II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5053 

To improve the management of forage fish. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the management of forage fish. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Forage Fish Conservation Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. References to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. 

Sec. 5. Scientific advice. 

Sec. 6. Council functions. 

Sec. 7. Contents of fishery management plans. 

Sec. 8. Action by the Secretary. 


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Sec. 9. River herring and shad. 

Sec. 10. Rule of construction. 

1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISH2 ERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT. 

3 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 

4 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

5 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi6 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

7 section or other provision of the Magnuson-Stevens Fish8 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 

9 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

11 Section 2(a) (16 U.S.C. 1801(a)) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(14) Forage fish are generally small to inter14 mediate-sized species, occurring in schools or dense 

15 aggregations, and function as a main pathway for 

16 energy to flow from phyto- and zooplankton to high17 er trophic level predators, such as tuna, Alaska pol18 lock, and other wildlife, in marine ecosystems. While 

19 most species function as prey of others at some life 

20 stage, especially when small and young, forage fish 

21 maintain this important trophic role throughout 

22 their life. Further, fluctuations in their populations 

23 can result in significant changes in marine commu24 nities and ecosystems. Therefore, particular attenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jan 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5053.IS S5053

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1 tion to management of forage fish species, and ad2 dressing their unique role in marine ecosystems, is 

3 critical to maintaining ecosystem function and sus4 tainable fisheries.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

6 Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (33) 

8 (relating to waters of a foreign nation) as paragraph 

9 (53); 

10 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (28) through 

11 (50) as paragraphs (30) through (52), respectively; 

12 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (19) through 

13 (27) as paragraphs (20) through (28), respectively; 

14 (4) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(19) The term ‘forage fish’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) any fish that, throughout its life 

18 cycle— 

19 ‘‘(i) is at a low trophic level; 

20 ‘‘(ii) contributes significantly to the 

21 diets of other fish, marine mammals, or 

22 birds; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) serves as a conduit for energy 

24 transfer to species at a higher trophic 

25 level; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other fish specified as a forage 

2 fish for purposes of this paragraph in a fishery 

3 management plan or amendment that is trans4 mitted by a Council and approved by the Sec5 retary in accordance with section 304(a).’’; 

6 (5) by inserting after paragraph (28), as redes7 ignated by paragraph (3), the following: 

8 ‘‘(29) The term ‘low trophic level’ means a posi9 tion in the marine food web in which the fish gen10 erally consume plankton.’’; and 

11 (6) in paragraph (35), as redesignated by para12 graph (2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

16 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(D) in the case of a forage fish, is re19 duced, pursuant to subparagraph (B), to pro20 vide for the diet needs of fish species and other 

21 marine wildlife, such as marine mammals and 

22 birds, for which forage fish is a significant part 

23 of their diet.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 

2 Section 302(g)(1)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)(1)(B)) is 

3 amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(B) Each scientific and statistical com5 mittee shall provide its Council ongoing sci6 entific advice for fishery management decisions, 

7 including recommendations for— 

8 ‘‘(i) acceptable biological catch; 

9 ‘‘(ii) preventing overfishing; 

10 ‘‘(iii) maximum sustainable yield; 

11 ‘‘(iv) achieving rebuilding targets; 

12 ‘‘(v) maintaining a sufficient abun13 dance, diversity, and localized distribution 

14 of forage fish populations to support their 

15 role in marine ecosystems; and 

16 ‘‘(vi) reports on stock status and 

17 health, bycatch, habitat status, social and 

18 economic impacts of management meas19 ures, and sustainability of fishing prac20 tices.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. COUNCIL FUNCTIONS. 

22 (a) RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—Section 302(h)(7) (16 

23 U.S.C. 1852(h)(7)) is amended, in the matter preceding 

24 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘forage fish populations 

25 and distribution,’’ after ‘‘habitats,’’. 


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1 (b) UNMANAGED FORAGE FISH.—Section 302(h) (16 

2 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘;’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para6 graph (10); and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(9) develop a list of unmanaged forage fish oc10 curring in the area under its authority and prohibit 

11 the development of any new directed forage fish fish12 ery until the Council has— 

13 ‘‘(A) considered the best scientific informa14 tion available and evaluated the potential im15 pacts of forage fish harvest on existing fish16 eries, fishing communities, and the marine eco17 system; 

18 ‘‘(B) determined whether conservation and 

19 management of the forage fish fishery is need20 ed; 

21 ‘‘(C) if a determination is made that con22 servation and management is needed, prepared 

23 and submitted to the Secretary a fishery man24 agement plan or amendment consistent with 

25 section 303; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) received final, approved regulations 

2 from the Secretary pursuant to section 

3 304(b)(3); and’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 2 years after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. CONTENTS OF FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

8 (a) FORAGE FISH MANAGEMENT.—Section 303(a) 

9 (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and;’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘;’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (15), by striking the period 

13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(16) when setting annual catch limits for for16 age fish fisheries, assess, specify, and reduce such 

17 limits by the diet needs of fish species and other ma18 rine wildlife, such as marine mammals and birds, for 

19 which forage fish is a significant part of their diet.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect 5 years after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act. 

23 SEC. 8. ACTION BY THE SECRETARY. 

24 Section 304 (16 U.S.C. 1854) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) 

2 (relating to international overfishing) as subsection 

3 (j); and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(k) FORAGE FISH MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

7 after the date of enactment of the Forage Fish Con8 servation Act, the Secretary shall establish by regu9 lation guidelines to assist the Councils in imple10 menting sections 3(19), 302(h)(9), and 303(a)(16). 

11 ‘‘(2) WORKSHOPS.—In developing the guide12 lines under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con13 duct workshops with Councils and other scientific, 

14 fisheries, and conservation interests.’’. 

15 SEC. 9. RIVER HERRING AND SHAD. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

17 (1) RIVER HERRING.—The term ‘‘river herring’’ 

18 means blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and ale19 wife (Alosa pseudoharengus). 

20 (2) SHAD.—The term ‘‘shad’’ means American 

21 shad (Alosa sapidissima) and hickory shad (Alosa 

22 mediocris). 

23 (b) AMENDMENTS OF PLANS.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

25 of Commerce shall— 


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1 (1) amend the fishery management plans for 

2 the Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, 

3 and Butterfish fisheries for the New England and 

4 Mid-Atlantic Regions to add shad and river herring 

5 as managed stocks in such plans consistent with sec6 tion 302(h)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

7 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 1852(h)(1)); 

9 (2) initiate additional fishery management plan 

10 amendments to be completed in not more than 1 

11 year from the date of the addition of the species 

12 identified in paragraph (1) in order to develop and 

13 implement all required conservation and manage14 ment measures for such stocks consistent with the 

15 Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Man16 agement Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and all other 

17 applicable law; and 

18 (3) notwithstanding any other law, rule, or fish19 ery management plan provision, including conserva20 tion and management measures under section 

21 303(a)(11) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con22 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

23 1853(a)(11)), reallocate existing resources to pro24 vide, for not less than 50 percent of all relevant fish25 ing trips, not fewer than one at-sea observer or an 


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1 on-board electronic or video means of producing 

2 equivalent at-sea monitoring information, for any 

3 vessel using mid-water trawl or paired mid-water 

4 trawl fishing gear in the Atlantic herring and Atlan5 tic mackerel fisheries. 

6 SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as— 

8 (1) extending or diminishing the jurisdiction or 

9 authority of any State within its boundaries; or 

10 (2) affecting— 

11 (A) section 306 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

12 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

13 U.S.C. 1856); or 

14 (B) the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooper15 ative Management Act (16 U.S.C. 5101 et 

16 seq.). 

Æ 


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