I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6180 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to encourage elimination of lionfish from United States waters by allowing individuals to exchange lionfish for tags authorizing fishing for certain species in addition to the number of such species otherwise authorized to be taken by such individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2021 

Mr. GAETZ 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 encourage elimination of lionfish 

from United States waters by allowing individuals to 

exchange lionfish for tags authorizing fishing for certain 

species in addition to the number of such species otherwise authorized to be taken by such individuals, 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 ‘‘Reef Assassin Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENCOURAGING ELIMINATION OF LIONFISH. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Magnuson-Stevens 

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

4 1851 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 321. ENCOURAGING ELIMINATION OF LIONFISH. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue regula8 tions under which a participating State may issue to an 

9 individual submitting lionfish taken in Federal or State 

10 waters a tag authorizing the taking of a fish of a covered 

11 species in Federal waters in addition to any other fish of 

12 that species the individual is authorized to take in Federal 

13 waters. 

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUANCE OF TAG.—The 

15 regulations shall require— 

16 ‘‘(1) the submission of 100 lionfish for each tag 

17 issued; 

18 ‘‘(2) that lionfish taken in State waters must be 

19 taken by an individual holding a valid license to en20 gage in such fishing issued under the laws of such 

21 State; and 

22 ‘‘(3) that each lionfish shall be submitted by re23 moving the tail, placing it in a resealable plastic bag, 

24 and submitting such bag to a participating State be25 fore the tail has significantly deteriorated. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NO LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF TAGS.—The 

2 regulations shall not limit the number of tags that may 

3 be issued to an individual. 

4 ‘‘(d) USE OF TAGS.—The regulations shall provide 

5 that a tag issued under the regulations— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall be valid for the 5-year period begin7 ning on the date it is issued; 

8 ‘‘(2) shall authorize only the recreational or 

9 commercial taking of a fish that complies with any 

10 size limit that otherwise applies to fishing for such 

11 fish in the waters in which it is taken; 

12 ‘‘(3) shall authorize such taking without regard 

13 to any seasonal limitation that otherwise applies to 

14 the species of fish taken; 

15 ‘‘(4) shall authorize— 

16 ‘‘(A) the transfer of tags to any other per17 son; and 

18 ‘‘(B) use of transferred tags in the same 

19 manner as such tags may be used by the person 

20 to whom the tags were issued; and 

21 ‘‘(5) shall require that any fish taken under 

22 such tag outside any seasonal limitation that other23 wise applies to such fish must have the tag fastened 

24 between the mouth and gill before being placed in 

25 any cooler. 


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1 ‘‘(e) APPROVAL OF STATE TO PARTICIPATE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) CONDITIONS.—The regulations shall re3 quire that as a condition of approving a State to 

4 issue tags under this section the Secretary shall re5 quire the State to designate a repository for lionfish 

6 submitted for such tags. 

7 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF FREEZER.—The Secretary 

8 shall provide to each participating State freezers in 

9 which to store submitted lionfish, at a cost of not 

10 more than $500 for each freezer. 

11 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) encourage participating States to use ex14 isting infrastructure and staff or volunteers to con15 duct the State’s program under this section; 

16 ‘‘(2) include on the webpage of the National 

17 Marine Fisheries Service information about the pro18 gram under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(3) encourage State and local governments to 

20 work with retailers and distributors to advance the 

21 purchasing and consumption of lionfish. 

22 ‘‘(g) OTHER PROVISIONS NOT AFFECTED.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is intended to protect species of fish 

2 that are native to waters of the United States 

3 or the exclusive economic zone; and 

4 ‘‘(B) shall not be construed to constrain 

5 any fishery, fishing quota, or fishing allocation. 

6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON CONSIDERATION OF

7 TAGS.—This section and tags issued or authorized to 

8 be issued under this section shall not be considered 

9 in any determination of fishing levels, quotas, or al10 locations. 

11 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered fish’— 

13 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

14 (B), means red snapper, gag grouper, 

15 triggerfish, and amberjack; and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include any species included 

17 in a list of endangered species or threatened 

18 species under the Endangered Species Act of 

19 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘participating State’ means a 

21 State that has applied and been approved by the 

22 Secretary to issue tags under regulations under this 

23 section.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 in the first section of such Act is amended by adding at 

3 the end of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 321. Encouraging elimination of lionfish.’’. 

4 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

5 Commerce shall issue regulations under the amendment 

6 made by subsection (a) by not later than 60 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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