Union Calendar No. 113
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2134
[Report No. 103–202]
A BILL
To improve the conservation and management of
interjurisdictional fisheries along the Atlantic
coast by providing for greater cooperation among
the States in implementing conservation and
management programs, and for other purposes.
AUGUST 2, 1993
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commit-
tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and
ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 113
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2134
[Report No. 103–202]
To improve the conservation and management of interjurisdictional fisheries
along the Atlantic coast by providing for greater cooperation among
the States in implementing conservation and management programs,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 17, 1993
Mr. STUDDS (for himself, Mr. MANTON, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. FRANK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ACKERMAN, and Mrs. BENTLEY)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
AUGUST 2, 1993
Additional sponsors: Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. RAVENEL, Mr. CASTLE, and Mr.
CARDIN
AUGUST 2, 1993
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 May 17, 1993]
A BILL
To 
improve 
the 
conservation 
and 
management 
of
interjurisdictional fisheries along the Atlantic coast by
providing for greater cooperation among the States in
implementing conservation and management programs,
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 ‘‘Atlantic Coastal Fish-
eries Cooperative Management Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 
2. 
STATE-FEDERAL 
COOPERATION 
IN 
ATLANTIC
COASTAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT.
(a) FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR STATE COASTAL FISH-
ERIES PROGRAMS.—The Secretaries shall develop and im-
plement a program to support the fisheries management
programs of the Commission. The program shall include ele-
ments to support and enhance State cooperation in—
(1) collection, management, and analysis of fish-
eries data;
(2) law enforcement;
(3) habitat conservation;
(4) fisheries research, including biological and
socioeconomic research; and
(5) fishery management planning.
(b) FEDERAL REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO AN AT-
LANTIC OCEAN FISHERY COVERED
BY
AN INTERSTATE
FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after consulta-
tion with the Councils having jurisdiction over fish-
eries to which an interstate fishery management plan
applies, may prescribe regulations to govern fishing
in the exclusive economic zone that are necessary to
support the effective implementation of the interstate
fishery management plan adopted for a fishery for
which no Federal fishery management plan is in ef-
fect. These regulations may include measures rec-
ommended by the Commission that are necessary to
support the provisions of the interstate fishery man-
agement plan for that fishery.
(2) SUPERSEDING
REGULATIONS.—Regulations
issued by the Secretary to implement a Federal fish-
ery management plan for a fishery shall supersede
regulations issued by the Secretary under this section
for that fishery.
(3) ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of sections
307, 308, 309, 310, and 311 of the Magnuson Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1857,
1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861) regarding prohibited
acts, civil penalties, criminal offenses, civil forfeitures,
and enforcement shall apply with respect to regula-
tions prescribed under this section.
SEC. 3. ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERSTATE
FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS.
(a) ADOPTION OF PLANS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall prepare
and adopt fishery management plans or amendments
to fishery management plans in accordance with this
section to provide for the conservation and manage-
ment of coastal fishery resources.
(2) CONSULTATION.—In preparing a fishery
management plan or amendment, the Commission
shall consult with the appropriate Councils to deter-
mine ways Federal fishery management plans and
interstate fishery management plans may complement
each other.
(3) CONTENTS.—Each fishery management plan
or amendment prepared under this subsection shall—
(A) contain information regarding the sta-
tus of the coastal fishery resources and fisheries
covered by the plan or amendment;
(B) identify each State that is required to
implement and enforce the plan or amendment;
(C) specify actions to be taken by States to
implement and comply with the plan or amend-
ment; and
(D) recommend actions for the Secretary to
take in the exclusive economic zone to conserve
and manage the fishery resources and fisheries
covered by the plan or amendment.
(4) TIME FRAME FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND EN-
FORCEMENT BY STATES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a State that is identified in
an interstate fishery management plan pursuant
to paragraph (3)(B) shall implement and enforce
the plan within the time established in the plan.
(B) EXISTING PLANS.—Not later than 90
days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall develop a schedule for
States to implement and enforce of interstate
fishery management plans adopted by the Com-
mission before the date of the enactment of this
Act. The schedule shall require each State with
a declared interest in a plan to implement and
enforce that plan within 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(5) ADOPTION OF STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES
FOR
THE
PREPARATION
OF
INTERSTATE
FISHERY
MANAGEMENT PLANS.—Within 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish
standards and procedures to govern the preparation
of interstate fishery management plans under this
Act, including standards and procedures to ensure
that—
(A) such plans promote the conservation of
fish stocks throughout their ranges and are based
on the best scientific information available, and
(B) the Commission provides adequate op-
portunity for public participation in the plan
preparation process.’’.
(b) COMMISSION MONITORING OF STATE IMPLEMENTA-
TION AND ENFORCEMENT.—Within 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act and at least annually thereafter,
the Commission shall—
(1) review each interstate fishery management
plan and determine whether each State which has de-
clared an interest in the plan, or that is required
under the plan to implement and enforce the plan,
has implemented and enforced the plan; and
(2) submit a report on the results of that review
to the Secretaries.
SEC. 4. STATE NONCOMPLIANCE WITH INTERSTATE FISH-
ERY MANAGEMENT PLANS.
(a) DETERMINATION.—The Commission shall deter-
mine that a State is not in compliance with an interstate
fishery management plan if it finds that the State has not
implemented and enforced the plan within the period estab-
lished under section 3(a)(4).
(b) NOTIFICATION.—If the Commission determines
under subsection (a) that a State is not in compliance with
an interstate fishery management plan, the Commission
shall notify the Secretaries of that determination within 10
working days. The notification shall include the reasons for
making the determination and specify an explicit list of
actions that the affected State must take to comply with
the interstate fishery management plan. The Commission
shall provide a copy of the notification to the State.
(c) MONITORING; WITHDRAWAL
OF
DETERMINA-
TION.—After making a determination under subsection (a)
regarding a State, the Commission shall continue to mon-
itor implementation and enforcement of the plan by the
State. On finding that a State has taken all actions speci-
fied in the notification issued under subsection (b), the
Commission shall promptly notify the Secretaries that the
State is in compliance.
SEC. 5. SECRETARIAL ACTION.
(a) SECRETARIAL REVIEW OF COMMISSION DETER-
MINATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—Within 30 days after re-
ceiving a notification regarding a State from the Commis-
sion under section 4(b), the Secretary, in consultation with
the Secretary of the Interior, shall review the Commission’s
determination of noncompliance and determine whether—
(1) the State has failed to implement and enforce
the interstate fishery management plan in question;
(2) the measures which the State has failed to
implement and enforce are necessary to conserve and
manage the fishery in question; and
(3) in the case of an interstate fishery manage-
ment plan adopted after January 1, 1995, the plan
in question was prepared under the standards and
procedures required to be established by the Commis-
sion under section 3(a)(5).
(b) COMMENTS.—In making a determination under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
(1) give careful consideration to the comments of
the State that the Commission has determined under
section 4(a) is not in compliance with an interstate
fishery management plan, and provide that State,
upon request, the opportunity to meet with and
present its comments directly to the Secretary; and
(2) solicit, review, and consider the comments of
the Commission and the appropriate councils.
(c) DECLARATION OF MORATORIUM.—On determining
under subsection (a) that a State has failed to implement
and enforce an interstate fishery management plan, the Sec-
retary shall declare a moratorium on fishing for the species
covered by the plan within the waters of that State. The
Secretary shall establish the effective date of the moratorium
to commence at any time within 6 months following the
declaration.
(d) SUSPENSION OF MORATORIUM.—On notification
by the Commission under section 4(c) that a State is in
compliance with an interstate fishery management plan,
the Secretary shall terminate the moratorium declared
under subsection (c) affecting fish species covered by that
plan.
(e) REGULATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall prescribe
regulations necessary to implement this Act.
(2) CONTENT.—These regulations—
(A) may provide for the possession and use
of fish which have been produced in an aqua-
culture operation, subject to applicable State reg-
ulations; and
(B) shall allow for the retention of fish that
are subject to a moratorium declared under sub-
section (c) and unavoidably taken as incidental
catch in fisheries directed toward menhaden, if—
(i) discarding the retained fish is im-
practicable;
(ii) the retained fish do not constitute
a significant portion of the catch of the ves-
sel; and
(iii) the retention of the fish will not,
in the judgment of the Secretary, adversely
affect the conservation of the species of fish
retained.
(f) PROHIBITED ACTS DURING MORATORIUM.—Dur-
ing a moratorium a person may not—
(1) engage in fishing for a species of fish subject
to a moratorium within waters of the State subject to
the moratorium;
(2) land, attempt to land, or possess fish that are
caught, taken, or harvested in violation of the morato-
rium, this Act, or any regulation promulgated under
this Act;
(3) fail to return to the water immediately, with
a minimum of injury, any fish subject to a morato-
rium taken in waters of a State under a moratorium
incidental to fishing for species other than those to
which the moratorium applies, except as provided by
regulations prescribed under subsection (e);
(4) land, within a State that is subject to a mor-
atorium, any fish subject to a moratorium, regardless
of where it was caught;
(5) refuse to permit an authorized officer to
board a fishing vessel to conduct a search or inspec-
tion in connection with the enforcement of this Act;
(6) forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, in-
timidate, or interfere with an authorized officer at-
tempting to conduct a search or inspection under this
Act;
(7) resist a lawful arrest for an act prohibited by
this section;
(8) ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, purchase,
import, or have custody, control, or possession of, fish
taken or possessed in violation of this Act; or
(9) interfere with, delay, or prevent, by any
means, the apprehension or arrest of a person, know-
ing that person has committed any act prohibited by
this section.
(g) PENALTIES.—
(1) CIVIL
PENALTY.—A person violating sub-
section (f) of this section shall be liable to the United
States for a civil penalty as provided by section 308
of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858). Subsections (b) through
(e) of section 308 of the Magnuson Fishery Conserva-
tion and Management Act apply to persons assessed
a penalty under this paragraph.