I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 981 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to improve the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper fishery by providing flexibility 

for fishing managers and stability for fisherman, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 

Mr. BYRNE (for himself, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mrs. ROBY, and Mr. PALMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to improve the Gulf of Mexico Red 

Snapper fishery by providing flexibility for fishing managers and stability for fisherman, 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 ‘‘Red Snapper Regu5 latory Reform Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF CATCH LIMITS REQUIREMENT FOR 

2 GULF OF MEXICO RED SNAPPER FISHERY. 

3 Subsection (d) of section 407 of the Magnuson-Ste4 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

5 U.S.C. 1883) is repealed. 

6 SEC. 3. STATE JURISDICTION OVER FISHERIES IN THE 

7 GULF OF MEXICO. 

8 Section 306(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

9 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1856(b)) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 3(11) and subsection 

12 (a) of this section, for purposes of managing fisheries in 

13 the Gulf of Mexico, the seaward boundary of a coastal 

14 State in the Gulf of Mexico is a line 9 nautical miles sea15 ward from the baseline from which the territorial sea of 

16 the United States is measured.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. STOCK ASSESSMENTS USED FOR FISHERIES MAN18 AGED UNDER GULF OF MEXICO COUNCIL’S 

19 REEF FISH MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Magnuson-Stevens 

21 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

22 1884) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 409. STOCK ASSESSMENTS USED FOR FISHERIES 

2 MANAGED UNDER GULF OF MEXICO COUN3 CIL’S REEF FISH MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Gulf States Marine Fish5 eries Commission shall conduct all fishery stock assess6 ments used for management purposes by the Gulf of Mex7 ico Fishery Management Council for the fisheries man8 aged under the Council’s Reef Fish Management Plan. 

9 ‘‘(b) USE OF OTHER INFORMATION AND ASSETS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Such fishery assessments 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) incorporate fisheries survey informa13 tion collected by university researchers; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, use State, 

15 university, and private assets to conduct fish16 eries surveys. 

17 ‘‘(2) SURVEYS AT ARTIFICIAL REEFS.—Any 

18 such fishery stock assessment conducted after the 

19 date of the enactment of the Strengthening Fishing 

20 Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries 

21 Management Act shall incorporate fishery surveys 

22 conducted, and other relevant fisheries information 

23 collected, on and around natural and artificial reefs. 

24 ‘‘(c) CONSTITUENT AND STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPA25 TION.—Each such fishery assessment shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) emphasize constituent and stakeholder 

2 participation in the development of the assessment; 

3 ‘‘(2) contain all of the raw data used in the as4 sessment and a description of the methods used to 

5 collect that data; and 

6 ‘‘(3) employ an assessment process that is 

7 transparent and includes— 

8 ‘‘(A) both dependent and independent data 

9 collection methods; 

10 ‘‘(B) a rigorous and independent scientific 

11 review of the completed fishery stock assess12 ment; and 

13 ‘‘(C) a panel of independent experts to re14 view the data and assessment and make rec15 ommendations on the most appropriate values 

16 of critical population and management quan17 tities. 

18 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, subject to 

20 the availability of appropriations, shall provide to the 

21 Gulf of Mexico Marine Fisheries Commission appro22 priate funding for all necessary stock assessments 

23 concerning the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery. 

24 ‘‘(2) NO ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AU25 THORIZED.—This subsection shall not be construed 


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1 to increase the amount that is authorized to be ap2 propriated for any fiscal year.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION. 

4 Section 401(g)(3)(C) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fish5 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1881(g)(3)(G)) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

7 semicolon at the end of clause (iv), by striking the period 

8 at the end of clause (v) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(vi) in the case of each fishery in the 

11 Gulf of Mexico, taking into consideration 

12 all data collection activities related to fish13 ery effort that are undertaken by the ma14 rine resources division of each relevant 

15 State of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man16 agement Council.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP OF GULF OF MEXICO FISHERY MAN18 AGEMENT COUNCIL. 

19 Section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con20 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking subpara23 graph (E) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(E) GULF OF MEXICO COUNCIL.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man2 agement Council shall consist of the States 

3 of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, 

4 and Florida and shall have authority over 

5 the fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico seaward 

6 of such States (except as provided in para7 graph (3)). The Gulf Council shall have 16 

8 voting members, including— 

9 ‘‘(I) 2 members appointed by the 

10 Governor of each such State in ac11 cordance with the requirements that 

12 apply under subsection (b)(2) with re13 spect to appointments by the Sec14 retary; 

15 ‘‘(II) the principal State official 

16 of each such State with marine fishery 

17 management responsibility and exper18 tise in such State; 

19 ‘‘(III) the regional director of the 

20 National Marine Fisheries Service for 

21 the Gulf of Mexico geographic area, or 

22 the regional director’s designee; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) 1 at-large member who 

24 shall be appointed, on a rotating 

25 basis, by the Governor of a State on 


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1 the Council, except that no governor 

2 may make consecutive appointments 

3 under this subclause. 

4 ‘‘(ii) Except as provided in clauses 

5 (iii), (iv), (v), and (vi), a governor shall 

6 make appointments under this subpara7 graph in accordance with the requirements 

8 that apply under subparagraph (C) of this 

9 paragraph, paragraphs (2) and (3) of this 

10 subsection, and subsection (b) with respect 

11 to appointments by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(iii) The following provisions of sub13 section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect 

14 to appointments under this subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(I) The last sentence of sub16 paragraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(II) Subparagraphs (C) and 

18 (E), but a governor may not appoint 

19 an individual who would not be eligi20 ble to be included in a list submitted 

21 to the Secretary under those subpara22 graphs. 

23 ‘‘(iv)(I) In making appointments 

24 under this subparagraph, each Governor 

25 must consider— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) at least 1 nominee each 

2 from the commercial, recreational, 

3 and charter fishing sectors; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) at least 1 other individual 

5 who is knowledgeable regarding the 

6 conservation and management of fish7 eries resources in the jurisdiction of 

8 the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Manage9 ment Council. 

10 ‘‘(II) For purposes of clause (i) an in11 dividual who owns or operates a fish farm 

12 outside of the United States shall not be 

13 considered to be a representative of the 

14 commercial or recreational fishing sector. 

15 ‘‘(v) A governor shall notify the Sec16 retary before making each appointment 

17 under this subparagraph. The Secretary 

18 shall publish notice of such appointment by 

19 not later than 45 days before the first day 

20 on which the appointee takes office as a 

21 member of the Council. 

22 ‘‘(vi) Subsection (b)(3) shall be ap23 plied with respect to the Gulf of Mexico 

24 Fishery Management Council by sub25 stituting ‘a Governor in accordance with 


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1 subsection (a)(1)(E)’ for ‘the Secretary in 

2 accordance with paragraphs (2) and (5)’.’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

5 (A) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting 

6 ‘‘(other than the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man7 agement Council)’’ after ‘‘each Council’’; and 

8 (B) in subparagraph (C), in the first sen9 tence, by inserting ‘‘(other than the Gulf of 

10 Mexico Fishery Management Council)’’ after 

11 ‘‘each Council’’. 

Æ 


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