I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 39
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
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 provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
section or other provision of the Magnuson Fishery Con-
servation 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
fishery 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 commer-
cial 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
fishery habitat in the review of projects that affect
essential fishery habitat; and
‘‘(8) to ensure that conservation and manage-
ment decisions with respect to the Nation’s fishery
resources 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.
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) in paragraph (31) by striking ‘‘for which a
fishery management plan prepared under title III or
a preliminary fishery management plan prepared
under section 201(h) has been implemented’’ and in-
serting ‘‘regulated under this Act’’; and
(5) 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 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 ‘fishery dependent community’
means a community which is substantially dependent
on the harvest of fishery resources to meet social
and economic needs.
‘‘(38) The term ‘essential fishery habitat’
means those areas necessary to fish for spawning,
breeding, or growth to maturity.
‘‘(39) 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.
‘‘(40) The term ‘rebuilding program’ means
those conservation and management measures nec-
essary to restore the ability of a stock of fish to
produce maximum sustainable yield on a continuing
basis.
‘‘(41) The term ‘total allowable catch’ means
the total amount of fish in a fishery that may be
harvested in a fishing season, as established in ac-
cordance with a fishery management plan for the
fishery.’’.
SEC. 5. FOREIGN FISHING.
(a) TRANSSHIPMENT PERMITS.—
(1) AUTHORITY
TO
OPERATE
UNDER
TRANS-
SHIPMENT PERMITS.—Section 201(a)(1) (16 U.S.C.
1821(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(1) is authorized under subsection (b) or (c) or
under a permit issued under section 204(d);’’.
(2) AUTHORITY
TO
ISSUE
TRANSSHIPMENT
PERMITS.—Section 204 (16 U.S.C. 1824) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) TRANSSHIPMENT PERMITS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE PERMITS.—The Sec-
retary may issue a transshipment permit under this
subsection which authorizes a vessel other than a
vessel of the United States to engage in fishing con-
sisting solely of transporting fish products at sea
from a point within the boundaries of any State or
the exclusive economic zone to a point outside the
United States to any person who—
‘‘(A) submits an application which is ap-
proved by the Secretary under paragraph (3);
and
‘‘(B) pays a fee imposed under paragraph
(7).
‘‘(2) TRANSMITTAL.—Upon receipt of an appli-
cation for a permit under this subsection, the Sec-
retary shall promptly transmit copies of the applica-
tion to the Secretary of the department in which the
Coast Guard is operating, any appropriate Council,
and any interested State.
‘‘(3) APPROVAL
OF
APPLICATION.—The Sec-
retary may approve an application for a permit
under this section if the Secretary determines that—
‘‘(A) the transportation of fish products to
be conducted under the permit, as described in
the application, will be in the interest of the
United States and will meet the applicable re-
quirements of this Act;
‘‘(B) the applicant will comply with the re-
quirements described in section 201(c)(2) with
respect to activities authorized by any permit
issued pursuant to the application;
‘‘(C) the applicant has established any
bonds or financial assurances that may be re-
quired by the Secretary; and
‘‘(D) vessels of the United States do not
have adequate capacity, or will not utilize such
capacity, to perform the transportation for
which the application is submitted.
‘‘(4) WHOLE OR PARTIAL APPROVAL.—The Sec-
retary may approve all or any portion of an applica-
tion under paragraph (3).