I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 59 
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
to provide flexibility for fishery managers and stability for fishermen, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2021 
Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act to provide flexibility for fishery man-
agers and stability for fishermen, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Fishing 
Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Man-
agement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
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Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. References. 
TITLE I—MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT FINDINGS AND DEFINITIONS 
AMENDMENTS AND REAUTHORIZATION 
Sec. 101. Amendments to findings. 
Sec. 102. Amendments to definitions. 
Sec. 103. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE II—FISHERIES MANAGEMENT FLEXIBILITY AND 
MODERNIZATION 
Sec. 201. Definitions. 
Sec. 202. Process for allocation review for South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 
mixed-use fisheries. 
Sec. 203. Alternative fishery management measures. 
Sec. 204. Modifications to the annual catch limit requirement. 
Sec. 205. Limitation on future catch share programs. 
Sec. 206. Study of limited access privilege programs for mixed-use fisheries. 
Sec. 207. Cooperative data collection. 
Sec. 208. Recreational fishing data. 
Sec. 209. Miscellaneous amendments relating to fishery management councils. 
Sec. 210. Northeast regional pilot research trawl survey and study. 
TITLE III—HEALTHY FISHERIES THROUGH BETTER SCIENCE 
Sec. 301. Healthy fisheries through better science. 
Sec. 302. Transparency and public process. 
Sec. 303. Flexibility in rebuilding fish stocks. 
Sec. 304. Exempted fishing permits. 
Sec. 305. Cooperative research and management program. 
Sec. 306. Federal Gulf of Mexico red snapper management. 
TITLE IV—STRENGTHENING FISHING COMMUNITIES 
Sec. 401. Estimation of cost of recovery from fishery resource disaster. 
Sec. 402. Deadline for action on request by Governor for determination regard-
ing fishery resource disaster. 
Sec. 403. North Pacific Fishery management clarification. 
Sec. 404. Limitation on harvest in North Pacific directed pollock fishery. 
Sec. 405. Arctic community development quota. 
Sec. 406. Reallocation of certain unused harvest allocation. 
Sec. 407. Community Development Quota Program panel voting procedures. 
Sec. 408. Prohibition on shark feeding off coast of Florida. 
Sec. 409. Restoration of historically freshwater environment. 
TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 501. Mitigation for impacts to submerged aquatic vegetation. 
Sec. 502. Plan for electronic monitoring and reporting procedures for the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery. 
Sec. 503. Study of fees charged to lobster fishing industry. 
Sec. 504. Limitation on application of prohibition on Atlantic striped bass fish-
ing in Block Island Sound transit zone. 
Sec. 505. Funding for monitoring implementation of Northeast Multispecies 
Fishery Management Plan. 
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TITLE VI—REEF ASSASSIN ACT 
Sec. 601. Short title. 
Sec. 602. Encouraging elimination of lionfish. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, any term used that is defined in section 
3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802) shall have the same 
meaning such term has under that section. 
SEC. 4. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a provision, the ref-
erence shall be considered to be made to a provision of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 
TITLE 
I—MAGNUSON-STEVENS 
ACT FINDINGS AND DEFINI-
TIONS AMENDMENTS AND RE-
AUTHORIZATION 
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO FINDINGS. 
Section 2(a) (16 U.S.C. 1801) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘cultural 
well-being,’’ after ‘‘economy,’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘and tradi-
tional ways of life’’ after ‘‘economic growth’’. 
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SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘management 
program’’; 
(2) in paragraph (34), by striking ‘‘The terms 
‘overfishing’ and ‘overfished’ mean’’ and inserting 
‘‘The term ‘overfishing’ means’’; 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8a) The term ‘depleted’ means, with respect 
to a stock of fish or stock complex, that the stock 
or stock complex has a biomass that has declined 
below a level that jeopardizes the capacity of the 
stock or stock complex to produce maximum sustain-
able yield on a continuing basis.’’; and 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (43) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(43a)(A) The term ‘subsistence fishing’ means 
fishing in which the fish harvested are intended for 
customary and traditional uses, including for direct 
personal or family consumption as food or clothing; 
for the making or selling of handicraft articles out 
of nonedible byproducts taken for personal or family 
consumption, for barter, or sharing for personal or 
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family consumption; and for customary exchange or 
trade. 
‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘family’ means all persons re-
lated by blood, marriage, or adoption, or any 
person living within the household on a perma-
nent basis; and 
‘‘(ii) the term ‘barter’ means the exchange 
of a fish or fish part— 
‘‘(I) for another fish or fish part; or 
‘‘(II) for other food or for nonedible 
items other than money if the exchange is 
of a limited and noncommercial nature.’’. 
(b) SUBSTITUTION OF TERM.—The Magnuson-Ste-
vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in the heading of section 304(e), by striking 
‘‘OVERFISHED’’ and inserting ‘‘DEPLETED’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘overfished’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘depleted’’. 
(c) 
CLARITY
IN
ANNUAL
REPORT.—Section 
304(e)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(1)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: ‘‘The report shall distinguish be-
tween fisheries that are depleted (or approaching that con-
dition) as a result of fishing and fisheries that are depleted 
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(or approaching that condition) as a result of factors other 
than fishing. The report shall state, for each fishery iden-
tified as depleted or approaching that condition, whether 
the fishery is the target of directed fishing.’’. 
SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 4 (16 U.S.C. 1803) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2013’’ and inserting 
‘‘each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 
TITLE II—FISHERIES MANAGE-
MENT FLEXIBILITY AND MOD-
ERNIZATION 
SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of implementing this title: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives. 
(2) LIMITED
ACCESS
PRIVILEGE
PROGRAM.— 
The term ‘‘limited access privilege program’’ means 
a program that meets the requirements of section 
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303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva-
tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a). 
(3) MIXED-USE FISHERY.—The term ‘‘mixed- 
use fishery’’ means a Federal fishery in which two 
or more of the following occur: 
(A) Recreational fishing. 
(B) Charter fishing. 
(C) Commercial fishing. 
SEC. 202. PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION REVIEW FOR SOUTH 
ATLANTIC AND GULF OF MEXICO MIXED-USE 
FISHERIES. 
(a) STUDY OF ALLOCATIONS IN MIXED-USE FISH-
ERIES.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall seek 
to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy 
of Sciences to conduct a study of South Atlantic and Gulf 
of Mexico mixed-use fisheries— 
(1) to provide guidance to each applicable 
Council on criteria that could be used for allocating 
fishing privileges, including consideration of the con-
servation and socioeconomic benefits of the commer-
cial, recreational, and charter components of a fish-
ery, in the preparation of a fishery management 
plan; 
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(2) to identify sources of information that could 
reasonably support the use of such criteria in alloca-
tion decisions; 
(3) to develop procedures for allocation reviews 
and potential adjustments in allocations; and 
(4) that shall consider the ecological, economic 
and social factors relevant to each component of the 
mixed-use fishery including but not limited to: fair-
ness and equitability of all current allocations; per-
cent utilization of available allocations by each com-
ponent; consumer and public access to the resource; 
and the application of economic models for fully esti-
mating the direct and indirect value-added contribu-
tions of the various commercial and recreational 
fishing industry market sectors throughout chain of 
custody. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
an arrangement is entered into under subsection (a), the 
National Academy of Sciences shall submit to the appro-
priate committees of Congress a report on the study con-
ducted under that subsection. 
(c) PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION REVIEW AND ESTAB-
LISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years 
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thereafter, an applicable Council shall perform a re-
view of the allocations to the commercial fishing sec-
tor and the recreational fishing sector of all applica-
ble fisheries in its jurisdiction. 
(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting a review 
under paragraph (1), an applicable Council shall 
consider, in each allocation decision, the conserva-
tion and socioeconomic benefits of— 
(A) the commercial fishing sector; and 
(B) the recreational fishing sector. 
(d) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE COUNCIL.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘applicable Council’’ means— 
(1) the South Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council; or 
(2) the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council. 
SEC. 203. ALTERNATIVE FISHERY MANAGEMENT MEAS-
URES. 
Section 302(h) (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8), the fol-
lowing: 
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