Fluke Fairness Act of 2019

To provide for an equitable management of summer flounder based on geographic, scientific, and economic data and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fluke Fairness Act of 2019 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Summer flounder is an important economic fish stock for commercial and recreational fishermen across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States. (2) The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1801 (3) That reauthorization prompted fishery managers to look at alternate management schemes to rebuild depleted stocks like summer flounder. (4) Summer flounder occur in both State and Federal waters and are managed through a joint fishery management plan between the Council and the Commission. (5) The Council and the Commission decided that each State’s recreational and commercial harvest limits for summer flounder would be based upon landings in previous years. (6) These historical landings were based on flawed data sets that no longer provide fairness or flexibility for fisheries managers to allocate resources based on the best science. (7) This allocation mechanism resulted in an uneven split among the States along the East Coast which is problematic. (8) The fishery management plan for summer flounder does not account for regional changes in the location of the fluke stock even though the stock has moved further to the north and changes in effort by anglers along the East Coast. (9) The States have been locked in a management system based on data collected from 1981 to 1989, thus, the summer flounder stock is not being managed using the best available science and modern fishery management techniques. (10) It is in the interest of the Federal Government to establish a new fishery management plan for summer flounder that is based on current geographic, scientific, and economic realities. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Commission The term Commission (2) Council The term Council 16 U.S.C. 1852(a) (3) National standards The term National Standards 16 U.S.C. 1851(a) (4) Secretary The term Secretary (5) Summer flounder The term summer flounder 4. Summer flounder management reform (a) Fishery management plan modification Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Council shall submit to the Secretary, and the Secretary may approve, a modified fishery management plan for the commercial management of summer flounder under title III of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1851 (1) shall be based on the best scientific information available; (2) establishes commercial quotas in direct proportion to the distribution, abundance, and location of summer flounder as reflected by fishery independent surveys conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service and State agencies; (3) considers regional, coastwide, or other management measures for summer flounder that comply with the National Standards; and (4) prohibits the establishment of commercial catch quotas for summer flounder on a State-by-State basis using historical landings data that does not reflect the status of the summer flounder stock, based on the most recent scientific information. (b) Consultation with the commission In preparing the modified fishery management plan or an amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a), the Council shall consult with the Commission to ensure consistent management throughout the range of the summer flounder. (c) Failure To submit plan If the Council fails to submit a modified fishery management plan or an amendment to such a plan as described in subsection (a) that may be approved by the Secretary, the Secretary shall prepare and consider such a modified plan or amendment. 5. Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the approval under section 4 of a modified fishery management plan for the commercial management of summer flounder or an amendment to such plan, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of such modified plan or amendment that includes an assessment of whether such implementation complies with the National Standards.

Summary: Fluke Fairness Act of 2019 This bill directs the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to submit for approval by the Department of Commerce a modified fishery management plan for the commercial and recreational management of summer flounder, or an amendment to the plan, that is based on the best scientific information available; establishes commercial quotas in direct proportion to the distribution, abundance, and location of summer flounder as reflected by fishery independent surveys conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service and state agencies; considers regional, coastwide, or other management measures that comply with national standards under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and prohibits the establishment of commercial catch quotas on a state-by-state basis using historical landings data that does not reflect the status of the summer flounder stock, based on the most recent scientific information. Commerce must prepare and consider a plan if the council fails to submit the modifications or amendments. The Government Accountability Office must assess and report on whether the subsequent implementation of the approved plan or amendment complies with national standards.