DESCEND Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2960 To require individuals fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain descending devices, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 2, 2019 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require individuals fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain descending devices, 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 ‘‘Direct Enhancement 4 of Snapper Conservation and the Economy through Novel 5 Devices Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DESCEND Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DEVICES. 7 (a) REQUIRED GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISH- 8 ERY.—Title III of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2960 IS servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) 1 is amended by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DE- 3 VICES. 4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRE GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISH- 5 ERY.—It shall be unlawful for a person on board a com- 6 mercial or recreational vessel to fish for Gulf reef fish in 7 the Gulf of Mexico Exclusive Economic Zone without pos- 8 sessing on board the vessel a venting tool or a descending 9 device that is rigged and ready for use while fishing is 10 occurring. 11 ‘‘(b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—No provision of this section 12 shall be interpreted to affect any program or activity car- 13 ried out by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council 14 established under section 311(t) of the Federal Water Pol- 15 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(t)), or any project 16 contained in an approved Restoration Plan developed by 17 any Natural Resources Damage Assessment Trustee Im- 18 plementation Group to reduce post-release mortality from 19 barotrauma in Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Recreational 20 Fisheries. 21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) DESCENDING DEVICE.—The term ‘de- 23 scending device’ means an instrument that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2960 IS ‘‘(A) will release fish at a depth sufficient 1 for the fish to be able to recover from the ef- 2 fects of barotrauma; 3 ‘‘(B) is a weighted hook, lip clamp, or box 4 that will hold the fish while it is lowered to 5 depth, or another device determined to be ap- 6 propriate by the Secretary; and 7 ‘‘(C) is capable of— 8 ‘‘(i) releasing the fish automatically; 9 ‘‘(ii) releasing the fish by actions of 10 the operator of the device; or 11 ‘‘(iii) allowing the fish to escape on its 12 own. 13 ‘‘(2) VENTING TOOL.—The term ‘venting tool’ 14 has the meaning given to it by the Gulf of Mexico 15 Fishery Management Council. 16 ‘‘(3) GULF REEF FISH.—The term ‘Gulf reef 17 fish’ means any fish chosen by the Gulf of Mexico 18 Fishery Management Council that is in the reef 19 Fishery Management Plan for the purposes of this 20 Act. 21 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—The requirements under this section 22 shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the date of 23 enactment of the Direct Enhancement of Snapper Con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2960 IS servation and the Economy through Novel Devices Act of 1 2019.’’. 2 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 308(a) of the Mag- 3 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 4 (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)) is amended— 5 (1) by inserting ‘‘or section 321’’ after ‘‘section 6 307’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 8 authorization under this subsection for a penalty for 9 a violation of section 321 shall expire on the date 10 that is 5 years after the date of enactment of the 11 Direct Enhancement of Snapper Conservation and 12 the Economy through Novel Devices Act of 2019.’’ 13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 this Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of enact- 15 ment of this Act. 16 SEC. 3. IMPROVING DISCARD MORTALITY DATA. 17 (a) AGREEMENT.—Within 60 days of the date of en- 18 actment this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall enter 19 into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences 20 to conduct a study and produce a report on discard mor- 21 tality in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fisheries. Such study 22 shall include— 23 (1) assessment of gaps and biases in reporting 24 of discards and associated discard mortality; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2960 IS (2) assessment of uncertainty and likely im- 1 pacts of such uncertainty in discard mortality; 2 (3) assessment of the effectiveness and usage 3 rates of barotrauma reducing devices; 4 (4) recommendations for future research prior- 5 ities; and 6 (5) recommendations for standardized reporting 7 and quantification of discards for fisheries under the 8 Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. 9 (b) DEADLINE.—The National Academy of Sciences 10 shall complete the study described in subsection (a) and 11 transmit the final report to the Secretary of Commerce 12 within 2 years of the date of enactment of this Act. The 13 Secretary of Commerce shall, within 3 months of receiving 14 such study and report, submit such study and report to 15 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 16 of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 17 of the House of Representatives. 18 (c) PLAN.—Within 1 year of receiving the study and 19 report described in subsection (a), the Gulf of Mexico 20 Fishery Management Council and the Secretary of Com- 21 merce shall— 22 (1) develop guidance for minimum standards 23 for quantifying and reporting discards and associ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2960 IS ated mortality in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fish- 1 ery Management Plan; and 2 (2) develop a plan to assess and monitor the ef- 3 fectiveness and usage of barotrauma reducing de- 4 vices and the impact on discard mortality rates in 5 Gulf of Mexico reef fish fisheries. 6 (d) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Within 3 years of devel- 7 oping minimum standards and developing the assessment 8 and monitoring plan in subsection (c), the Secretary of 9 Commerce shall provide a detailed report on implementa- 10 tion to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- 11 portation of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re- 12 sources of the House of Representatives. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2960.IS S2960 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS