to conduct non- 2 commercial scientific research. 3 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS.—Pursuant to the regu- 4 lations promulgated under paragraphs (3) and (5), 5 the Secretary— 6 ‘‘(A) shall grant a certification to any na- 7 tion that has adopted and effectively enforces 8 regulatory programs to provide for the con- 9 servation and management of sharks, and 10 measures to prohibit shark finning, that are 11 comparable to those of the United States; and 12 ‘‘(B) may grant a partial certification for 13 one or more specific species of shark to a na- 14 tion if the Secretary determines that such na- 15 tion— 16 ‘‘(i) has adopted and effectively en- 17 forces regulatory programs that are com- 18 parable to the regulatory programs of the 19 United States to provide for the conserva- 20 tion and management of such species im- 21 ported into the United States or used to 22 produce the shark products imported into 23 the United States; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 788 IH ‘‘(ii) has in effect an effective ban on 1 shark finning, that is comparable to that 2 of the United States. 3 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION; RENEWAL.—A certification 4 or partial certification issued under this sub- 5 section— 6 ‘‘(A) shall be effective for no more than 7 three years after the date of issuance; and 8 ‘‘(B) may be renewed in accordance with 9 the provisions of this subsection relating to the 10 initial issuance of the certification. 11 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS.—The Sec- 12 retary shall make a determination with respect to 13 whether to renew under paragraph (3) or revoke 14 pursuant to paragraph (5)(A)(ii) a certification or 15 partial certification issued under this subsection, by 16 not later than 180 days after the submission of the 17 application for renewal or the petition for revocation, 18 respectively. 19 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 21 after the date of the enactment of the Sustain- 22 able Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2019, 23 the Secretary shall prescribe regulations under 24 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, gov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 788 IH erning the submission, evaluation, revocation, 1 and renewal of applications for certifications 2 and partial certifications under paragraph (2). 3 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.—Such 4 regulations shall— 5 ‘‘(i) prescribe the content and format 6 of applications and standards for informa- 7 tion to be provided in such applications; 8 and 9 ‘‘(ii) establish a process for petitioning 10 the Secretary for revocation of the certifi- 11 cation or partial certification of any nation, 12 including standards for the information re- 13 quired to be provided to demonstrate that 14 the nation no longer meets the criteria es- 15 tablished under this paragraph for the cer- 16 tification. 17 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATION OR 18 PARTIAL CERTIFICATION.—The regulations pro- 19 mulgated under subparagraph (A) shall estab- 20 lish criteria for determining whether a nation 21 has and effectively enforces regulatory pro- 22 grams for the conservation and management of 23 sharks, and measures to prohibit shark finning, 24 that are comparable to those of the United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 788 IH States, including, at a minimum, a requirement 1 that such programs— 2 ‘‘(i) be consistent with the national 3 standards for fishery conservation and 4 management set forth in section 301(a) of 5 the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and 6 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)); 7 ‘‘(ii) provide for regularly updated 8 management plans, scientifically estab- 9 lished catch limits, and bycatch assess- 10 ments and minimization; 11 ‘‘(iii) include a program to prevent 12 overfishing and to rebuild overfished 13 stocks; 14 ‘‘(iv) require reporting and data col- 15 lection; 16 ‘‘(v) be consistent with the Inter- 17 national Plan of Action for Conservation 18 and Management of Sharks of the United 19 Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- 20 tion; and 21 ‘‘(vi) include a mechanism to ensure 22 that, if the nation allows landings of 23 sharks by foreign vessels that are not sub- 24 ject to such programs of such nation, only 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 788 IH shark products that comply with such pro- 1 grams are exported to the United States. 2 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION; PUBLIC COMMENT.—The 3 Secretary shall— 4 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register notice 5 of applications, petitions, and decisions with re- 6 spect to certifications, renewal of certifications, 7 or revocation of certifications under this sub- 8 section; and 9 ‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for public 10 comment with respect to such applications, peti- 11 tions, and decisions. 12 ‘‘(7) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—A decision of the 13 Secretary with respect to the issuance, renewal, or 14 revocation of a certification or partial certification 15 under this subsection, and a failure to make a deter- 16 mination required under paragraph (4), shall be con- 17 sidered a final agency action for the purposes of 18 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. 19 ‘‘(8) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 20 take effect on the earlier of— 21 ‘‘(A) the date on which regulations are 22 issued under paragraph (5); or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 788 IH ‘‘(B) the date that is 3 years after the date 1 of the date of the enactment of the Sustainable 2 Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2019. 3 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 4 ‘‘(A) SHARK.—The term ‘shark’ means 5 any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii. 6 ‘‘(B) SHARK PRODUCT.—The term ‘shark 7 product’ means a live shark; a whole shark; the 8 meat, skin, oil, fin (including a wing or tail), 9 gill raker, cartilage, jaw, tooth, or liver of a 10 shark; or any product containing meat, skin, 11 oil, a fin (including a wing or tail), gill raker, 12 cartilage, jaw, tooth, or liver derived from a 13 shark. 14 ‘‘(C) SHARK FINNING.—The term ‘shark 15 finning’ means the removal of a shark’s fins, in- 16 cluding the tail, and discarding the remaining 17 carcass of the shark at sea.’’. 18 SEC. 4. ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL FISH- 19 ERY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 20 Section 608(a) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing 21 Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826i(a)) is 22 amended— 23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph 24 (F), and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 788 IH ‘‘(F) to adopt shark conservation and man- 1 agement measures and measures to prevent 2 shark finning, which are consistent with the 3 International Plan of Action for Conservation 4 and Management of Sharks of the Food and 5 Agriculture Organization of the United Na- 6 tions;’’; and 7 (2) by striking paragraph (3), and inserting the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(3) seeking to enter into international agree- 10 ment that require measures for the conservation and 11 management of sharks and measures to prevent 12 shark finning, which are consistent with the Inter- 13 national Plan of Action for Conservation and Man- 14 agement of Sharks of the Food and Agriculture Or- 15 ganization of the United Nations; and’’. 16 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD 17 TRACEABILITY PROGRAM. 18 Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 19 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise 20 section 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 21 to include rays and skates in the species and species 22 groups specified in subsection (a)(2) of that section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 788 IH SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 1 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt any 2 Federal or State law establishing additional or more strin- 3 gent requirements than the requirements of subsection (g) 4 of section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Morato- 5 rium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k), as added by sec- 6 tion 3. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H788.IH H788 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS