I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4634 
To limit the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to implement certain 
fishery closures unless the Secretary certifies that closure is the only 
option available for maintaining a fishery at a sustainable level, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 22, 2010 
Mr. BROWN of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. WILSON of 
South Carolina, Mr. MICA, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. JONES, 
and Ms. KOSMAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To limit the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to 
implement certain fishery closures unless the Secretary 
certifies that closure is the only option available for 
maintaining a fishery at a sustainable level, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Transparency in Job 
Loss from Fishery Closures Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. SECRETARIAL REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 
may not implement a closure of a directed fishery pursu-
ant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) that would have 
a direct or indirect affect of at least $50,000 on each of 
more than 25 small businesses that do business related 
to the recreational, charter, or commercial fishing indus-
tries involved in the fishery being closed, unless the Sec-
retary has certified that— 
(1) the fishery closure is the only option avail-
able for maintaining the fishery at a sustainable 
level; 
(2) the stock assessment for the fishery has 
been updated and peer reviewed within the preceding 
3-year period; and 
(3) the stock assessment was developed using at 
least 2 models that were subjected to outside peer 
review prior to such use. 
(b) APPLICATION
TO EXISTING CLOSURES.—The 
Secretary shall— 
(1) review any fishery closure for which notice 
was published in the Federal Register within the 12- 
month period preceding the date of enactment of 
this Act, and— 
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(1) the number of fishery closures that were es-
tablished within the 5-year period preceding such 
date of enactment; 
(2) the reason for each such closure; 
(3) the duration of each such closure; 
(4) the impact of each such closure on coastal 
communities; and 
(5) the expected duration of each such closure. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FISHERY.—The term ‘‘fishery’’ has the 
meaning that term has in the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi-
ness’’ means any business that has had gross reve-
nues of less than $500,000 per year for a minimum 
of three years. 
Æ 
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