I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3360 

To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium 

Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Mr. WEBSTER of Florida (for himself, Mr. LIEU, Mr. POSEY, Mr. VAN DREW, 

Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MAST, Mr. STEUBE, and Mr. 

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

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of 

sharks. 

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 ‘‘Sustainable Shark 

5 Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS CER2 TIFICATION. 

3 Section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Mora4 torium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

7 after the semicolon at the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe9 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) a nation if— 

12 ‘‘(A) that nation or any individual or entity 

13 of that nation has imported shark products into 

14 the United States or seeks to import shark 

15 products into the United States; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the nation has not sought and ob17 tained, by not later than the effective date of 

18 subsection (g)(1), a certification from the Sec19 retary under that subsection that the nation 

20 has in effect a regulatory program to provide 

21 for the conservation of sharks, including meas22 ures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of 

23 a shark (including the tail) and discarding the 

24 carcass of the shark at sea, that is comparable 

25 to that of the United States.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), in paragraphs (2) and 

2 (3), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ each place it ap3 pears and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 

4 (3) in subsection (c)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub6 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’; 

7 and 

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

9 ‘‘(6) APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES.— 

10 This subsection does not apply to a nation identified 

11 under subsection (a)(3).’’; 

12 (4) in subsection (d)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or (g)’’ 

14 after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or (g)’’ 

16 after ‘‘under subsection (c)’’; and 

17 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(g) SHARK CONSERVATION AND TRADE FAIRNESS

19 CERTIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), shark products shall not be 

23 imported into the United States unless the 

24 shark products are of a species of shark that 

25 were landed in a nation to which the Secretary 


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1 has granted a certification or partial certifi2 cation for such species under paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 

4 shall not apply to shark products that are— 

5 ‘‘(i) traded, owned, held, or otherwise 

6 possessed by an employee or agent of a 

7 governmental agency for law enforcement 

8 purposes; 

9 ‘‘(ii) used for noncommercial subsist10 ence purposes in accordance with Federal, 

11 State, Tribal, or territorial law; 

12 ‘‘(iii) used solely for display, edu13 cation, conservation, or research purposes, 

14 by an accredited zoo, aquarium, museum, 

15 college, or university; or 

16 ‘‘(iv) used by any other person under 

17 a State or Federal permit to conduct non18 commercial scientific research. 

19 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS.—Pursuant to the regu20 lations promulgated under paragraphs (3) and (5), 

21 the Secretary— 

22 ‘‘(A) shall grant a certification to any na23 tion that has adopted and effectively enforces 

24 regulatory programs to provide for the con25 servation and management of sharks, and 


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1 measures to prohibit shark finning, that are 

2 comparable to those of the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may grant a partial certification for 

4 one or more specific species of shark to a na5 tion if the Secretary determines that such na6 tion— 

7 ‘‘(i) has adopted and effectively en8 forces regulatory programs that are com9 parable to the regulatory programs of the 

10 United States to provide for the conserva11 tion and management of such species im12 ported into the United States or used to 

13 produce the shark products imported into 

14 the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) has in effect an effective ban on 

16 shark finning, that is comparable to that 

17 of the United States. 

18 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION; RENEWAL.—A certification 

19 or partial certification issued under this sub20 section— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be effective for no more than 

22 three years after the date of issuance; and 

23 ‘‘(B) may be renewed in accordance with 

24 the provisions of this subsection relating to the 

25 initial issuance of the certification. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall make a determination with respect to 

3 whether to renew under paragraph (3) or revoke 

4 pursuant to paragraph (5)(A)(ii) a certification or 

5 partial certification issued under this subsection, by 

6 not later than 180 days after the submission of the 

7 application for renewal or the petition for revocation, 

8 respectively. 

9 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of the Sustain12 able Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021, 

13 the Secretary shall prescribe regulations under 

14 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, gov15 erning the submission, evaluation, revocation, 

16 and renewal of applications for certifications 

17 and partial certifications under paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS.—Such 

19 regulations shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) prescribe the content and format 

21 of applications and standards for informa22 tion to be provided in such applications; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) establish a process for petitioning 

25 the Secretary for revocation of the certifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3360.IH H3360

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1 cation or partial certification of any nation, 

2 including standards for the information re3 quired to be provided to demonstrate that 

4 the nation no longer meets the criteria es5 tablished under this paragraph for the cer6 tification. 

7 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR CERTIFICATION OR

8 PARTIAL CERTIFICATION.—The regulations pro9 mulgated under subparagraph (A) shall estab10 lish criteria for determining whether a nation 

11 has and effectively enforces regulatory pro12 grams for the conservation and management of 

13 sharks, and measures to prohibit shark finning, 

14 that are comparable to those of the United 

15 States, including, at a minimum, a requirement 

16 that such programs— 

17 ‘‘(i) be consistent with the national 

18 standards for fishery conservation and 

19 management set forth in section 301(a) of 

20 the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and 

21 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)); 

22 ‘‘(ii) provide for regularly updated 

23 management plans, scientifically estab24 lished catch limits, and bycatch assess25 ments and minimization; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) include a program to prevent 

2 overfishing and to rebuild overfished 

3 stocks; 

4 ‘‘(iv) require reporting and data col5 lection; 

6 ‘‘(v) be consistent with the Inter7 national Plan of Action for Conservation 

8 and Management of Sharks of the United 

9 Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza10 tion; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) include a mechanism to ensure 

12 that, if the nation allows landings of 

13 sharks by foreign vessels that are not sub14 ject to such programs of such nation, only 

15 shark products that comply with such pro16 grams are exported to the United States. 

17 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION; PUBLIC COMMENT.—The 

18 Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) publish in the Federal Register notice 

20 of applications, petitions, and decisions with re21 spect to certifications, renewal of certifications, 

22 or revocation of certifications under this sub23 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for public 

2 comment with respect to such applications, peti3 tions, and decisions. 

4 ‘‘(7) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—A decision of the 

5 Secretary with respect to the issuance, renewal, or 

6 revocation of a certification or partial certification 

7 under this subsection, and a failure to make a deter8 mination required under paragraph (4), shall be con9 sidered a final agency action for the purposes of 

10 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 ‘‘(8) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall 

12 take effect on the earlier of— 

13 ‘‘(A) the date on which regulations are 

14 issued under paragraph (5); or 

15 ‘‘(B) the date that is 3 years after the date 

16 of the date of the enactment of the Sustainable 

17 Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2021. 

18 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) SHARK.—The term ‘shark’ means 

20 any species of the subclass Elasmobranchii. 

21 ‘‘(B) SHARK PRODUCT.—The term ‘shark 

22 product’ means a live shark; a whole shark; the 

23 meat, skin, oil, fin (including a wing or tail), 

24 gill raker, cartilage, jaw, tooth, or liver of a 

25 shark; or any product containing meat, skin, 


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1 oil, a fin (including a wing or tail), gill raker, 

2 cartilage, jaw, tooth, or liver derived from a 

3 shark. 

4 ‘‘(C) SHARK FINNING.—The term ‘shark 

5 finning’ means the removal of a shark’s fins, in6 cluding the tail, and discarding the remaining 

7 carcass of the shark at sea.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL FISH9 ERY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 

10 Section 608(a) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing 

11 Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826i(a)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph 

14 (F), and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(F) to adopt shark conservation and man16 agement measures and measures to prevent 

17 shark finning, which are consistent with the 

18 International Plan of Action for Conservation 

19 and Management of Sharks of the Food and 

20 Agriculture Organization of the United Na21 tions;’’; and 

22 (2) by striking paragraph (3), and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(3) seeking to enter into international agree25 ment that require measures for the conservation and 


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1 management of sharks and measures to prevent 

2 shark finning, which are consistent with the Inter3 national Plan of Action for Conservation and Man4 agement of Sharks of the Food and Agriculture Or5 ganization of the United Nations; and’’. 

6 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF RAYS AND SKATES IN SEAFOOD 

7 TRACEABILITY PROGRAM. 

8 Not later than one year after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall revise 

10 section 300.324 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 

11 to include rays and skates in the species and species 

12 groups specified in subsection (a)(2) of that section. 

13 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

14 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt any 

15 Federal or State law establishing additional or more strin16 gent requirements than the requirements of subsection (g) 

17 of section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Morato18 rium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k), as added by sec19 tion 3. 

20 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary of Commerce to carry out this Act, and the amend23 ments made by this Act— 

24 (1) $325,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

25 (2) $325,000 for fiscal year 2023; 


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1 (3) $400,000 for each of fiscal years 2024, 

2 2025, and 2026; and 

3 (4) $250,000 for fiscal year 2027. 

Æ 


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