I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3869 

To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder based on 

geographic, scientific, and economic data and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2014 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself, Mr. GRIMM, and Mr. KING of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder 

based on geographic, scientific, and economic data 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 ‘‘Fluke Fairness Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Summer flounder is an important economic 

8 fish stock for commercial and recreational fishermen 


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1 across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United 

2 States. 

3 (2) The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva4 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) 

5 was reauthorized in 2006 and instituted annual 

6 catch limits and accountability measures for impor7 tant fish stocks. 

8 (3) That reauthorization prompted fishery man9 agers to look at alternate management schemes to 

10 rebuild depleted stocks like summer flounder. 

11 (4) Summer flounder occur in both State and 

12 Federal waters and are managed through a joint 

13 fishery management plan between the Council and 

14 the Commission. 

15 (5) The Council and the Commission decided 

16 that each State’s recreational and commercial har17 vest limits for summer flounder would be based upon 

18 landings in previous years. 

19 (6) These historical landings were based on 

20 flawed data sets that no longer provide fairness or 

21 flexibility for fisheries’ managers to allocate re22 sources based on the best science. 

23 (7) This allocation mechanism resulted in an 

24 uneven split among the States along the East Coast 

25 which is problematic. 


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1 (8) The Fishery Management Plan for summer 

2 flounder does not account for regional changes in 

3 the location of the fluke stock even though the stock 

4 has moved further to the north and changes in effort 

5 by anglers along the East Coast. 

6 (9) The States have been locked in a manage7 ment system based on data that occurred over a dec8 ade ago and the summer flounder stock is not being 

9 managed using the best available science and mod10 ern fishery management techniques. 

11 (10) It is in the interest of the Federal Govern12 ment to establish a new fishery management plan 

13 for summer flounder that is based on current geo14 graphic, scientific, and economic realities. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

18 means the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commis19 sion. 

20 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

21 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council estab22 lished under section 302(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

23 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

24 U.S.C. 1852(a)). 


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1 (3) NATIONAL STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘Na2 tional Standards’’ means the national standards for 

3 fishery conservation and management set out in sec4 tion 301(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con5 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)). 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Commerce. 

8 (5) SUMMER FLOUNDER.—The term ‘‘summer 

9 flounder’’ means the species Paralichthys dentatus. 

10 SEC. 4. SUMMER FLOUNDER MANAGEMENT REFORM. 

11 (a) FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN MODIFICATION.— 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

13 this Act, the Council shall submit to the Secretary, and 

14 the Secretary may approve, a modified fishery manage15 ment plan for the commercial and recreational manage16 ment of summer flounder under title III of the Magnuson17 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

18 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) or an amendment to such plan that— 

19 (1) shall be based on the best scientific infor20 mation available; 

21 (2) reflects changes in the distribution, abun22 dance, and location of summer flounder in estab23 lishing distribution of the commercial and rec24 reational catch quotas; 


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1 (3) considers regional, coastwide, or other man2 agement measures for summer flounder that comply 

3 with the National Standards; and 

4 (4) prohibits the allocation of commercial or 

5 recreational catch quotas for summer flounder on a 

6 State-by-State basis using historical landings data 

7 that does not reflect the status of the summer floun8 der stock, based on the most recent scientific infor9 mation. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMISSION.—In 

11 preparing the modified fishery management plan or an 

12 amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a), 

13 the Council shall consult with the Commission to ensure 

14 consistent management throughout the range of the sum15 mer flounder. 

16 (c) FAILURE TO SUBMIT PLAN.—If the Council fails 

17 to submit a modified fishery management plan or an 

18 amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a) 

19 that may be approved by the Secretary, the Secretary shall 

20 prepare and approve such a modified plan or amendment. 

21 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of the approval 

23 under section 4 of a modified fishery management plan 

24 for the commercial and recreational management of sum25 mer flounder or an amendment to such plan, the CompVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:05 Jan 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3869.IH H3869

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1 troller General of the United States shall submit to Con2 gress a report on the implementation of such modified 

3 plan or amendment that includes an assessment of wheth4 er such implementation complies with the National Stand5 ards. 

Æ 


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