I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1646 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to preserve jobs and coastal communities through transparency and accountability in fishery management, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. RUNYAN 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 preserve jobs and coastal communities through transparency and accountability in fishery 

management, 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 ‘‘American Angler Pres5 ervation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING SCIENTIFIC REVIEW. 

2 Section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con3 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (g)(1)(B)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(B)’’; 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘risk neutral’’ before ‘‘sci8 entific advice’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(i) A scientific and statistical committee 

11 may not provide a recommendation to increase 

12 or decrease an annual catch limit by 20 percent 

13 or greater unless the recommendation has been 

14 approved in a peer review process conducted ex15 clusively by non-governmental entities.’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (h)(7)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 

18 at the end of subparagraph (B); and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(D) be submitted to Congress; and’’. 

21 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR REBUILDING 

22 CERTAIN OVERFISHED FISHERIES. 

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

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

25 1854(e)(4)) is amended— 

26 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)— 


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1 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘possible’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘practicable’’; and 

3 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol4 lows: 

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

6 cases where— 

7 ‘‘(I) the biology of the stock of 

8 fish, other environmental conditions, 

9 or management measures under an 

10 international agreement in which the 

11 United States participates dictate oth12 erwise; 

13 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

14 that such 10-year period should be ex15 tended because the cause of the fish16 ery decline is outside the jurisdiction 

17 of the Council or the rebuilding pro18 gram cannot be effective only by lim19 iting fishing activities; 

20 ‘‘(III) the Secretary determines 

21 that such 10-year period should be ex22 tended to provide for the sustained 

23 participation of fishing communities 

24 or to minimize the economic impacts 

25 on such communities, provided that 


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1 there is evidence that the stock of fish 

2 is on a positive rebuilding trend; 

3 ‘‘(IV) the Secretary determines 

4 that such 10-year period should be ex5 tended for one or more stocks of fish 

6 of a multi-species fishery, provided 

7 that there is evidence that those 

8 stocks are on a positive rebuilding 

9 trend; 

10 ‘‘(V) the Secretary determines 

11 that such 10-year period should be ex12 tended because of a substantial 

13 change to the biomass rebuilding tar14 get for the stock of fish concerned 

15 after the rebuilding plan has taken ef16 fect; or 

17 ‘‘(VI) the Secretary determines 

18 that such 10-year period should be ex19 tended because the biomass rebuilding 

20 target exceeds the highest abundance 

21 of the stock of fish in the 25-year pe22 riod preceding and there is evidence 

23 that the stock is on a positive rebuild24 ing trend;’’; and 


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

2 subparagraph (A), by inserting after the first sen3 tence the following: ‘‘In evaluating progress to end 

4 overfishing and to rebuild overfished stocks of fish, 

5 the Secretary shall review factors, other than com6 mercial fishing and recreational fishing, that may 

7 contribute to a stock of fish’s overfished status, such 

8 as commercial, residential, and industrial develop9 ment of, or agricultural activity in, coastal areas and 

10 their impact on the marine environment, predator/ 

11 prey relationships of target and related species, and 

12 other environmental and ecological changes to the 

13 marine conditions.’’; and 

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

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

16 rebuilding time is warranted under subclause (III), 

17 (IV), (V), or (VI) of paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the max18 imum time allowed for rebuilding the stock of fish 

19 concerned may not exceed the sum of the following 

20 time periods: 

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

22 ‘‘(B) The expected time to rebuild the 

23 stock absent any fishing mortality and under 

24 prevailing environmental conditions. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The mean generation time of the 

2 stock. 

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

4 rebuilding trend’ means that the biomass of the 

5 stock of fish has shown a substantial increase in 

6 abundance since the implementation of the rebuild7 ing plan.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. DEADLINE FOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS. 

9 Section 312(a)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

10 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 

14 (C), respectively, as clauses (i) through (iii); and 

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

16 ‘‘(B) When acting on the request of the Governor of 

17 an affected State or a fishing community, the Secretary 

18 shall make the determination not later than 60 days after 

19 the date on which the Secretary receives the request.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PRO21 GRAMS. 

22 (a) INITIATION BY ELIGIBLE FISHERMEN.—Section 

23 303A(c)(6)(D) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con24 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a(c)(6)) 

25 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(D) NEW ENGLAND, MID-ATLANTIC, 

2 SOUTH ATLANTIC, AND GULF INITIATION.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

4 fishery under the authority of the New 

5 England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, or 

6 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Coun7 cil, a fishery management plan or an 

8 amendment to a fishery management plan 

9 that would establish a limited access privi10 lege program to harvest fish may not take 

11 effect unless— 

12 ‘‘(I) a petition requesting devel13 opment of such a program is sub14 mitted in accordance with clause (ii) 

15 and certified under clause (iii); and 

16 ‘‘(II) the proposed plan or 

17 amendment has been approved by a 

18 vote of two-thirds of eligible fishermen 

19 in the fishery for which the program 

20 would be established. 

21 ‘‘(ii) PETITION.—A group of fisher22 men constituting more than 50 percent of 

23 eligible fishermen in a fishery may submit 

24 a petition to the Secretary requesting the 

25 development of a limited access privilege 


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1 program for the fishery. Any such petition 

2 shall clearly state the fishery to which the 

3 limited access privilege program would 

4 apply. 

5 ‘‘(iii) CERTIFICATION BY SEC6 RETARY.—Upon the receipt of any such 

7 petition, the Secretary shall review all of 

8 the signatures on the petition and, if the 

9 Secretary determines that the signatures 

10 on the petition are those of more than 50 

11 percent of eligible fishermen in the fishery 

12 for which the program would be estab13 lished, the Secretary shall certify the peti14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FISH16 ERMEN.—For purposes of this subpara17 graph, the term ‘eligible fishermen’ means 

18 holders of permits issued under a fishery 

19 management plan.’’. 

20 (b) TERMINATION AFTER FIVE YEARS.—Section 

21 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

22 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a) is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION.—A limited access privilege pro25 gram for a fishery under the authority of the New EngVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:42 Apr 21, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646

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1 land, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico 

2 Fishery Management Council shall terminate at the end 

3 of the five-year period beginning on the date that the pro4 gram is established unless at least two-thirds of eligible 

5 fishermen (as defined in subsection (c)(6)) in the fishery 

6 to which the program applies approve the continuation of 

7 the program.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR FISHERY CLOSURE. 

9 (a) SECRETARIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 

11 303 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

12 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853) is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR FISHERY CLO15 SURE.—(1) The Secretary may not implement a closure 

16 of a fishery that would have a direct or indirect affect of 

17 at least $50,000 on each of more than 25 small businesses 

18 that do business related to the recreational, charter, or 

19 commercial fishing industries involved in the fishery being 

20 closed, unless the Secretary certifies that— 

21 ‘‘(A) the closure is the only option avail22 able for maintaining the fishery at a sustainable 

23 level; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the stock assessment for the fishery 

2 has been updated and peer reviewed within the 

3 preceding 3-year period; and 

4 ‘‘(C) the stock assessment was developed 

5 using at least 2 models that were subjected to 

6 outside peer review by non-governmental enti7 ties prior to such use. 

8 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘small business’ 

9 means any business that has had gross revenues of less 

10 than $500,000 per year for a minimum of three years.’’. 

11 (2) APPLICATION TO EXISTING CLOSURES.— 

12 The Secretary shall— 

13 (A) review any fishery closure for which 

14 notice was published in the Federal Register 

15 within the 2-year period preceding the date of 

16 enactment of this Act, and— 

17 (i) within the 60-day period beginning 

18 on such date of enactment, make the cer19 tification described in the amendment 

20 made by subsection (a)(1) with respect to 

21 such closure; or 

22 (ii) within the 90-day period begin23 ning on such date of enactment, review 

24 and implement options other than closure 


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1 for maintaining the fishery at a sustainable 

2 level; 

3 (B) review the effects of each such closure 

4 on coastal communities, including— 

5 (i) the direct and indirect impact of 

6 the closure on all affected small businesses 

7 in such communities; 

8 (ii) the job losses as a result of the 

9 closure that have already occurred in such 

10 communities; and 

11 (iii) the job losses as a result of the 

12 closure that are expected to occur in such 

13 communities within the 1-year period be14 ginning on the date the review is initiated; 

15 and 

16 (C) report to Congress on the actions 

17 taken under the amendment made by sub18 section (a)(1) or this paragraph for each such 

19 closure. 

20 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall re21 port to Congress by not later than 120 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act on— 

23 (1) the number of fishery closures that were es24 tablished within the 5-year period preceding such 

25 date of enactment; 


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1 (2) the reason for each such closure; 

2 (3) the duration of each such closure; 

3 (4) the impact of each such closure on coastal 

4 communities; and 

5 (5) the expected duration of each such closure. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) FISHERY.—The term ‘‘fishery’’ has the 

8 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Magnu9 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 1802). 

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Na13 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

14 (3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi15 ness’’ means any business that has had gross reve16 nues of less than $500,000 per year for a minimum 

17 of three years. 

Æ 


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