I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3061 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain overfished 

fisheries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011 

Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. ANDREWS, and Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts) 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 extend the authorized time period 

for rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, 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 ‘‘Flexibility and Access 

5 in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2011’’. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3061 IH

1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR REBUILDING 

2 CERTAIN OVERFISHED FISHERIES. 

3 Section 304(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

4 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 1854(e)(4)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

7 (A) in clause (I) by striking ‘‘possible’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘practicable’’; and 

9 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(ii) not exceed 10 years, except in 

12 cases where— 

13 ‘‘(I) the biology of the stock of 

14 fish, other environmental conditions, 

15 or management measures under an 

16 international agreement in which the 

17 United States participates dictate oth18 erwise; 

19 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

20 that such 10-year period should be ex21 tended because the cause of the fish22 ery decline is outside the jurisdiction 

23 of the Council or the rebuilding pro24 gram cannot be effective only by lim25 iting fishing activities; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(III) the Secretary determines 

2 that such 10-year period should be ex3 tended to provide for the sustained 

4 participation of fishing communities 

5 or to minimize the economic impacts 

6 on such communities, provided that 

7 there is evidence that the stock of fish 

8 is on a positive rebuilding trend; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the Secretary determines 

10 that such 10-year period should be ex11 tended for one or more stocks of fish 

12 of a multi-species fishery, provided 

13 that there is evidence that those 

14 stocks are on a positive rebuilding 

15 trend; 

16 ‘‘(V) the Secretary determines 

17 that such 10-year period should be ex18 tended because of a substantial 

19 change to the biomass rebuilding tar20 get for the stock of fish concerned 

21 after the rebuilding plan has taken ef22 fect; or 

23 ‘‘(VI) the Secretary determines 

24 that such 10-year period should be ex25 tended because the biomass rebuilding 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3061 IH

1 target exceeds the highest abundance 

2 of the stock of fish in the 25-year pe3 riod preceding and there is evidence 

4 that the stock is on a positive rebuild5 ing trend;’’; or 

6 (2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 

7 subparagraph (A), by inserting after the first sen8 tence the following: ‘‘In evaluating progress to end 

9 overfishing and to rebuild overfished stocks of fish, 

10 the Secretary shall review factors, other than com11 mercial fishing and recreational fishing, that may 

12 contribute to a stock’s overfished status, such as 

13 commercial, residential, and industrial development 

14 of, or agricultural activity in, coastal areas and their 

15 impact on the marine environment, predator-prey re16 lationships of target and related species, and other 

17 environmental and ecological changes to the marine 

18 conditions.’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(8) If the Secretary determines that extended 

21 rebuilding time is warranted under subclause (III), 

22 (IV), (V), or (VI) of paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the max23 imum time allowed for rebuilding the stock of fish 

24 concerned may not exceed the sum of the following 

25 time periods: 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(A) The initial 10-year rebuilding period. 

2 ‘‘(B) The expected time to rebuild the 

3 stock absent any fishing mortality and under 

4 prevailing environmental conditions. 

5 ‘‘(C) The mean generation time of the 

6 stock. 

7 ‘‘(9) In this subsection the term ‘on a positive 

8 rebuilding trend’ means that the biomass of the 

9 stock of fish has shown a substantial increase in 

10 abundance since the implementation of the rebuild11 ing plan.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. COMMITTEE REPORTS. 

13 (a) REPORT ON SCIENTIFIC AND STATISTICAL COM14 MITTEE PROCESS.—Section 302(g)(1)(B) of the Magnu15 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

16 (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)(1)(B)) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘(B) Each’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) Each’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(ii) Each scientific and statistical committee 

21 shall submit to its Council each year a report on the 

22 process and information used in providing the sci23 entific advice described in clause (i). The report 

24 shall include— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(I) an evaluation of the quality and quan2 tity of the available scientific and biological in3 formation relating to such advice; 

4 ‘‘(II) a description of the quality of each 

5 stock assessment used to develop the commit6 tee’s recommendations; 

7 ‘‘(III) a description of the information 

8 used to develop the committee’s recommenda9 tions for acceptable biological catch; 

10 ‘‘(IV) a description of any uncertainty con11 sidered and incorporated into the committee’s 

12 recommendations; 

13 ‘‘(V) a justification of any variation be14 tween maximum sustainable yield and the com15 mittee’s recommendations for allowable biologi16 cal catch; 

17 ‘‘(VI) a description of the social and eco18 nomic impacts of the committee’s recommended 

19 management measures and whether such meas20 ures are consistent with the national standard 

21 set forth in section 301(a)(8); and 

22 ‘‘(VII) recommendations for— 

23 ‘‘(aa) decreasing the level of uncer24 tainty in the committee’s recommenda25 tions; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(bb) improving the quality and quan2 tity of available scientific and biological in3 formation; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) ensuring current and future con5 sistency between management measures 

6 and the national standard set forth in sec7 tion 301(a)(8).’’. 

8 (b) PUBLICATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS.—Sec9 tion 302(g)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con10 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)(1)) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(H) Each Council shall submit to the Sec13 retary and shall make available to the public any re14 ports or other information provided by its scientific 

15 and statistical committee.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS. 

17 (a) CONSIDERATION OF DATA ON RECREATIONAL

18 FISHERMEN.—Section 303(a)(15) of the Magnuson-Ste19 vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

20 U.S.C. 1853(a)(15)) is amended by striking ‘‘specifica21 tions, at a level’’ and all that follows through ‘‘account22 ability.’’ and inserting ‘‘specifications, that—’’ 

23 ‘‘(A) results in specification of such limits 

24 at a level such that overfishing does not occur 

25 in the fishery; 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(B) requires the Council to consider any 

2 data collected pursuant to section 401(g) in de3 termining such limits; and 

4 ‘‘(C) includes measures to ensure account5 ability.’’. 

6 (b) AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND ANNUAL CATCH LIM7 ITS.—Section 304 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con8 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(j) AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND ANNUAL CATCH LIM11 ITS.—The Secretary may suspend the application of an12 nual catch limits to a fishery for any period in which the 

13 Secretary determines that— 

14 ‘‘(1) the fishery is not overfished or approach15 ing a condition of being overfished; 

16 ‘‘(2) any stock of fish in the fishery previously 

17 affected by overfishing is rebuilt; and 

18 ‘‘(3) the scientific advice relating to such an19 nual catch limits provided by the scientific and sta20 tistical committee of the Council with jurisdiction 

21 over the fishery is based on a level of uncertainty 

22 that is insufficient to ensure that the fishery man23 agement plan for the fishery is consistent with the 

24 national standard set forth in section 301(a)(8).’’. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3061 IH

1 SEC. 5. FISHERY IMPACT STATEMENTS; ANNUAL IMPACT 

2 STATEMENTS. 

3 (a) IMPACT ON COASTAL BUSINESSES.—Section 

4 303(a)(9) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

5 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)(9)) is amended 

6 by— 

7 (1) redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 

8 subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and 

9 (2) inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(B) coastal businesses that are dependent 

12 on the recreational and commercial fishing in13 dustries;’’. 

14 (b) ANNUAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(h) of the Mag16 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage17 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (7)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

19 after the semicolon at the end; 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 

21 paragraph (9); and 

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(8) on an annual basis, prepare, in consulta25 tion with the Council’s fishing industry advisory 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3061 IH

1 committee, and submit to the Secretary an annual 

2 impact statement that contains— 

3 ‘‘(A) a description of whether each fishery 

4 management plan under the jurisdiction of the 

5 Council is having or is projected to have any 

6 adverse economic impact on recreational and 

7 commercial fishermen and other coastal busi8 nesses that are dependent on the fishery; and 

9 ‘‘(B) an estimate of the dollar amount of 

10 any such impact; and’’. 

11 (2) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Section 304 of 

12 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

13 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854), as amended by 

14 section 3(b), is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(k) MITIGATION OF ADVERSE IMPACT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take 

18 such actions as may be necessary to mitigate any 

19 adverse impacts identified in the annual impact 

20 statement submitted under section 302(h)(8). 

21 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

22 shall submit to Congress each year a report that in23 cludes— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 3061 IH

1 ‘‘(A) a description of the effects of any 

2 mitigation efforts implemented under this sub3 section during the previous year; and 

4 ‘‘(B) recommendations for the improve5 ment of Federal fisheries programs to promote 

6 sustainable fisheries and economic vitality in 

7 recreational and commercial fishermen and 

8 other coastal businesses that are dependent on 

9 the fishery.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. STUDY ON RECREATIONAL FISHERIES DATA. 

11 Section 401(g) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

12 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881(g)) 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) STUDY ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

16 days after the enactment of this paragraph, the 

17 Secretary shall enter into an agreement with 

18 the National Research Council of the National 

19 Academy of Sciences to study the implementa20 tion of the programs described in this section. 

21 The study shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) provide an updated assessment of 

23 recreational survey methods established or 

24 improved since the publication of the 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 3061 IH

1 Council’s report Review of Recreational 

2 Fisheries Survey Methods (2006); 

3 ‘‘(ii) evaluate the extent to which the 

4 recommendations made in that report were 

5 implemented pursuant to paragraph 

6 (3)(B); and 

7 ‘‘(iii) examine any limitations of the 

8 Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics 

9 Survey and the Marine Recreational Infor10 mation Program established under para11 graph (1). 

12 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after entering into an agreement under sub14 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall submit a re15 port to Congress on the results of the study 

16 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS