IB
Union Calendar No. 82
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 39
[Report No. 104–171]
To amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to
improve fisheries management.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
JUNE 30, 1995
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 1995]
A BILL
To amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act to improve fisheries management.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fishery Conservation
and Management Amendments of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF THE MAGNUSON FISHERY CON-
SERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of
an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
SEC. 3. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND POLICY.
(a) FINDINGS.—Section 2(a) (16 U.S.C. 1801(a)) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and (B)’’ and inserting
‘‘(B)’’; and
(B) by inserting before the period at the end
the following: ‘‘, and (C) losses of essential fish-
ery habitat can diminish the ability of stocks of
fish to survive’’;
(2) in paragraph (6) by inserting after ‘‘to in-
sure conservation,’’ the following: ‘‘to provide long-
term conservation of essential fishery habitat,’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(9) Continuing loss of essential fishery habitat
poses a long-term threat to the viability of commercial
and recreational fisheries of the United States. To
conserve and manage the fishery resources of the
United States, increased attention must be given to
the protection of this habitat.’’.
(b) PURPOSES.—Section 2(b) (16 U.S.C. 1801(b)) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the
end of paragraph (5);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (6) and inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(7) to promote the conservation of essential fish-
ery habitat in the review of projects that affect essen-
tial fishery habitat; and
‘‘(8) to ensure that conservation and manage-
ment decisions with respect to the Nation’s fishery re-
sources are made in a fair and equitable manner.’’.
(c) POLICY.—Section 2(c)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1801(c)(3)) is
amended by inserting after ‘‘practical measures that’’ the
following: ‘‘minimize bycatch and’’.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
(a) EXECUTION OF PRIOR AMENDMENTS TO DEFINI-
TIONS.—Notwithstanding section 308 of the Act entitled
‘‘An Act to provide for the designation of the Flower Garden
Banks National Marine Sanctuary’’, approved March 9,
1992 (Public Law 102–251; 106 Stat. 66), section 301(b)
of that Act (adding a definition of the term ‘‘special areas’’)
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) NEW AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802)
is amended—
(1) in paragraph (4)—
(A) by striking ‘‘COLENTERATA’’ from the
heading of the list of corals and inserting
‘‘CNIDARIA’’; and
(B) in the list appearing under the heading
‘‘CRUSTACEA’’, 
by 
striking 
‘‘Deep-sea 
Red
Crab—Geryon 
quinquedens’’ 
and 
inserting
‘‘Deep-sea Red Crab—Chaceon quinquedens’’;
(2) in paragraph (16) by striking ‘‘of one and
one-half miles’’ and inserting ‘‘of two and one-half
kilometers’’;
(3) in paragraph (17) by striking ‘‘Pacific Ma-
rine Fisheries Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Pacific
States Marine Fisheries Commission’’;
(4) by amending paragraph (21) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(21) The term ‘optimum’, with respect to yield
from a fishery, means the amount of fish—
‘‘(A) which will provide the greatest overall
benefit to the Nation, with particular reference to
food production and recreational opportunities;
and
‘‘(B)(i) which, subject to clause (ii), is pre-
scribed as such on the basis of the maximum sus-
tainable yield from such fishery, as modified by
any relevant economic, social, or ecological fac-
tor; or
‘‘(ii) which, in the case of a fishery which
has been classified by the Secretary as overfished,
is prescribed as such on the basis of the maxi-
mum sustainable yield as reduced to allow for
the rebuilding of the fishery to a level consistent
with producing maximum sustainable yield on a
continuing basis.’’;
(5) in paragraph (31) (as redesignated by the
amendments made effective by subsection (a) of this
section) by striking ‘‘for which a fishery management
plan prepared under title III or a preliminary fish-
ery management plan prepared under section 201(h)
has been implemented’’ and inserting ‘‘regulated
under this Act’’; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(34) The term ‘bycatch’ means fish which are
harvested by a fishing vessel, but which are not sold
or kept for personal use, including economic discards
and regulatory discards.
‘‘(35) The term ‘economic discards’ means fish
which are the target of a fishery, but which are not
retained by the fishing vessel which harvested them
because they are of an undesirable size, sex, or qual-
ity, or for other economic reasons.
‘‘(36) The term ‘regulatory discards’ means fish
caught in a fishery which fishermen are required by
regulation to discard whenever caught, or are re-
quired by regulation to retain but not sell.
‘‘(37) The term ‘essential fishery habitat’ means
those waters necessary to fish for spawning, breeding,
or growth to maturity.
‘‘(38) The term ‘overfishing’ means a level or
rate of fishing mortality that jeopardizes the ability
of a stock of fish to produce maximum sustainable
yield on a continuing basis.
‘‘(39) The term ‘rebuilding program’ means those
conservation and management measures necessary to
restore the ability of a stock of fish to produce maxi-
mum sustainable yield on a continuing basis.
‘‘(40) The term ‘total allowable catch’ means the
total amount of fish in a fishery that may be har-
vested in a fishing season, as established in accord-