Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends federal fish catch limits and the requirements for rebuilding fish stocks.

Highlights:

• Specifies that a regional fishery management council is not required to develop an annual catch limit for the following fish stocks and species (Sec. 5):
• An ecosystem component species;
• A species that has a life cycle of approximately 1 year, unless the Secretary of Commerce has determined the fishery is subject to overfishing; or
• A stock for which more than half of a single year’s juveniles will complete their life cycle in less than 18 months, and for which fishing mortality has little impact.

• Amends the timeframe in which a management plan for an overfished stock of fish must be completed from 10 years to the amount of time the stock would need to rebuild, plus 1 mean generation, without any fishing (Sec. 4).

• Expands the exceptions under which a management plan for an overfished stock of fish can exceed the set timeframe to include exceptions for certain circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following circumstances (Sec. 4):
• The Secretary of Commerce determines that the stock has been affected by unusual events that make rebuilding within the specified time period improbable without significant economic harm to fishing communities; or
• The Secretary of Commerce determines that the cause of the stock being depleted is outside the jurisdiction of a regional fishery management council, or the rebuilding program cannot be effective only by limiting fishing activities.

• Authorizes a fishery management plan to use alternative rebuilding strategies, including, but not limited to, harvest control rules and fishing mortality-rate targets (Sec. 4).

• Increases the length of time than an emergency regulation or interim measure which changes an existing fishery management plan can remain in effect from 180 days to 1 year (Sec. 4).

• Extends the seaward boundary for recreational red snapper fishing for a coastal state in the Gulf of Mexico to 9 miles out to sea (Sec. 13).

• Requires the secretary and regional fishery management councils to develop guidelines for incorporating nongovernmental data sources into data collection procedures for fishery management plans, including, but not limited to, data sources such as fishermen, fishing communities, and sources of data on recreational fishing (Sec. 29).

• Requires the secretary to commission a study of South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico mixed-used fisheries in order to develop criteria for allocating fishing privileges, including, but not limited to, consideration of the conservation and socioeconomic benefits of the commercial, recreational, and charter components of a fishery (Sec. 27).

• Requires the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils to review the allocation of fishing privileges in their respective mixed-used fisheries within 2 years of the passage of this bill and every 3 years thereafter (Sec. 27).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text