I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2706 
To prohibit the sale of billfish. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2011 
Mr. MILLER of Florida (for himself, Mr. ROSS of Arkansas, Mr. SHULER, Mr. 
LATTA, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. BOREN, Mr. 
MICHAUD, and Mr. BONNER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To prohibit the sale of billfish. 
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 ‘‘Billfish Conservation 
Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Billfish populations are severely depleted 
and in need of greater protection. 
(2) Billfish population declines are largely at-
tributable to overfishing by non-United States com-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
05:23 Jul 30, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2706.IH
H2706
smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
mercial fishing fleets that harvest billfish as bycatch 
while targeting other species. 
(3) Commercial fisheries in the United States 
do not target billfish. 
(4) The current United States prohibition on 
the commercial harvest and sale of billfish is limited 
to Atlantic-caught fish. 
(5) There are no existing conservation measures 
that prohibit the importation of Pacific-caught bill-
fish. 
(6) Billfish account for less than 0.1 percent of 
the market value of United States seafood. 
(7) The United States seafood market is highly 
elastic and consumers have a large number of sus-
tainable seafood alternatives. 
(8) Catch and release recreational angling for 
billfish generates billions of dollars in economic ben-
efits to the United States economy each year. 
(9) Prohibiting the sale of Pacific-caught bill-
fish in the continental United States will assist in 
the recovery of billfish populations worldwide. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 
The Congress enacts this Act pursuant to clause 3 
of section 8 of article I of the Constitution. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
05:23 Jul 30, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2706.IH
H2706
smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF BILLFISH. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—No person shall offer for sale, 
sell, or have custody, control, or possession of for purposes 
of offering for sale or selling billfish or products con-
taining billfish. 
(b) PENALTY.—For purposes of section 308(a) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section 
shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of 
that Act (16 U.S.C. 1857). 
(c) EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES AND 
MARKETS.—Subsection (a) does not apply to the State of 
Hawaii and Pacific Insular Area as defined in section 
3(35) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802(35)), except that bill-
fish may be sold under this exemption only in Hawaii and 
the Pacific Insular Area. 
(d) BILLFISH DEFINED.—In this section the term 
‘‘billfish’’— 
(1) means any fish of the species— 
(A) Makaira nigricans (blue marlin); 
(B) Kajikia audax (striped marlin); 
(C) Istiompax indica (black marlin); 
(D) Istiophorus platypterus (sailfish); 
(E) Tetrapturus angustirostris (shortbill 
spearfish); 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
05:23 Jul 30, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2706.IH
H2706
smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(F) Kajikia albida (white marlin); 
(G) Tetrapturus georgii (roundscale spear-
fish); 
(H) Tetrapturus belone (Mediterranean 
spearfish); and 
(I) Tetrapturus pfluegeri (longbill spear-
fish); and 
(2) does not include the species Xiphias gladius 
(swordfish). 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
05:23 Jul 30, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2706.IH
H2706
smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS