II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1309

To provide for the conservation and management of Weakfish, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 29 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

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

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for the conservation and management of

Weakfish, 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 ‘‘Weakfish Conservation

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVED COOPERATIVE FISHERY MANAGEMENT

7 PROGRAM FOR WEAKFISH.

8 (a) SHORT TITLE.—Section 1 of the Atlantic Striped

9 Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 note) is amended

10 by inserting ‘‘and Weakfish’’ after ‘‘Bass’’.
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1 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 2 of the At2 lantic Striped Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851

3 note) is amended—

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘and weakfish’’ after ‘‘bass’’

5 each place it appears;

6 (2) in paragraph (3)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘range of the Atlantic

8 striped bass,’’ and inserting ‘‘range of either

9 Atlantic striped bass or weakfish’’, and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘the species’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘these species’’; and

12 (3) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘this species’’

13 and inserting ‘‘these species’’.

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Atlantic Striped

15 Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 note) is amend16 ed—

17 (1) in paragraph (4) by striking subparagraph

18 (A) and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(A)(i) for purposes of section 4, Penn20 sylvania and each State of the United States

21 bordering on the Atlantic Ocean north of the

22 State of South Carolina; or

23 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of section 8, Pennsylva24 nia and each State bordering on the Atlantic

25 Ocean.’’;
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1 (2) in paragraph (6) by inserting ‘‘or weakfish’’

2 after ‘‘bass’’ each place it appears;

3 (3) in paragraph (7) by inserting ‘‘for Atlantic

4 striped bass’’ after ‘‘fishing’’; and

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

6 ‘‘(10) The term ‘weakfish’ means members of a

7 stock or population of the species Cynoscion regalis,

8 commonly referred to as ‘seatrout’.

9 ‘‘(11) The term ‘Weakfish Plan’ means the

10 Interstate Fisheries Management Plan for Weakfish,

11 dated October 1985, prepared by the Commission,

12 and all amendments thereto related to fishing for

13 weakfish that are formally adopted as an amend14 ment to the Weakfish Plan of October 1985.’’.

15 (d) CLARIFICATION OF EXISTING COMMISSION

16 FUNCTIONS.—Section 4 of the Atlantic Striped Bass Con17 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 note) is amended—

18 (1) by striking the heading for the section and

19 inserting the following:

20 ‘‘SEC. 4. ATLANTIC STRIPED BASS CONSERVATION.’’;

21 (2) in the heading for subsection (a) by insert22 ing ‘‘OF STRIPED BASS PLAN’’ after ‘‘ENFORCE23 MENT’’.

24 (e) IMPROVED COOPERATION AMONG COASTAL

25 STATES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF WEAKFISH.—Section
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1 8 of the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act (16

2 U.S.C. 1851 note) is amended to read as follows:

3 ‘‘SEC. 8. WEAKFISH CONSERVATION.

4 ‘‘(a) MONITORING OF IMPLEMENTATION AND EN5 FORCEMENT OF WEAKFISH PLAN.—

6 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

7 AND ENFORCEMENT.—By January 1, 1994, and an8 nually thereafter, and at any other time that the

9 Commission considers it necessary, the Commission

10 shall determine whether—

11 ‘‘(A) each coastal State has adopted all

12 regulatory measures necessary to fully imple13 ment the Weakfish Plan in its coastal waters;

14 and

15 ‘‘(B) the enforcement of the Weakfish Plan

16 by each such coastal State is satisfactory.

17 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—If a fishery management

18 plan for weakfish is in effect under title III of the

19 Magnuson Act, the Commission shall consult with

20 the regional fishery management councils which pre21 pared such plan in making a determination under

22 paragraph (1)(A).

23 ‘‘(3) SATISFACTORY ENFORCEMENT.—Enforce24 ment by a coastal State shall not be considered sat25 isfactory by the Commission for purposes of para-
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1 graph (1)(B) if the Commission determines that the

2 enforcement is being carried out in such a manner

3 that the implementation of the Weakfish Plan within

4 the coastal waters of that coastal State is being, or

5 will likely be, substantially or adversely affected.

6 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION OF SECRETARY.—The Com7 mission shall immediately notify the Secretaries of

8 each negative determination made by it under para9 graph (1).

10 ‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL ACTION AFTER NOTIFICATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 30 days after notifi12 cation from the Commission under subsection (a)(4)

13 that a coastal State has not taken the action de14 scribed in paragraph (1) of that subsection, the Sec15 retaries—

16 ‘‘(A) shall determine jointly whether the

17 coastal State is in compliance with the

18 Weakfish Plan; and

19 ‘‘(B) declare jointly a moratorium on fish20 ing for weakfish in the coastal waters of the

21 coastal State, if they determine that the State

22 is not in compliance with the Weakfish Plan.

23 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making determina24 tions under paragraph (1)(A) for a coastal State,
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1 the Secretaries shall carefully consider and review

2 the comments of—

3 ‘‘(A) the Commission;

4 ‘‘(B) the appropriate regional fishery man5 agement councils under the Magnuson Act; and

6 ‘‘(C) the coastal State.’’.

7 (f) MORATORIUM.—Section 5 of the Atlantic Striped

8 Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 note) is amend9 ed—

10 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘or section

11 8(b)’’ after ‘‘(4)(b)’’; and

12 (2) in subsection (a)(2)—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘a’’ before ‘‘moratorium’’

14 the second place it appears; and

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘or section 8(b)’’ after

16 ‘‘4(b)’’;

17 (3) in subsection (b)(1)—

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘for the fishery resource

19 that is subject to the moratorium’’ after ‘‘fish20 ing’’; and

21 (B) by striking ‘‘the’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)’’;

22 (4) in subsection (b)(2) by inserting ‘‘or

23 weakfish’’ after ‘‘bass’’;

24 (5) in subsection (b)(3)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘or weakfish’’ after

2 ‘‘bass’’; and

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘or section 8(b), respec4 tively,’’ after ‘‘4(b)’’;

5 (6) in subsection (b)(4)—

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘or Weakfish’’ after

7 ‘‘bass’’ each place it appears; and

8 (B) by striking ‘‘the’’ the second place it

9 appears and inserting ‘‘(a)’’;

10 (7) in subsection (d)(2) by inserting a close pa11 renthesis after ‘‘1806(c)–(e)’’;

12 (8) in subsection (e)(1)—

13 (A) by inserting after ‘‘(1)’’ the following:

14 ‘‘IN GENERAL.—’’;

15 (B) by moving paragraph (1) down so as

16 to begin on the line below the heading for sub17 section (e);

18 (C) by moving paragraph (1) 2 ems to the

19 right, so that the left margin of the paragraph

20 is aligned with the left margins of paragraphs

21 (2) and (3); and

22 (D) by inserting ‘‘or section 8(b)’’ after

23 ‘‘4(b)’’; and

24 (9) in subsection (e)(2) by inserting ‘‘or section

25 8(b)’’ after ‘‘4(b)’’.
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1 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Atlantic

2 Striped Bass Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 note) is

3 amended by striking ‘‘Plan’’ each place it appears and in4 serting ‘‘Striped Bass Plan’’.

5 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Notwithstanding section 9 of

6 the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, section 8 of

7 such Act, as amended by this Act, shall take effect on the

8 date of the enactment of this Act.

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