Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Bill: 113-hr-4742
Sponsor: Rep. Hastings, Doc [R-WA-4]
Introduced: 2014-05-23 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Atlantic Ocean
Business records
Congressional oversight
Department of Commerce
Disaster relief and insurance
Economic performance and conditions
Endangered and threatened species
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fishes
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Gulf of Mexico
Hunting and fishing
Intergovernmental relations
International law and treaties
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Oil and gas
Pacific Ocean
Public participation and lobbying
State and local government operations
Trade secrets and economic espionage
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2014-05-23
text: 
Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act - Revises and reauthorizes through FY2018 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
 
Revises requirements for fishery management plans for overfished fisheries.
 
 
Modifies annual catch limit requirements, including by authorizing Regional Fishery Management Councils to consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic needs of the fishing communities when establishing the limits.
 
 Replaces the term &ldquo;overfished&rdquo; with &ldquo;depleted&rdquo; throughout the MSA to distinguish between fish that are depleted due to fishing and those that are depleted for other reasons.
 
Requires fishery management plans to include a fishery impact statement to assess, specify, and analyze the likely effects and impacts of the proposed action on the quality of the human environment. 
 
 
 Requires the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations governing the use of electronic monitoring of fisheries. Authorizes the Secretary to obligate amounts received as fisheries enforcement penalties for collecting information on data-poor fisheries.
 
 Requires the Secretary to publish within a year a plan for implementing the Cooperative Research and Management Program.
 
 Extends the offshore jurisdiction of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from three miles to nine miles for the recreational management of red snapper.
 
 Specifies the role of the MSA in relationship to certain environmental laws.
 
 Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act or the REFI Pacific Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue a loan to refinance the existing debt obligation funding the fishing capacity reduction program for the West Coast groundfish fishery implemented under the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-12-22
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 113-711.
action_date: 2014-12-22
text: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 542.
action_date: 2014-12-22
text: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 113-711.
action_date: 2014-05-29
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 24 - 17.
action_date: 2014-05-29
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2014-05-23
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2014-05-23
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2014-05-23
text: Introduced in House