II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3594 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2010 

Mr. NELSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES. 

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

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


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1 in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery conservation and Man2 agement Act (16 U.S.C. 1802 et seq.), the Secretary of 

3 Commerce shall determine, with respect to each fishery 

4 for which a fishery management plan that meets the re5 quirements of section 303(a)(15) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1853(a)(15)) is in effect that contains a complete prohibi7 tion on the retention of stocks subject to overfishing with8 in the fishery for the entire fishing season, whether the 

9 prohibition is sufficient to prevent or end overfishing for 

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

11 applies. 

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

13 that the prohibition contained in such a fishery manage14 ment plan is not sufficient to prevent or end overfishing 

15 for the stocks to which it applies, the Secretary may au16 thorize retention of fish that are not undergoing over17 fishing within that fishery, notwithstanding that discard 

18 mortality of stocks for which retention is prohibited may 

19 be inconsistent with provisions on ending or preventing 

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

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

22 Management Council with jurisdiction over the fishery im23 plements— 

24 (1) measures to minimize bycatch and bycatch 

25 mortality to the extent practicable; 


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1 (2) an enhanced data collection requirement, 

2 such as an electronic logbook data collection system, 

3 for recreational, for hire, and commercial fishers; 

4 (3) a program of on-board observers for char5 ter, for-hire, and commercial fishers that will mon6 itor and collect data on bycatch and bycatch mor7 tality in multispecies fisheries with prohibitions on 

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

9 (4) in coordination with the Secretary, other 

10 measures to ensure accountability of the fishery, in11 cluding those that will substantially contribute to ad12 dressing data gaps in stock assessments. 

13 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

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

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

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

17 (1) a monitoring and research program to mon18 itor the recovery of the affected stocks of fish is im19 plemented for the fishery within 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act; 

21 (2) a stock assessment for the overfished spe22 cies within the affected stocks of fish is initiated, 

23 taking into account relevant life history of the stock, 

24 within 6 months after the date on which the Sec25 retary makes such a determination; and 


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1 (3) the Regional Fishery Management Council 

2 with jurisdiction over the affected fishery submits a 

3 report to Congress and the Secretary detailing a 

4 long-term plan for reducing discard mortality of the 

5 affected stocks of fish to which a determination 

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

7 date of enactment of this Act. 

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

9 determines that— 

10 (1) the Regional Fishery Management Council 

11 with jurisdiction over a fishery has complied with 

12 the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c), and 

13 (2) the fishery management plan’s prohibition 

14 on the retention of stocks subject to overfishing con15 tinues to be insufficient to prevent or end over16 fishing for those stocks, 

17 the Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary 

18 to end overfishing for the stocks to which the prohibition 

19 applies before the end of fishery year 2015. 

20 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208 of the Magnuson-Ste22 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthoriza23 tion Act of 2006 (16 U.S.C. 1891b) is amended— 

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

25 subsection (b)(6); 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘materia; and’’; 

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

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(8) the economic assistance program under 

6 subsection (f).’’; 

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

8 subsection (c)(2)(A); 

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

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

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

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) fees collected under permit programs 

14 for a fishery significantly affected by a prohibi15 tion on the retention of stocks to end or prevent 

16 overfishing.’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(f) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish an economic assistance program to assist rec21 reational and commercial fishery participants, fish22 ing industries, and fishing communities significantly 

23 affected by a prohibition on the retention of stocks 

24 to end or prevent overfishing or rebuild overfished 


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1 stocks and use amounts in the Fund to provide such 

2 assistance. 

3 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR ASSISTANCE.—In the ad4 ministration of the program, the Secretary shall de5 velop criteria for prioritizing economic assistance re6 quests, including consideration of the conservation 

7 and management history of the fishery, the sustain8 ability of conservation and management approaches, 

9 the magnitude of the economic impact of the reten10 tion prohibition, and community and social impacts. 

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

12 shall develop an application process to determine eli13 gibility for economic assistance under the program 

14 and shall consult with States whose recreational and 

15 commercial fishery participants, fishing industries, 

16 or fishing communities have been affected by the 

17 prohibition. Any person or community seeking as18 sistance under the program shall submit an applica19 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

20 such information and assurances as the Secretary 

21 may require. 

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

23 share of assistance provided under the program to 

24 recreational and commercial fishery participants, 

25 fishing industries, or fishing communities may not 


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1 exceed 75 percent. Before granting assistance under 

2 the program, the Secretary shall consult with the 

3 State in which the recipient is located and request 

4 that the State provide matching funds. The Sec5 retary may waive, in whole or in part, the matching 

6 requirement under this paragraph.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO ACT. 

8 (a) CLARIFICATION OF EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.— 

9 Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con10 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(c)) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

13 a situation that results from recent, unforeseen, or re14 cently discovered circumstances that present serious con15 servation or management problems in the fishery, includ16 ing ecological, economic, social, or public health interests. 

17 An emergency may include increasing or decreasing a 

18 catch limit, or modifying a time or area closure or reten19 tion prohibition in response to new science or stock assess20 ment information, but only if such action is needed to ad21 dress serious conservation or management problems in the 

22 fishery.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. FISHERY STUDIES AND REPORTS. 

2 STATUS OF FISHERY REPORT.—Section 304(e) of 

3 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage4 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)) is amended— 

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

6 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

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

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

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

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

11 subsection (c); 

12 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of the local, regional, and na13 tional social and economic impacts on fishing com14 munities and industries directly and indirectly re15 lated to the fishery; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) fishery management measures to enhance 

17 the sustainability of stocks of fish that are over18 fished, and an evaluation of alternative management 

19 approaches that may be implemented to enhance 

20 such sustainability. 

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

22 that is overfished or undergoing overfishing shall be con23 ducted at 2 year intervals, and a full stock assessment 

24 pursuant to subsection (c) shall be conducted no less fre25 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 which 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. 

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary of Commerce such sums as may be necessary to 

15 carry out the provisions of this Act and the amendments 

16 made by this Act. 

Æ 


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