II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1255 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain overfished 

fisheries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2009 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to extend the authorized time period 

for rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, 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 ‘‘Flexibility in Rebuild5 ing American Fisheries Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR REBUILDING 

2 CERTAIN OVERFISHED FISHERIES. 

3 Section 304(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

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

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

7 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘possible’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘practicable’’; and 

9 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(ii) not exceed 10 years, except in 

12 cases in which— 

13 ‘‘(I) the biology of the stock of 

14 fish, other environmental conditions, 

15 or management measures under an 

16 international agreement in which the 

17 United States participates dictate oth18 erwise; 

19 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

20 that such 10-year period should be ex21 tended because the cause of the fish22 ery decline is outside the jurisdiction 

23 of the Council or the rebuilding pro24 gram cannot be effective only by lim25 iting fishing activities; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the Secretary determines 

2 that such 10-year period should be ex3 tended to provide for the sustained 

4 participation of fishing communities 

5 or to minimize the economic impacts 

6 on such communities, provided that 

7 there is evidence that the stock of fish 

8 is on a positive rebuilding trend; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the Secretary determines 

10 that such 10-year period should be ex11 tended for one or more stocks of fish 

12 of a multi-species fishery, provided 

13 that there is evidence that those 

14 stocks are on a positive rebuilding 

15 trend; 

16 ‘‘(V) the Secretary determines 

17 that such 10-year period should be ex18 tended because of a substantial 

19 change to the biomass rebuilding tar20 get for the stock of fish concerned 

21 after the rebuilding plan has taken ef22 fect; or 

23 ‘‘(VI) the Secretary determines 

24 that such 10-year period should be ex25 tended because the biomass rebuilding 


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1 target exceeds the highest abundance 

2 of the stock of fish during the 25-year 

3 period preceding the date the rebuild4 ing plan has taken effect and there is 

5 evidence that the stock is on a positive 

6 rebuilding trend;’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 

8 subparagraph (A), by inserting after the first sen9 tence the following: ‘‘In evaluating progress to end 

10 overfishing and to rebuild overfished stocks of fish, 

11 the Secretary shall review factors, other than com12 mercial fishing and recreational fishing, that may 

13 contribute to the overfished status of a stock of fish, 

14 such as commercial, residential, and industrial devel15 opment of, or agricultural activity in, coastal areas 

16 and the impact of such development or activity on 

17 the marine environment, predator and prey relation18 ships of target and related species, and other envi19 ronmental and ecological changes to the marine con20 ditions.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(8) If the Secretary determines that extended 

23 rebuilding time is warranted under subclause (III), 

24 (IV), (V), or (VI) of paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the max25 imum time allowed for rebuilding the stock of fish 


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1 concerned may not exceed the sum of the following 

2 time periods: 

3 ‘‘(A) The initial 10-year rebuilding period. 

4 ‘‘(B) The expected time to rebuild such 

5 stock absent any fishing mortality and under 

6 prevailing environmental conditions. 

7 ‘‘(C) The mean generation time of such 

8 stock. 

9 ‘‘(9) In this subsection, the term ‘on a positive 

10 rebuilding trend’ means, with respect to a stock of 

11 fish, that the biomass of the stock of fish has shown 

12 a substantial increase in abundance since the imple13 mentation of the rebuilding plan.’’. 

Æ 


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