II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3672 

To support healthy fisheries in dynamic ocean conditions, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. WARREN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To support healthy fisheries in dynamic ocean conditions, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Healthy 

5 Interstate Fisheries in Transition Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIFT 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SHIFTING STOCKS. 

8 Section 805(a) of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Co9 operative Management Act (16 U.S.C. 5104(a)) is amend10 ed by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall encourage the Commission 

2 to include climate change impact data in its coastal fishery 

3 management plans or plan amendments, and when estab4 lishing or revising quota allocations between any State, 

5 Federal, or other management unit in such a plan or 

6 amendment, the Secretary shall account for, using the 

7 best scientific information available, any climate change 

8 impact on coastal fishery resources, including— 

9 ‘‘(A) any change or shifting trend in fish abun10 dance and distribution; and 

11 ‘‘(B) any potential ecological impact, including 

12 food web and habitat impacts, arising from such re13 vised quota allocations.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. ACTION BY THE SECRETARY. 

15 Section 304(f) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

16 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(f)) 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘as provided in paragraph 

20 (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in paragraph 

21 (2)’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘No jointly prepared plan’’ 

23 and all that follows through ‘‘each Council con24 cerned.’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (3); 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) At the request of a Council in accord6 ance with procedures established by the Secretary, 

7 the Secretary shall determine whether a substantial 

8 portion of a fishery extends beyond the geographical 

9 area of authority of any one Council. 

10 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines under sub11 paragraph (A) that a substantial portion of a fishery 

12 extends beyond the geographical area of authority of 

13 any one Council— 

14 ‘‘(i) the Secretary shall, not later than 6 

15 months after the date on which the request is 

16 made under subparagraph (A), notify the Coun17 cils concerned; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) each of the Councils concerned shall, 

19 not later than 1 year after the date on which 

20 the notification is made under clause (i), by a 

21 majority of the voting members, present and 

22 voting— 

23 ‘‘(I) designate one of the Councils 

24 concerned to prepare a fishery manage25 ment plan for such fishery, or any necVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jan 30, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3672.IS S3672

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1 essary amendment to such a plan, if the 

2 fishery requires conservation and manage3 ment under this Act; or 

4 ‘‘(II) agree to jointly prepare a fishery 

5 management plan for such fishery, or any 

6 necessary amendment to such a plan, if the 

7 fishery requires conservation and manage8 ment under this Act. 

9 ‘‘(C) In the case that the Councils concerned 

10 are unable to meet the requirements of subpara11 graph (B)(ii) within the time period specified in such 

12 subparagraph, or if their recommendations do not 

13 agree, the Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) designate one of the Councils con15 cerned to prepare a fishery management plan 

16 for such fishery, or any necessary amendment 

17 to such a plan, if the fishery requires conserva18 tion and management under this Act; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) require that such a plan or any nec20 essary amendment be prepared jointly by the 

21 Councils concerned, if the fishery requires con22 servation and management under this Act. 

23 ‘‘(D) Not later than 2 years after the date on 

24 which the last of the Councils concerned makes a de25 cision pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii) or the date 


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1 on which the Secretary makes a decision pursuant to 

2 subparagraph (C), and at such other times as re3 quired under this Act, the Council or Councils des4 ignated under subparagraph (B)(ii) or (C) (as appli5 cable) shall prepare and submit a fishery manage6 ment plan, or any necessary amendment to such a 

7 plan, if the fishery requires conservation and man8 agement under this Act. 

9 ‘‘(E)(i) At the request of a Council in accord10 ance with the procedures established under subpara11 graph (A), the Secretary shall determine whether a 

12 fishery described in subparagraph (B) no longer has 

13 a substantial portion that extends beyond the geo14 graphical area of authority of any one Council. 

15 ‘‘(ii) If the Secretary determines under clause 

16 (i) that a fishery no longer has a substantial portion 

17 that extends beyond the geographical area of author18 ity of any one Council— 

19 ‘‘(I) the Secretary shall determine in which 

20 Council’s geographical area of authority the 

21 fishery is predominant; and 

22 ‘‘(II) not later than 2 years after the date 

23 on which the determination under subclause (I) 

24 is made, and at such other times as required 

25 under this Act, the Council determined under 


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1 such subclause shall prepare and submit a fish2 ery management plan, or any necessary amend3 ment to such a plan, if the fishery requires con4 servation and management under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Notwithstanding subsection (h), on the 

6 date of implementation of a fishery management 

7 plan under clause (ii)(II), any preceding fishery 

8 management plan with respect to such fishery is re9 pealed. 

10 ‘‘(F) The Secretary shall, through notice and 

11 comment rulemaking, identify its criteria in deter12 mining under subparagraphs (B) and (E) whether a 

13 substantial portion of a fishery extends beyond the 

14 geographical area of authority of any one Council.’’; 

15 and 

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

17 ‘‘(4) No jointly prepared plan or amendment, as 

18 described in paragraph (1)(B), (2)(B)(ii)(II), or 

19 (2)(C)(ii) may be submitted to the Secretary unless 

20 it is approved by a majority of the voting members, 

21 present and voting, of each Council concerned. 

22 ‘‘(5) This subsection shall not apply with re23 spect to any fishery to which section 302(a)(3) ap24 plies. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be con2 strued as modifying or superseding subsection (e), 

3 section 302(h)(1), or any other provision of this 

4 Act.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. FISHERY AUTHORIZATION. 

6 Section 305(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

7 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(a)) 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘as to require 

10 notification under paragraph (3)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘under this subsection’’; 

12 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and in13 serting the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may add a new fishery or fishing 

15 gear for inclusion on the list under this subsection only 

16 after the Secretary determines that a sufficient analysis, 

17 in accordance with the guidance under paragraph (7), has 

18 been conducted by an appropriate Council, and the anal19 ysis concludes the potential new fishery or fishing gear will 

20 have minimal adverse effects (as defined in section 

21 600.810(a) of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

22 successor regulations)) on essential fish habitat, existing 

23 fisheries, fishing communities, and the marine ecosystem. 

24 ‘‘(4)(A) Not later than 18 months after the date of 

25 enactment of the Supporting Healthy Interstate Fisheries 


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1 in Transition Act, and at least once every 5 years there2 after, each Council shall review the fisheries and gear on 

3 the list under this subsection that are under its authority 

4 and submit to the Secretary proposed changes to such list, 

5 if needed, in specific and narrow terms, including geo6 graphic range. Such proposed changes may include recom7 mending new fisheries or gear or removal of fisheries or 

8 gear and shall be accompanied by information on the ef9 fects of new fisheries or gear or removal of fisheries or 

10 gear on essential fish habitat, existing fisheries, fishing 

11 communities, and the marine ecosystems, for the Sec12 retary to review under paragraph (3). 

13 ‘‘(B) As soon as practicable after receiving a pro14 posed change under subparagraph (A) to add a new fish15 ery or gear to the list under this subsection, the Secretary 

16 shall make a determination under paragraph (3). If the 

17 Secretary determines that the proposed change is con18 sistent with such paragraph, this Act, and other applicable 

19 law, the Secretary shall publish a proposed list under this 

20 subsection to include such fishery or gear, along with the 

21 appropriate Council’s analysis and the Secretary’s deter22 mination of sufficiency of the analysis consistent with 

23 paragraph (3), and provide an opportunity for public com24 ment before publishing the final, revised list. 


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1 ‘‘(C) As soon as practicable after publication of a 

2 final, revised list under this subsection in accordance with 

3 subparagraph (B), the appropriate Council shall, in ac4 cordance with section 303, prepare a fishery management 

5 plan or a plan amendment, if such fishery requires con6 servation and management under this Act, and the Sec7 retary has approved and implemented such plan or amend8 ment. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall affect the 

9 authority to operate under a permit issued under section 

10 318(d). 

11 ‘‘(D) No person or vessel may employ fishing gear 

12 or engage in fisheries that are not listed under this sub13 section without prior written notice to the Council. Upon 

14 receiving notice pursuant to the preceding sentence, the 

15 Council shall make a determination to either prohibit the 

16 person or vessel to employ the fishing gear or engage in 

17 the fishery that is not listed or make a recommendation 

18 to the Secretary to add the fishery or fishing gear for in19 clusion on the list under this subsection in accordance with 

20 the requirements under this subsection.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(7) The Secretary shall issue guidance for making 

23 a determination under paragraph (3). 

24 ‘‘(8) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the 

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1 ting process under section 318(d), the cooperative re2 search and management program under section 318, the 

3 bycatch reduction engineering program under section 316, 

4 or other research or data collection activities authorized 

5 under this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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