IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1335 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 2, 2015 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Fishing 
Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Man-
agement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. 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. 3. 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.). 
SEC. 4. FLEXIBILITY IN REBUILDING FISH STOCKS. 
(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304(e) (16 
U.S.C. 1854(e)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 
‘‘possible’’ and inserting ‘‘practicable’’; 
(B) by amending subparagraph (A)(ii) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(ii) may not exceed the time the 
stock would be rebuilt without fishing oc-
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curring plus one mean generation, except 
in a case in which— 
‘‘(I) the biology of the stock of 
fish, other environmental conditions, 
or management measures under an 
international agreement in which the 
United States participates dictate oth-
erwise; 
‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 
that the cause of the stock being de-
pleted is outside the jurisdiction of the 
Council or the rebuilding program 
cannot be effective only by limiting 
fishing activities; 
‘‘(III) the Secretary determines 
that one or more components of a 
mixed-stock fishery is depleted but 
cannot be rebuilt within that time- 
frame without significant economic 
harm to the fishery, or cannot be re-
built without causing another compo-
nent of the mixed-stock fishery to ap-
proach a depleted status; 
‘‘(IV) the Secretary determines 
that recruitment, distribution, or life 
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history of, or fishing activities for, the 
stock are affected by informal trans-
boundary agreements under which 
management activities outside the ex-
clusive economic zone by another 
country may hinder conservation and 
management efforts by United States 
fishermen; and 
‘‘(V) the Secretary determines 
that the stock has been affected by 
unusual events that make rebuilding 
within the specified time period im-
probable without significant economic 
harm to fishing communities;’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 
at the end of subparagraph (B), by redesig-
nating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subpara-
graphs (C) and (D), and by inserting after sub-
paragraph (A) the following: 
‘‘(B) take into account environmental con-
dition including predator/prey relationships;’’; 
and 
(D) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated) and in-
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serting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(E) specify a schedule for reviewing the 
rebuilding targets, evaluating environmental im-
pacts on rebuilding progress, and evaluating 
progress being made toward reaching rebuilding 
targets.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) A fishery management plan, plan amend-
ment, or proposed regulations may use alternative 
rebuilding strategies, including harvest control rules 
and fishing mortality-rate targets to the extent they 
are in compliance with the requirements of this Act. 
‘‘(9) A Council may terminate the application of 
paragraph (3) to a fishery if the Council’s scientific 
and statistical committee determines and the Sec-
retary concurs that the original determination that 
the fishery was depleted was erroneous, either— 
‘‘(A) within the 2-year period beginning on 
the effective date a fishery management plan, 
plan amendment, or proposed regulation for a 
fishery under this subsection takes effect; or 
‘‘(B) within 90 days after the completion 
of the next stock assessment after such deter-
mination.’’. 
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(b) EMERGENCY REGULATIONS AND INTERIM MEAS-
URES.—Section 305(c)(3)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1855(c)(3)(B)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘180 days after’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘provided’’ and inserting ‘‘1 year after the 
date of publication, and may be extended by publication 
in the Federal Register for one additional period of not 
more than 1 year, if’’. 
SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT RE-
QUIREMENT. 
Section 302 (16 U.S.C. 1852) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(m) CONSIDERATIONS FOR MODIFICATIONS TO AN-
NUAL CATCH LIMIT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION OF ECOSYSTEM AND ECO-
NOMIC IMPACTS.—In establishing annual catch lim-
its a Council may, consistent with section 302(h)(6), 
consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic 
needs of the fishing communities. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS
TO
ANNUAL
CATCH
LIMIT 
REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL FISHERIES.—Notwith-
standing subsection (h)(6), a Council is not required 
to develop an annual catch limit for— 
‘‘(A) an ecosystem component species; 
‘‘(B) a fishery for a species that has a life 
cycle of approximately 1 year, unless the Sec-
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retary has determined the fishery is subject to 
overfishing; or 
‘‘(C) a stock for which— 
‘‘(i) more than half of a single-year 
class will complete their life cycle in less 
than 18 months; and 
‘‘(ii) fishing mortality will have little 
impact on the stock. 
‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO INTERNATIONAL FISH-
ERY EFFORTS.—Each annual catch limit may, con-
sistent with section 302(h)(6), take into account— 
‘‘(A) management measures under inter-
national agreements in which the United States 
participates; 
‘‘(B) informal transboundary agreements 
under which fishery management activities by 
another country outside the exclusive economic 
zone may hinder conservation efforts by United 
States fishermen for a fish species for which 
any of the recruitment, distribution, life history, 
or fishing activities are transboundary; and 
‘‘(C) in instances in which no transbound-
ary agreement exists, activities by another 
country outside the exclusive economic zone 
that may hinder conservation efforts by United 
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States fisherman for a fish species for which 
any of the recruitment, distribution, life history, 
or fishing activities are transboundary. 
‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION FOR MULTISPECIES COM-
PLEXES AND MULTIYEAR ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS.— 
For purposes of subsection (h)(6), a Council may es-
tablish— 
‘‘(A) an annual catch limit for a stock 
complex; or 
‘‘(B) annual catch limits for each year in 
any continuous period that is not more than 
three years in duration. 
‘‘(5) ECOSYSTEM
COMPONENT
SPECIES
DE-
FINED.—In this subsection the term ‘ecosystem com-
ponent species’ means a stock of fish that is a non-
target, incidentally harvested stock of fish in a fish-
ery, or a nontarget, incidentally harvested stock of 
fish that a Council or the Secretary has deter-
mined— 
‘‘(A) is not subject to overfishing, ap-
proaching a depleted condition or depleted; and 
‘‘(B) is not likely to become subject to 
overfishing or depleted in the absence of con-
servation and management measures.’’. 
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SEC. 6. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN OVERFISHED AND DE-
PLETED. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (34), by striking ‘‘The terms 
‘overfishing’ and ‘overfished’ mean’’ and inserting 
‘‘The term ‘overfishing’ means’’; and 
(2) 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.’’. 
(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-
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dition) as a result of fishing and fisheries that are depleted 
(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. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC PROCESS. 
(a) ADVICE.—Section 302(g)(1)(B) (16 U.S.C. 
1852(g)(1)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Each scientific and statistical committee shall de-
velop such advice in a transparent manner and allow for 
public involvement in the process.’’. 
(b) MEETINGS.—Section 302(i)(2) (16 U.S.C. 
1852(i)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(G) Each Council shall make available on the 
Internet Web site of the Council— 
‘‘(i) to the extent practicable, a Webcast, 
an audio recording, or a live broadcast of each 
meeting of the Council, and of the Council Co-
ordination Committee established under sub-
section (l), that is not closed in accordance with 
paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) audio, video (if the meeting was in 
person or by video conference), or a searchable 
audio or written transcript of each meeting of 
the Council and of the meetings of committees 
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which a fishery management plan is in effect under 
this Act. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall— 
‘‘(A) for each stock of fish for which a 
stock assessment has previously been con-
ducted— 
‘‘(i) establish a schedule for updating 
the stock assessment that is reasonable 
given the biology and characteristics of the 
stock; and 
‘‘(ii) subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, require completion of a new 
stock assessment, or an update of the most 
recent stock assessment— 
‘‘(I) every 5 years; or 
‘‘(II) within such other time pe-
riod specified and justified by the Sec-
retary in the plan; 
‘‘(B) for each stock of fish for which a 
stock assessment has not previously been con-
ducted— 
‘‘(i) establish a schedule for con-
ducting an initial stock assessment that is 
reasonable given the biology and character-
istics of the stock; and 
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