IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5126 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To require individuals fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain 

descending devices, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Direct Enhancement 

3 of Snapper Conservation and the Economy through Novel 

4 Devices Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘DESCEND Act of 2020’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that commercial and rec7 reational fishermen (which, for the purpose of this Act 

8 shall include charter fishing) for Gulf reef fish are ex9 pected to use a venting tool or a descending device re10 quired for possession under section 3 when releasing fish 

11 that are exhibiting signs of barotrauma. The Secretary of 

12 Commerce (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), 

13 in coordination with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Manage14 ment Council, should develop and disseminate to fisher15 men education and outreach materials related to proper 

16 use of venting tools and descending devices, and strongly 

17 encourage their use by commercial and recreational fisher18 men when releasing fish that are exhibiting signs of 

19 barotrauma. 

20 SEC. 3. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DEVICES. 

21 (a) REQUIRED GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISH22 ERY.—Title III of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con23 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DE2 VICES. 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIRE GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISH4 ERY.—It shall be unlawful for a person on board a com5 mercial or recreational vessel to fish for Gulf reef fish in 

6 the Gulf of Mexico Exclusive Economic Zone without pos7 sessing on board the vessel a venting tool or a descending 

8 device that is rigged and ready for use while fishing is 

9 occurring. 

10 ‘‘(b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—No provision of this section 

11 shall be interpreted to affect any program or activity car12 ried out by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council 

13 established by the Resources and Ecosystems Sustain14 ability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of 

15 the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (33 U.S.C. 1321 note), 

16 or any project contained in an approved Restoration Plan 

17 developed by any Natural Resources Damage Assessment 

18 Trustee Implementation Group to reduce post-release 

19 mortality from barotrauma in Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish 

20 Recreational Fisheries. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) DESCENDING DEVICE.—The term ‘de23 scending device’ means an instrument that— 

24 ‘‘(A) will release fish at a depth sufficient 

25 for the fish to be able to recover from the ef26 fects of barotrauma; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is a weighted hook, lip clamp, or box 

2 that will hold the fish while it is lowered to 

3 depth, or another device determined to be ap4 propriate by the Secretary; and 

5 ‘‘(C) is capable of— 

6 ‘‘(i) releasing the fish automatically; 

7 ‘‘(ii) releasing the fish by actions of 

8 the operator of the device; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) allowing the fish to escape on its 

10 own. 

11 ‘‘(2) VENTING TOOL.—The term ‘venting tool’ 

12 has the meaning given to it by the Gulf of Mexico 

13 Fishery Management Council. 

14 ‘‘(3) GULF REEF FISH.—The term ‘Gulf reef 

15 fish’ means any fish chosen by the Gulf of Mexico 

16 Fishery Management Council that is in the reef 

17 Fishery Management Plan for the purposes of this 

18 Act.’’. 

19 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 308(a) of the Mag20 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

21 (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or section 

22 321’’ after ‘‘section 307’’. 

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

24 this Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act. 


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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Title III of the 

2 table of contents of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con3 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) 

4 is amended by striking the item relating to section 305 

5 and all that follows through the end of the items relating 

6 to such title and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 305. Other requirements and authority. 

‘‘Sec. 306. State jurisdiction. 

‘‘Sec. 307. Prohibited acts. 

‘‘Sec. 308. Civil penalties and permit sanctions. 

‘‘Sec. 309. Criminal offenses. 

‘‘Sec. 310. Civil forfeitures. 

‘‘Sec. 311. Enforcement. 

‘‘Sec. 312. Transition to sustainable fisheries. 

‘‘Sec. 313. North Pacific fisheries conservation. 

‘‘Sec. 314. Northwest Atlantic Ocean fisheries reinvestment program. 

‘‘Sec. 315. Regional Coastal Disaster Assistance, Transition, and Recovery Program. 

‘‘Sec. 316. Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. 

‘‘Sec. 317. Shark Feeding. 

‘‘Sec. 318. Cooperative Research and Management Program. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Herring Study. 

‘‘Sec. 320. Restoration Study. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Required possession of descending devices.’’. 

7 (e) SUNSET.—Five years after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con9 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) in the table of contents, by striking the item 

12 relating to section 321; 

13 (2) in section 308(a), by striking ‘‘or section 

14 321’’; and 

15 (3) by striking section 321. 


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1 SEC. 4. IMPROVING DISCARD MORTALITY DATA. 

2 (a) AGREEMENT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter 

4 into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences 

5 to conduct a study and produce a report on discard mor6 tality in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fisheries. The study 

7 shall include— 

8 (1) assessment of gaps and biases in reporting 

9 of discards and associated discard mortality; 

10 (2) assessment of uncertainty and likely im11 pacts of such uncertainty in discard mortality; 

12 (3) assessment of the effectiveness and usage 

13 rates of barotrauma-reducing devices; 

14 (4) recommendations for future research prior15 ities; and 

16 (5) recommendations for standardized reporting 

17 and quantification of discards in the same metric as 

18 landings for fisheries under the Gulf of Mexico Reef 

19 Fish Fishery Management Plan. 

20 (b) DEADLINES.—Not later than 2 years after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the National Academy 

22 of Sciences shall complete the study required under sub23 section (a) and transmit the final report to the Secretary. 

24 Not later than 3 months after receiving the study and re25 port in accordance with this subsection, the Secretary 

26 shall submit the study and report to the Committee on 


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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

2 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep3 resentatives. 

4 (c) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the Secretary 

5 receives the study and report required under subsection 

6 (a), Secretary and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Manage7 ment Council shall develop— 

8 (1) guidance for minimum standards for quan9 tifying and reporting discards and associated mor10 tality in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Man11 agement Plan; and 

12 (2) a plan to assess and monitor the effective13 ness and usage of barotrauma-reducing devices and 

14 the impact on discard mortality rates in Gulf of 

15 Mexico reef fish fisheries. 

16 (d) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

17 after developing minimum standards and developing the 

18 assessment and monitoring plan under subsection (c), the 

19 Secretary shall provide a detailed report on implementa20 tion to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans21 portation of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re22 sources of the House of Representatives. 

23 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

24 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

25 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 


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1 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

2 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

3 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

4 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro5 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

6 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 1, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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