I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5770 
To improve the management of forage fish. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2021 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Mr. MAST, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LONG, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. UPTON, Mr. CASE, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of 
Georgia, and Mr. CARTER of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To improve the management of forage fish. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2021’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. References to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Scientific advice. 
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Sec. 6. Council functions. 
Sec. 7. Contents of fishery management plans. 
Sec. 8. Action by the Secretary. 
Sec. 9. River herring and shad. 
Sec. 10. Rule of construction. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISH-
ERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Magnuson-Stevens Fish-
ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 
et seq.). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Section 2(a) (16 U.S.C. 1801(a)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(14) Forage fish are generally small to inter-
mediate-sized species, occurring in schools or dense 
aggregations, and function as a main pathway for 
energy to flow from phyto- and zooplankton to high-
er trophic level predators, such as tuna, Alaska pol-
lock, and other wildlife, in marine ecosystems. While 
most species function as prey of others at some life 
stage, especially when small and young, forage fish 
maintain this important trophic role throughout 
their life. Further, fluctuations in their populations 
can result in significant changes in marine commu-
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nities and ecosystems. Therefore, particular atten-
tion to management of forage fish species, and ad-
dressing their unique role in marine ecosystems, is 
critical to maintaining ecosystem function and sus-
tainable fisheries.’’. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SECRETARY TO DEFINE FORAGE FISH.—Section 
305 (16 U.S.C. 1855) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(l) FORAGE FISH.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of the Forage Fish Conservation 
Act of 2021, the Secretary shall issue a definition of the 
term ‘forage fish’ for the purposes of this Act. In defining 
such term, the Secretary shall consider factors including 
whether a species covered by such definition, throughout 
such species’ lifecycle— 
‘‘(1) is at a low trophic level; 
‘‘(2) is generally small- to intermediate-sized; 
‘‘(3) occurs in schools or other dense aggrega-
tions; 
‘‘(4) contributes significantly to the diets of 
other fish, marine mammals, or birds; and 
‘‘(5) serves as a conduit for energy transfer to 
species at a higher trophic level.’’. 
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(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second paragraph (33) 
(relating to waters of a foreign nation) as paragraph 
(53); 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (28) through 
(50) as paragraphs (30) through (52), respectively; 
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (19) through 
(27) as paragraphs (20) through (28), respectively; 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(19) The term ‘forage fish’— 
‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term by 
the Secretary under section 305(l); and 
‘‘(B) with respect to a species in a fishery 
managed pursuant to a fishery management 
plan or plan amendment that is approved by 
the Secretary under section 304(a), means any 
species identified in such plan as a forage 
fish.’’; 
(5) by inserting after paragraph (28), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (3), the following: 
‘‘(29) The term ‘low trophic level’ means a posi-
tion in the marine food web in which the fish gen-
erally consume plankton.’’; and 
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(6) in paragraph (35), as redesignated by para-
graph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘and’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 
period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) in the case of a forage fish, is re-
duced, pursuant to subparagraph (B), to pro-
vide for the diet needs of fish species and other 
marine wildlife, including marine mammals and 
birds, for which forage fish is a significant die-
tary component.’’. 
SEC. 5. SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 
Section 302(g)(1)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)(1)(B)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) Each scientific and statistical com-
mittee shall provide its Council ongoing sci-
entific advice for fishery management decisions, 
including recommendations for— 
‘‘(i) acceptable biological catch; 
‘‘(ii) preventing overfishing; 
‘‘(iii) maximum sustainable yield; 
‘‘(iv) achieving rebuilding targets; 
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‘‘(v) maintaining a sufficient abun-
dance, diversity, and localized distribution 
of forage fish populations to support their 
role in marine ecosystems; and 
‘‘(vi) reports on stock status and 
health, bycatch, habitat status, social and 
economic impacts of management meas-
ures, and sustainability of fishing prac-
tices.’’. 
SEC. 6. COUNCIL FUNCTIONS. 
(a) RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—Section 302(h)(7) (16 
U.S.C. 1852(h)(7)) is amended, in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘forage fish populations 
and distribution,’’ after ‘‘habitats,’’. 
(b) UNMANAGED FORAGE FISH.—Section 302(h) (16 
U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting ‘‘;’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(9) develop a list of unmanaged forage fish oc-
curring in the area under its authority and prohibit 
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the development of any new directed forage fish fish-
ery until the Council has— 
‘‘(A) considered the best scientific informa-
tion available and evaluated the potential im-
pacts of forage fish harvest on existing fish-
eries, fishing communities, and the marine eco-
system; 
‘‘(B) determined whether conservation and 
management of the forage fish fishery is need-
ed; 
‘‘(C) if a determination is made that con-
servation and management is needed, prepared 
and submitted to the Secretary a fishery man-
agement plan or amendment consistent with 
section 303; and 
‘‘(D) received final, approved regulations 
from 
the 
Secretary 
pursuant 
to 
section 
304(b)(3); and’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 7. CONTENTS OF FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS. 
(a) FORAGE FISH MANAGEMENT.—Section 303(a) 
(16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and;’’ and 
inserting ‘‘;’’; 
(2) in paragraph (15), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(16) when setting annual catch limits for for-
age fish fisheries, assess, specify, and reduce such 
limits by the diet needs of fish species and other ma-
rine wildlife, such as marine mammals and birds, for 
which forage fish is a significant part of their diet.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect 5 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8. ACTION BY THE SECRETARY. 
Section 304 (16 U.S.C. 1854) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) 
(relating to international overfishing) as subsection 
(j); and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) FORAGE FISH MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of the Forage Fish Con-
servation Act of 2021, the Secretary shall establish 
by regulation guidelines to assist the Councils in im-
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plementing 
sections 
3(19), 
302(h)(9), 
and 
303(a)(16). 
‘‘(2) WORKSHOPS.—In developing the guide-
lines under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con-
duct workshops with Councils and other scientific, 
fisheries, and conservation interests.’’. 
SEC. 9. RIVER HERRING AND SHAD. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) RIVER HERRING.—The term ‘‘river herring’’ 
means blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and ale-
wife (Alosa pseudoharengus). 
(2) SHAD.—The term ‘‘shad’’ means American 
shad (Alosa sapidissima) and hickory shad (Alosa 
mediocris). 
(b) AMENDMENTS OF PLANS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Commerce shall— 
(1) amend the fishery management plans for 
the Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, 
and Butterfish fisheries for the New England and 
Mid-Atlantic Regions to add shad and river herring 
as managed stocks in such plans consistent with sec-
tion 302(h)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1852(h)(1)); 
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(2) initiate additional fishery management plan 
amendments to be completed in not more than 1 
year from the date of the addition of the species 
identified in paragraph (1) in order to develop and 
implement all required conservation and manage-
ment measures for such stocks consistent with the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Man-
agement Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and all other 
applicable law; and 
(3) notwithstanding any other law, rule, or fish-
ery management plan provision, including conserva-
tion and management measures under section 
303(a)(11) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con-
servation 
and 
Management 
Act 
(16 
U.S.C. 
1853(a)(11)), reallocate existing resources to pro-
vide, for not less than 50 percent of all relevant fish-
ing trips, not fewer than one at-sea observer or an 
on-board electronic or video means of producing 
equivalent at-sea monitoring information, for any 
vessel using mid-water trawl or paired mid-water 
trawl fishing gear in the Atlantic herring and Atlan-
tic mackerel fisheries. 
SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as— 
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(1) extending or diminishing the jurisdiction or 
authority of any State within its boundaries; or 
(2) affecting— 
(A) section 306 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1856); or 
(B) the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooper-
ative Management Act (16 U.S.C. 5101 et 
seq.). 
Æ 
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