H. R. 5126 
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 
An Act 
To require individuals fishing for Gulf reef fish to use certain descending devices, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Direct Enhancement of Snapper 
Conservation and the Economy through Novel Devices Act of 2020’’ 
or the ‘‘DESCEND Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that commercial and recreational 
fishermen (which, for the purpose of this Act shall include charter 
fishing) for Gulf reef fish are expected to use a venting tool or 
a descending device required for possession under section 3 when 
releasing fish that are exhibiting signs of barotrauma. The Secretary 
of Commerce (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in coordina-
tion with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, should 
develop and disseminate to fishermen education and outreach mate-
rials related to proper use of venting tools and descending devices, 
and strongly encourage their use by commercial and recreational 
fishermen when releasing fish that are exhibiting signs of 
barotrauma. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DEVICES. 
(a) REQUIRED GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISHERY.—Title 
III of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRED POSSESSION OF DESCENDING DEVICES. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRE GEAR IN THE GULF REEF FISH FISHERY.—It shall 
be unlawful for a person on board a commercial or recreational 
vessel to fish for Gulf reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico Exclusive 
Economic Zone without possessing on board the vessel a venting 
tool or a descending device that is rigged and ready for use while 
fishing is occurring. 
‘‘(b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—No provision of this section shall be 
interpreted to affect any program or activity carried out by the 
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council established by the 
Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, 
and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (33 
U.S.C. 1321 note), or any project contained in an approved Restora-
tion Plan developed by any Natural Resources Damage Assessment
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Trustee Implementation Group to reduce post-release mortality 
from barotrauma in Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Recreational Fisheries. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) DESCENDING
DEVICE.—The term ‘descending device’ 
means an instrument that— 
‘‘(A) will release fish at a depth sufficient for the fish 
to be able to recover from the effects of barotrauma; 
‘‘(B) is a weighted hook, lip clamp, or box that will 
hold the fish while it is lowered to depth, or another 
device determined to be appropriate by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(C) is capable of— 
‘‘(i) releasing the fish automatically; 
‘‘(ii) releasing the fish by actions of the operator 
of the device; or 
‘‘(iii) allowing the fish to escape on its own. 
‘‘(2) VENTING
TOOL.—The term ‘venting tool’ has the 
meaning given to it by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council. 
‘‘(3) GULF
REEF
FISH.—The term ‘Gulf reef fish’ means 
any fish chosen by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council that is in the reef Fishery Management Plan for the 
purposes of this Act.’’. 
(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 308(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)) 
is amended by inserting ‘‘or section 321’’ after ‘‘section 307’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this Act shall 
take effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Title III of the table of contents 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 305 and all that follows through the end of 
the items relating to such title and inserting the following: 
‘‘Sec. 305. Other requirements and authority. 
‘‘Sec. 306. State jurisdiction. 
‘‘Sec. 307. Prohibited acts. 
‘‘Sec. 308. Civil penalties and permit sanctions. 
‘‘Sec. 309. Criminal offenses. 
‘‘Sec. 310. Civil forfeitures. 
‘‘Sec. 311. Enforcement. 
‘‘Sec. 312. Transition to sustainable fisheries. 
‘‘Sec. 313. North Pacific fisheries conservation. 
‘‘Sec. 314. Northwest Atlantic Ocean fisheries reinvestment program. 
‘‘Sec. 315. Regional Coastal Disaster Assistance, Transition, and Recovery Program. 
‘‘Sec. 316. Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. 
‘‘Sec. 317. Shark Feeding. 
‘‘Sec. 318. Cooperative Research and Management Program. 
‘‘Sec. 319. Herring Study. 
‘‘Sec. 320. Restoration Study. 
‘‘Sec. 321. Required possession of descending devices.’’. 
(e) SUNSET.—Five years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in the table of contents, by striking the item relating 
to section 321; 
(2) in section 308(a), by striking ‘‘or section 321’’; and 
(3) by striking section 321. 
SEC. 4. IMPROVING DISCARD MORTALITY DATA. 
(a) AGREEMENT.—Not later than 60 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into an agree-
ment with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study
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and produce a report on discard mortality in the Gulf of Mexico 
reef fish fisheries. The study shall include— 
(1) assessment of gaps and biases in reporting of discards 
and associated discard mortality; 
(2) assessment of uncertainty and likely impacts of such 
uncertainty in discard mortality; 
(3) assessment of the effectiveness and usage rates of 
barotrauma-reducing devices; 
(4) recommendations for future research priorities; and 
(5) recommendations for standardized reporting and quan-
tification of discards in the same metric as landings for fisheries 
under the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. 
(b) DEADLINES.—Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the National Academy of Sciences shall 
complete the study required under subsection (a) and transmit 
the final report to the Secretary. Not later than 3 months after 
receiving the study and report in accordance with this subsection, 
the Secretary shall submit the study and report to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. 
(c) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the Secretary receives 
the study and report required under subsection (a), Secretary and 
the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council shall develop— 
(1) guidance for minimum standards for quantifying and 
reporting discards and associated mortality in the Gulf of 
Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan; and 
(2) a plan to assess and monitor the effectiveness and 
usage of barotrauma-reducing devices and the impact on discard 
mortality rates in Gulf of Mexico reef fish fisheries. 
(d) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after devel-
oping minimum standards and developing the assessment and moni-
toring plan under subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide a 
detailed report on implementation to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 
by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 
PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the
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Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Com-
mittee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 
to the vote on passage. 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.