I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6316 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to mitigate the economic impact of the transition to sustainable fisheries 

on fishing communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. BOREN (for himself, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. 

ROSS, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. 

BROWN of South Carolina, and Ms. BORDALLO) 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 mitigate the economic impact of 

the transition to sustainable fisheries on fishing communities, 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 ‘‘Fishery Conservation 

5 Transition Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the close 

3 of fishing year 2010 (within the meaning given that term 

4 in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Man5 agement Act (16 U.S.C. 1802 et seq.)), the Secretary of 

6 Commerce shall determine, with respect to each fishery 

7 for which a fishery management plan that meets the re8 quirements of section 303(a)(15) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

9 1853(a)(15)) is in effect that contains a complete prohibi10 tion on the retention of stocks subject to overfishing with11 in the fishery for the entire fishing season, whether the 

12 prohibition is sufficient to prevent or end overfishing for 

13 the stocks, or stocks undergoing overfishing, to which it 

14 applies. 

15 (b) REMEDIAL ACTION.—If the Secretary determines 

16 that the prohibition contained in such a fishery manage17 ment plan is not sufficient to prevent or end overfishing 

18 for the stocks to which it applies, the Secretary may au19 thorize retention of fish that are not undergoing over20 fishing within that fishery, notwithstanding that discard 

21 mortality of stocks for which retention is prohibited may 

22 be inconsistent with provisions on ending or preventing 

23 overfishing, if, within 90 days after a determination by 

24 the Secretary under subsection (a), the Regional Fishery 

25 Management Council with jurisdiction over the fishery im26 plements— 


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1 (1) measures to minimize bycatch and bycatch 

2 mortality to the extent practicable; 

3 (2) an enhanced data collection requirement, 

4 such as an electronic logbook data collection system, 

5 for recreational, for-hire, and commercial fishers; 

6 (3) a program of on-board observers for char7 ter, for-hire, and commercial fishers that will mon8 itor and collect data on bycatch and bycatch mor9 tality in multispecies fisheries with prohibitions on 

10 retention on one or more species in the fisheries; and 

11 (4) in coordination with the Secretary, other 

12 measures to ensure accountability of the fishery, in13 cluding those that will substantially contribute to ad14 dressing data gaps in stock assessments. 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 shall take such action as may be necessary to ensure that, 

17 with respect to any stock subject to overfishing in a fishery 

18 to which a determination under subsection (b) applies— 

19 (1) a monitoring and research program to mon20 itor the recovery of the affected stocks of fish is im21 plemented for the fishery within 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act; 

23 (2) a stock assessment for the overfished spe24 cies within the affected stocks of fish is initiated, 

25 taking into account relevant life history of the stock, 


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1 within 6 months after the date on which the Sec2 retary makes such a determination; and 

3 (3) the Regional Fishery Management Council 

4 with jurisdiction over the affected fishery submits a 

5 report to Congress and the Secretary detailing a 

6 long-term plan for reducing discard mortality of the 

7 affected stocks of fish to which a determination 

8 under subsection (a) applies within 2 years after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act. 

10 (d) FURTHER ACTION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary 

11 determines that— 

12 (1) the Regional Fishery Management Council 

13 with jurisdiction over a fishery has complied with 

14 the requirements of subsections (b) and (c), and 

15 (2) the fishery management plan’s prohibition 

16 on the retention of stocks subject to overfishing con17 tinues to be insufficient to prevent or end over18 fishing for those stocks, 

19 the Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary 

20 to end overfishing for the stocks to which the prohibition 

21 applies before the end of fishing year 2015. 

22 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208 of the Magnuson-Ste24 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthoriza25 tion Act of 2006 (16 U.S.C. 1891b) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

2 subsection (b)(6); 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘materia.’’ in subsection (b)(7) 

4 and inserting ‘‘materia; and’’; 

5 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(8) the economic assistance program under 

8 subsection (f).’’; 

9 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

10 subsection (c)(2)(A); 

11 (5) by striking ‘‘section.’’ in subsection 

12 (c)(2)(B) and inserting ‘‘section; and’’; 

13 (6) by adding at the end of subsection (c)(2) 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(C) fees collected under permit programs 

16 for a fishery significantly affected by a prohibi17 tion on the retention of stocks to end or prevent 

18 overfishing.’’; and 

19 (7) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

20 ‘‘(f) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab22 lish an economic assistance program to assist rec23 reational and commercial fishery participants, fish24 ing industries, and fishing communities significantly 

25 affected by a prohibition on the retention of stocks 


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1 to end or prevent overfishing or rebuild overfished 

2 stocks and use amounts in the Fund to provide such 

3 assistance. 

4 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE.—In the ad5 ministration of the program, the Secretary shall de6 velop criteria for prioritizing economic assistance re7 quests, including consideration of the conservation 

8 and management history of the fishery, the sustain9 ability of conservation and management approaches, 

10 the magnitude of the economic impact of the reten11 tion prohibition, and community and social impacts. 

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary 

13 shall develop an application process to determine eli14 gibility for economic assistance under the program 

15 and shall consult with States whose recreational and 

16 commercial fishery participants, fishing industries, 

17 or fishing communities have been affected by the 

18 prohibition. Any person or community seeking as19 sistance under the program shall submit an applica20 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

21 such information and assurances as the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 ‘‘(4) STATE MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal 

24 share of assistance provided under the program to 

25 recreational and commercial fishery participants, 


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1 fishing industries, or fishing communities may not 

2 exceed 75 percent. Before granting assistance under 

3 the program, the Secretary shall consult with the 

4 State in which the recipient is located and request 

5 that the State provide matching funds. The Sec6 retary may waive, in whole or in part, the matching 

7 requirement under this paragraph.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO ACT. 

9 (a) CLARIFICATION OF EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.— 

10 Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con11 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(c)) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, an emergency is 

14 a situation that results from recent, unforeseen, or re15 cently discovered circumstances that present serious con16 servation or management problems in the fishery, includ17 ing ecological, economic, social, or public health interests. 

18 An emergency may include increasing or decreasing a 

19 catch limit, or modifying a time or area closure or reten20 tion prohibition in response to new science or stock assess21 ment information, but only if such action is needed to ad22 dress serious conservation or management problems in the 

23 fishery.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. FISHERY STUDIES AND REPORTS. 

2 (a) STATUS OF FISHERY REPORT.—Section 

3 304(e)(7) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

4 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(7)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

8 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii); and 

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

10 ‘‘(B) In the review, the Secretary shall consider— 

11 ‘‘(i) a stock assessment conducted pursuant to 

12 subsection (c); 

13 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of the local, regional, and na14 tional social and economic impacts on fishing com15 munities and industries directly and indirectly re16 lated to the fishery; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) fishery management measures to enhance 

18 the sustainability of stocks of fish that are over19 fished, and an evaluation of alternative management 

20 approaches that may be implemented to enhance 

21 such sustainability. 

22 ‘‘(C) Stock assessment updates for each stock of fish 

23 that is overfished or undergoing overfishing shall be con24 ducted at 2-year intervals, and a full stock assessment 

25 pursuant to subsection (c) shall be conducted no less fre26 quently than once every 5 years. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall include a summary of re2 views conducted under subparagraph (A) in the report re3 quired by paragraph (1) of this subsection. To the extent 

4 possible, the Secretary shall include in the report rec5 ommendations for actions that could be taken to encour6 age the sustainable management of stocks of fish listed 

7 in the Fish Stocks Sustainability Index.’’. 

8 (b) ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT MANAGEMENT MEAS9 URES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

11 shall conduct a study, in cooperation with the Na12 tional Academy of Sciences, to determine if current 

13 fishery management measures for stocks in a multi14 species fishery yield the most productive use of ma15 rine resources while effectively conserving sustain16 able populations and a healthy marine ecosystem. 

17 The study shall include— 

18 (A) the identification of the statutory and 

19 regulatory impediments to achieving the max20 imum sustainable yield from the entire fishery; 

21 (B) the identification of fishery inde22 pendent environmental stressors on the fishery; 

23 (C) the economic value derived from the 

24 yield in the fishery; and 


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1 (D) alternative fishery management meas2 ures and technologies that would result in in3 creased economic and harvest yields consistent 

4 with sound conservation. 

5 (2) REPORT.—Within 180 days after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall trans7 mit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep9 resentatives Committee on Natural Resources con10 taining the Secretary’s findings, conclusions, and 

11 recommendations. 

Æ 


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