zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Fisheries Disaster Relief and Research Investment Act - Amends the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act to revise the program under which the Secretary of Commerce provides financial assistance for fisheries research and development projects. Directs each Regional Fishery Management Council to establish a fishery investment committee to: (1) develop a regional fishery investment plan identifying research, conservation, management needs, and actions to rebuild and maintain healthy fish populations and sustainable fisheries; and (2) make recommendations to the Council on grant applications and projects to implement the respective plans.

Requires that such plans be revised, approved by the relevant Council, and submitted to the Secretary at least once every five years.

Directs the Secretary to establish an annual competitive grant program to advance regional priorities included in such plans. Makes state, federal, regional, or private entities or persons eligible for such funding. Requires that preference be given to public-private partnerships.

Specifies that national fisheries investment program funds be used by the Secretary for research and investment that supports rebuilding and maintaining healthy U.S. fish populations and promotes sustainable fisheries. (Currently, such funds are used for harvesting, processing, marketing, and other associated infrastructures.)

Allocates monies to each Council and marine fisheries commissions.

Designates an amount to be distributed among eligible recipients of assistance for commercial fishery failures and fishery disasters declared by the Secretary in 2012 under specified provisions of the Interjurisdicitional Fisheries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Limits to a specified percentage the monies authorized to offset receipts for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operations, research, and facilities.

Date: 2013-02-15
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Gulf Fisheries Fairness Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide each of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida with exclusive fishery management authority over reef fish: (1) within the exclusive economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico in waters of a specified average depth on a continuous line within a minimum distance of nine nautical miles from the baseline from which the territorial sea of the United States is measured, and (2) between projected jurisdictional lines determined by the President under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish a description and map of the applicable line along the coasts of such states.

Prohibits the Secretary from suspending, revoking, terminating, or otherwise limiting the authority of any person under federal law to engage in fishing based on the person fishing for Gulf reef fish in waters subject to the exclusive authority of such states.

Exempts such waters from specified federal regulatory requirements addressing fishery permits.

Date: 2013-03-15
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to authorize the Secretary of the department in which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is operating to issue one-year permits to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission for the lethal taking on the waters of the Columbia River or its tributaries of sea lions that are part of a healthy population that is not listed as an endangered species or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in order to protect endangered and threatened species of salmon and other nonlisted fish species. Authorizes the Secretary to renew such permits.

Prohibits such a permit from authorizing the lethal taking of more than 10 sea lions. Limits the cumulative annual taking of sea lions each year under all such permits to 1% of the annual potential biological removal level.

Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the issuance of such permits if, after five years, lethal removal authority is no longer necessary to protect salmonid and other fish species from sea lion predation.

Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) preventing predation by sea lions, recovery of listed salmonid stocks, and preventing future listings of fish stocks in the Columbia River is a vital priority; (2) permit holders exercising lethal removal authority should be trained in wildlife management; and (3) the government should continue to fund lethal and nonlethal removal measures for preventing such predation.

Date: 2013-03-21
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Animals
Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to add Rhode Island to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and increase Council membership from 21 to 23 members, including: (1) the principal Rhode Island official with marine fishery management responsibility, and (2) a member appointed by the Secretary of Commerce from a list of individuals submitted by the governor of Rhode Island.

Date: 2013-04-11
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act - Prohibits a person from: (1) shipping, transporting, offering for sale, selling, or purchasing a covered fish, or a food product containing such fish, in interstate commerce; (2) having custody, control, or possession of, with the intent to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase such fish or food products, in interstate or foreign commerce; (3) engaging in net-pen aquaculture of such fish; (4) releasing such fish into a natural environment; or (5) having custody, control, or possession of such fish with the intent to release it into a natural environment.

 Defines "covered fish" as any finfish (live or dead, including the gametes, fertilized eggs, offspring, and descendants) that is modified or produced through the application of recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technologies, using DNA from an organism's own genome or that of another species, that overcome natural physiological reproductive barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.

Exempts from such prohibitions fish, fish parts, or products confined for scientific research or collected to enforce this Act. Sets forth an additional exception if the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, upon reviewing any application requesting a federal agency to permit activity prohibited by this Act: (1) prepares a finding of no significant impact in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, or (2) finds the application to be consistent with an environmental impact statement that includes an environmental risk analysis and specified assessments of costs and potential economic damage.

Directs each federal agency to promptly notify the Under Secretary when an action involving such covered fish or food products is first identified by such agency.

Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to enforce penalties for violations of this Act under specified provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Date: 2013-04-23
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Commerce
National Mitigation Fisheries Coordination Act - Directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to impose a charge for conducting mitigation fishery activities in connection with federal water resources development projects carried out by water development agencies (Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, or the Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA]). Requires such agencies to pay the charge in accordance with a fishery mitigation plan developed and approved by the USFWS Director and the agency head.

Defines "mitigation fishery activities" as rearing and stocking of native and nonnative fish to replace or maintain fishery resources or harvest levels lost as a result of such a project, including project planning, population assessment and evaluation, genetic monitoring, broodstock development, and fish health sampling.

Requires USFWS's charges to be reasonably related to expenditures necessary to: (1) operate, maintain, and rehabilitate certain USFWS-owned and -operated mitigation fishery facilities, hatcheries, and health centers; and (2) conduct mitigation fishery activities, including expenditures for personnel, transportation, utilities, contractual services, fish feed, supplies, equipment, routine maintenance, deferred maintenance, fish eggs, technical support, fish health, management and administration, planning, outreach and education, and hatchery product evaluations.

Sets forth a listing of applicable mitigation fishery facilities in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Date: 2013-06-05
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Water resources development
Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act or the REFI Pacific Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce (upon receipt of such assurances as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States) 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.

Requires such loan to have a maturity that expires 45 years after the date of issuance, subject to extension if there is an outstanding balance after such period.

Prohibits the fee with respect to such loan from exceeding 3% of the ex-vessel value of the harvest from each fishery for which the loan is issued.

Sets forth requirements for direct loan interest rates, subloans, and the calculation of the ex-vessel landing fee to be collected for payment of such loan.

Date: 2013-07-10
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Stanislaus River Native Anadromous Fish Improvement Act - Directs the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Oakdale Irrigation District, and the South San Joaquin Irrigation District to jointly develop and conduct a pilot non-native predator fish removal program to remove non-native striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black bass, and other non-native predator fish from the Stanislaus River.

Requires the program to: (1) be scientifically based; (2) include methods to quantify the number and size of predator fish removed each year, the impact of such removal on the overall abundance of predator fish, and the impact of such removal on the populations of certain juvenile anadromous fish found in the Stanislaus River; and (3) be implemented for five consecutive years.

Requires such Districts to be responsible for the cost of such program.

Directs the Commissioner to post a monthly summary of the raw data on the Bureau website.

Requires the Commissioner and districts, following the completion of the program, to publish a peer reviewed report that discusses findings and makes recommendations for further study and action.

Voids and preempts any California legal restriction imposed on the catch, take, or harvest of any non-native or introduced aquatic or terrestrial species that preys upon specified stocks of anadromous fish and that occupies or is found in the Stanislaus River.

Defines "anadromous fish" as native stocks of salmon (including steelhead) that, as of October 30, 1992, were present in and had not been extirpated from the Stanislaus River and that ascend such river to reproduce after maturing in San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean. Excludes any stock, strain, or member of American shad, sockeye salmon, or striped bass.

Prohibits a definition of "anadromous fish" provided in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act from applying to the operation of New Melones Dam and Reservoir or to any federal action in the Stanislaus River.

Requires this Act and the authorities provided under this Act to expire seven years after implementation of the pilot program begins.

Date: 2013-07-17
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Animals
Healthy Fisheries through Better Science Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require the Secretary of Commerce to develop and publish at least triennially in the Federal Register (on the same schedule as the fisheries research strategic plan) a plan to conduct stock assessments for all stocks of fish for which a fishery management plan is in effect.

Defines "stock assessment" as an evaluation of the past, present, and future status of a stock of fish, including: (1) a range of life history characteristics, including the stock's geographical boundaries, age, growth, natural mortality, sexual maturity and reproduction, feeding habits, and habitat preferences; and (2) fishing for the stock.

Requires the plan to: (1) establish schedules for conducting initial stock assessments and updating previously conducted assessments; and (2) identify data and analysis, especially concerning recreational fishing, that would reduce uncertainty in and improve the accuracy of future stock assessments, including whether such data and analysis could be provided by nongovernmental sources, such as fishermen, fishing communities, universities, and research institutions. Provides for waivers of stock assessment requirements when the Secretary determines that the assessment is not necessary and justifies such determination in the Federal Register notice.

Directs the Secretary to develop and publish in the Federal Register guidelines to incorporate data, analysis, and stock assessments from nongovernmental sources into fisheries management decisions and to establish a registry of information providers. Requires the Secretary and Regional Fishery Management Councils to use such information as the best scientific information available in fisheries management decisions, unless otherwise determined by the science and statistical committee of such Councils.

Directs the Secretary to report to Congress regarding each fishery governed by a fishery management plan to: (1) identify the goals and methods of the applicable programs governing monitoring and enforcement of fishing subject to such plan; (2) certify which methods are most cost-effective; and (3) explain why such most-cost-effective methods are not required, if applicable.

Prohibits the Secretary from collecting certain fishing permit fees and North Pacific Council fisheries research plan implementation fees before identifying the costs that will be recovered by such fee.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013 - Directs the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to: (1) prepare and adopt a data collection strategy for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery, including interstate collaboration measures and a plan for annual stock assessments; and (2) prepare, adopt, and submit to the Secretary of Commerce a fishery management plan providing for the conservation and management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper and describing the standards of compliance for Gulf coastal states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to use in developing fishery management measures.

Permits an increase in the quota of Gulf of Mexico red snapper apportioned to commercial fishing based on stock assessments. Prohibits such plan, for a three-year period, from reducing such quota, except in the event of a reduction in stock prior to the end of such period in which case the quotas apportioned to all fishing sectors shall be reduced to ensure a sustainable harvest.

Directs the Secretary to determine whether the plan: (1) includes fishery management measures compatible with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and (2) ensures the long-term sustainability of Gulf of Mexico red snapper.

Requires each Gulf coastal state to submit for the Commission's approval appropriate management measures that ensure compliance with the objectives of the fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary, upon receiving the Commission's certification that the management measures of all such states have been approved, to: (1) revoke federal regulations and portions of the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico that conflict with the plan for Gulf of Mexico red snapper, and (2) transfer management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper to such states.

Directs the Commission to determine, periodically, whether state enforcement is satisfactory. Requires the Commission to: (1) offer assistance to noncompliant states, and (2) vote on whether to notify the Secretary when a state remains noncompliant. Authorizes the Secretary to close a fishery within federal waters adjacent to a noncompliant state.

Directs the Secretary to report biennially to Congress, the governor of each Gulf coastal state, and the Commission regarding the economic impacts for the local, regional, and national economy of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery.

Date: 2013-09-12
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
New York Fair Fishing Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to add the state of New York as a member of the New England Fishery Management Council.

Date: 2014-01-10
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Fluke Fairness Act - Directs the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to submit for approval by the Secretary of Commerce a modified fishery management plan for the commercial and recreational management of summer flounder, or an amendment to such plan, that: (1) is based on the best scientific information available; (2) reflects changes in the distribution, abundance, and location of summer flounder in establishing distribution of the commercial and recreational catch quotas; (3) considers regional, coastwide, or other management measures that comply with national standards under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and (4) prohibits the allocation of catch quotas on a state-by-state basis using historical landings data that does not reflect the status of the summer flounder stock, based on the most recent scientific information.

Requires the Council, in preparing such modifications or amendments, to consult with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Directs the Secretary to prepare and approve a plan if the Council fails to submit such modifications or amendments.

Requires a Comptroller General (GAO) report that assesses whether the subsequent implementation of the approved plan complies with national standards.

Date: 2014-01-14
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Salmon Solutions and Planning Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences for scientific analysis of federal salmon recovery actions, including the impact that removal of the four lower Snake River dams would have on recovery of salmon and steelhead populations and any additional actions that may be necessary to achieve recovery of salmon and steelhead populations.

Directs: (1) the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a peer-reviewed study of the rail, highway, and Columbia River barge infrastructure improvements that would be necessary to ensure a cost-effective and efficient transportation system for shippers who currently use barge transportation between Lewiston, Idaho, and the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers and who would be unable to do so if the four lower Snake River dams were removed; (2) the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to conduct a peer-reviewed study  of the options to replace the power currently generated by such dams if they were removed; (3) the Army Corps of Engineers to analyze riverfront revitalization and restoration opportunities and costs in the event of such removal; and (4) the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct a peer-reviewed analysis of the options and costs regarding any needed modifications to affected irrigation systems, cooling systems, and private wells if the dams were removed.

Sets forth the congressional determination that the Secretary of the Army may remove the four lower Snake River dams.

Directs the Secretary to reevaluate and update the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Final Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement (February 2002) pursuant to new information.

Date: 2014-02-26
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Supporting New Avenues to Protect Our Fishermen's Resources Act or the SNAPR Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to repeal a provision that requires any fishery management plan, plan amendment, or regulation submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to contain conservation and management measures that establish catch limits (separate quotas for recreational and commercial fishing that, when reached, result in a prohibition on the retention of caught fish for the remainder of the fishing year) for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
EEZ Clarification Act - Declares that the landward boundary of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between the area south of Montauk, New York, and the area south of Point Judith, Rhode Island, for purposes of all federal laws governing marine fisheries management, shall be considered to be a continuous line running: (1) from a point three miles south of the southernmost point of Montauk to a point three miles south of the southernmost point of Block Island, Rhode Island, and (2) from such point three miles south of the southernmost point of Block Island, Rhode Island, to a point three miles south of the southern most point of Point Judith.

Vests the authority to manage fisheries landward of such line in states and interstate marine fisheries management commissions that otherwise have jurisdiction over such waters.

Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress within three years on the impact of such boundary points and management authority.

Date: 2014-05-22
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
State Fisheries Act of 2014 - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide, for purposes of managing fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, that the seaward boundary of a coastal state's jurisdiction in the Gulf of Mexico is a line nine nautical miles seaward from the baseline from which the territorial sea of the United States is measured.

Date: 2014-05-22
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
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 “overfished” with “depleted” 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.

Date: 2014-05-23
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Fish Hatchery Protection Act - Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from permanently closing, reprograming, repurposing, decommissioning, significantly altering, or moving to caretaker status any fish and other aquatic species propagation hatchery or propagation program within the National Fish Hatchery System unless such action is expressly authorized by an Act of Congress.

Makes this Act effective from November 1, 2013, to 10 years after this Act's enactment.

Date: 2014-07-08
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 2013 - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, with respect to multispecies fishing permits in the Gulf of Mexico, to remove a provision limiting the eligible signers (fishermen constituting more than 50% of the permit holders, or holding more than 50% of the allocation in the fishery) of a petition to the Secretary of Commerce requesting that the appropriate Regional Fishery Management Council or Councils be authorized to initiate the development of a limited access privilege program to only those participants who have substantially fished the species proposed to be included in the program.

Sets forth procedures for the Secretary to: (1) certify a fishery management plan (or amendment) requested by a percentage of eligible fisherman to establish a limited access privilege program to harvest in fisheries under the authority of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; (2) terminate such a program in effect on or established after enactment of this Act for a fishery under the authority of such Councils when, within specified periods, the number of eligible fishermen is at least 15% less than the number of such fishermen previously in the fishery; and (3) collect fees, including observer costs, pursuant to modified fee-setting requirements for such programs.

Directs the appropriate Council, within a one-year period, to develop an alternative fishery management plan for any such terminated program.

Date: 2013-02-04
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act - Prohibits a person from: (1) shipping, transporting, offering for sale, selling, or purchasing a covered fish, or a food product containing such fish, in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) having custody, control, or possession of, with the intent to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase such fish or food products, in interstate or foreign commerce; (3) releasing such fish into a natural environment; or (4) having custody, control, or possession of such fish with the intent to release it into a natural environment.

 Defines "covered fish" as a salmon or other anadromous or marine fish (live or dead, including the gametes, fertilized eggs, offspring, and descendants) that is modified or produced through the application of recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technologies, using DNA from an organism's own genome or that of another species, which overcome natural physiological reproductive barriers and which are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.

Exempts from such prohibitions fish, fish parts, or products confined for scientific research or collected to enforce this Act. Sets forth an additional exception if the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, upon reviewing any application requesting a federal agency to permit activity prohibited by this Act: (1) prepares a finding of no significant impact in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, or (2) finds the application to be consistent with an environmental impact statement that includes an environmental risk analysis and specified assessments of costs and potential economic damage.

Directs each federal agency to promptly notify the Under Secretary when an action involving such covered fish or food products is first identified.

Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to enforce penalties for violations of this Act under specified provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Date: 2013-02-07
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Commerce
Maritime Lien Reform Act of 2013 - Bars specified federal shipping laws related to maritime liability from: (1) establishing maritime liens on state or federal fishing licenses (authorizing a person or use of a vessel to engage in fishing), and (2) authorizing civil actions to enforce maritime liens on such licenses.

Specifies that a "fishing license" is governed solely by the state or federal law under which it was issued and is not included in the whole or as an appurtenance or intangible of a vessel.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to grant to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas exclusive fishery management authority over red snapper fish in the Gulf of Mexico in the area located between the coast line of each such state and the point that is 200 miles seaward of the coast line, consistent with the jurisdictional limit of the exclusive economic zone.

Conditions the grant of authority on the governors of such states agreeing on a fishery management plan, certified to the Secretary within a specified period, to govern the management of such red snapper fish.

Date: 2013-04-17
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013 - Directs the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to prepare, adopt, and submit to the Secretary of Commerce a fishery management plan providing for the conservation and management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper and specifying the requirements necessary for Gulf coastal states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to comply with such plan.

Requires the Commission to ensure an opportunity for public participation in the preparation of the plan.

Prohibits such plan, for a three-year period, from reducing the overall quota of Gulf of Mexico red snapper apportioned to commercial fishing, except in the event of a reduction in stock in which case the quota shall be reduced to ensure a sustainable harvest. Permits an increase in quota based on stock assessments.

Directs the Secretary to determine whether the plan includes fishery management measures compatible with the national standards in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and to certify whether the plan properly conserves and manages Gulf of Mexico red snapper.

Requires each Gulf coastal state to submit to the Commission appropriate management measures to ensure compliance with the conservation objectives of the fishery management plan. Directs the Commission, upon certifying that the states have submitted sufficient measures, to certify to the Secretary to revoke federal management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper. Directs the states to manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper in the adjacent coastal waters consistent with the fishery management plan.

Directs the Secretary, upon receiving the management measures certification from the Commission, to publish notice in the Federal Register revoking regulations and portions of the federal fishery management plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico that conflict with the plan for Gulf of Mexico red snapper, including the deletion of the species from the management unit.

Directs the Commission to determine at least annually whether state enforcement is satisfactory and to notify the Secretary of each negative determination.

Authorizes the Secretary to close the fishery within federal waters adjacent to such a state upon receiving notice of a negative determination or a report that the state has not implemented any necessary measures to end overfishing, rebuild fisheries, or provide for data collection to monitor harvests.

Directs the Secretary to report biennially to Congress on the economic impacts and benefits for the local, regional, and national economy of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery.

Date: 2013-06-13
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act or the REFI Pacific Act - (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary of Commerce (upon receipt of such assurances as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States) 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.

Requires such loan to have a maturity that expires 45 years after the date of issuance. Permits the Secretary to extend the loan under specified conditions if there is an outstanding balance after such period.

Prohibits the fee with respect to such loan from exceeding 3% of the ex-vessel value of the harvest from each fishery for which the loan is issued.

Sets forth requirements for direct loan interest rates, subloans, and the calculation of the ex-vessel landing fee to be collected for payment of such loan.

(Sec. 4) Requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), within 75 days after enactment of this Act, to complete the referenda of fishery participants with respect to the terms for the refinanced loan.

Date: 2013-07-10
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Responsible Seafood Certification and Labeling Act - Prohibits a federal executive agency: (1) in awarding a contract for the procurement, concessions, or vending of fish or seafood, from requiring or referencing a certificate of sustainability for, or otherwise identifying as sustainable, such fish or seafood based on criteria developed by a third party nongovernmental organization; or (2) from endorsing the use of any label, standard, or other scheme to certify fish or seafood as sustainable based on criteria or standards developed by a third party nongovernmental organization.

Nullifies any rule, regulation, or guideline issued by an executive agency, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), that requires or recommends that fish or seafood be certified as sustainable by a third party nongovernmental organization.

Date: 2013-09-18
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Fluke Fairness Act of 2013 - Directs the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to submit for approval by the Secretary of Commerce a modified fishery management plan for the commercial and recreational management of summer flounder, or an amendment to such plan, that: (1) is based on the best scientific information available; (2) reflects changes in the distribution, abundance, and location of summer flounder in establishing distribution of the commercial and recreational catch quotas; (3) considers regional, coastwide, or other management measures that comply with national standards under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and (4) prohibits the allocation of catch quotas on a state-by-state basis using historical landings data that does not reflect the status of the summer flounder stock, based on the most recent scientific information.

Requires the Council, in preparing such modifications or amendments, to consult with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Directs the Secretary to prepare and approve a plan if the Council fails to submit such modifications or amendments.

Requires a Comptroller General (GAO) report that assesses whether the subsequent implementation of the approved plan complies with national standards.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Florida Fisheries Improvement Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to revise requirements for fishery management in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic.

 Gives regional fishery management councils authority to use alternative fishery management measures in a recreational fishery.

Revises requirements for fishery management plans, especially by exempting certain species from fishery rebuilding requirements, changing how to determine the timelines for rebuilding fisheries, and repealing the requirement for plans to contain catch limits for the red snapper.

Authorizes: (1) the collection of funds from fines, penalties, and forfeitures of property for violations of marine resource law to be used for the cost of stock assessments, surveys, and data collection on fisheries; and (2) a citizen owning or leasing an eligible fishery facilities to make an agreement with the Department of Commerce to establish a capital construction fund to provide for the acquisition or reconstruction of a facility.

Requires the Department to make a decision on whether there is a commercial fishery failure because of a fishery resource disaster within 90 days of a receiving a complete estimate of the economic impact of the disaster.

Requires the Gulf Council and the South Atlantic Council to review every five years the allocation of fishing privileges. Authorizes the Councils to delay the review for three one-year periods.

Directs the Department to: (1) arrange for the National Academy of Sciences to study the process of allocating fishing privileges; (2) develop and publish a plan to conduct stock assessments for all stocks of fish for which a MSA fishery management plan is in effect, unless the assessment is not necessary; and (3) report on facilitating greater incorporation of data, analysis, stock assessments, and surveys from nongovernmental sources.

Date: 2014-09-16
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Reauthorizes and revises the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act, the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, the Yukon River Salmon Act of 2000, the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975, and the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act through FY2021. Reauthorizes the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988. Reauthorizes the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act of 1995 through FY2020.

 Extends permanently the authority of Washington, Oregon, and California to manage any Dungeness crab fishery that does not have a fishery management plan under the MSA and is in the exclusive economic zone adjacent to the state.

 Revises the MSA, including by:

 providing for the role of tribal governments in managing fish, adding subsistence fishing to the types of fishing managed under the Act, giving regional fishery management councils the authority to use alternative fishery management measures in a recreational fishery, providing for the management of depleted fisheries, increasing civil and criminal penalties, establishing a Fisheries Enforcement Fund, and revising requirements governing fishery management plans and regional fishery management councils.

Date: 2014-12-09
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce from issuing a permit or in any other way authorizing commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, except in accordance with a law enacted after enactment of this Act.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Prevention of Escapement of Genetically Altered Salmon in the United States Act 

This bill prohibits a person from:

 shipping, transporting, offering for sale, selling, or purchasing a genetically altered finfish, or a food product containing those fish, in commerce; having custody, control, or possession of those fish or food products with the intent to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase them in commerce; engaging in net-pen aquaculture (pens of fish contained by nets) of those fish; releasing those fish into a natural environment; or having custody, control, or possession of those fish with the intent to release them into a natural environment. Fish, fish parts, or products confined for scientific research or collected to enforce this Act are exempted from the prohibition. An additional exemption is established if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): (1) prepares a finding of no significant impact in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 after reviewing an application requesting a federal agency to permit activity prohibited by this Act, or (2) finds the application to be consistent with an environmental impact statement that includes an environmental risk analysis and specified assessments of costs and potential economic damage.

Each federal agency must promptly notify NOAA when an action involving those fish or food products is first identified by the agency.

The Department of Commerce may enforce penalties for violations of this Act under specified provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Date: 2015-01-14
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Commerce
Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act

 (Sec. 3) This bill amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue one-year permits to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission for the lethal taking on the waters of the Columbia River or its tributaries of sea lions that are part of a population that is not categorized as depleted or listed as an endangered or threatened species in order to protect endangered and threatened species of salmon and other nonlisted fish species. These permits may be renewed by NOAA.

The permits may authorize the lethal taking of 10 sea lions or fewer. The cumulative annual taking of sea lions each year under all such permits is limited to 1% of the annual potential biological removal level.

These permits are exempted from environmental review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for five years.

NOAA may suspend the issuance of such permits if, after five years, lethal removal authority is no longer necessary to protect salmonid and other fish species from sea lion predation.

Permit holders exercising lethal removal authority must be trained in wildlife management.

(Sec. 4) The bill: (1) states that it is a vital priority to prevent sea lions from preying on fish, recover listed salmonid stocks, and prevent future listings of fish stocks in the Columbia River; and (2) urges the federal government to fund lethal and nonlethal removal measures for preventing such predation.

Date: 2015-01-27
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Animals
Red Snapper Regulatory Reform Act 

This bill amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to revise requirements on fishing and fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill repeals a requirement that red snapper fishery management plans, plan amendments, or regulation submitted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council contain catch limits.

State jurisdiction over fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico is expanded to nine nautical miles.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission must conduct all fishery stock assessments for fisheries managed under the Council's Reef Fish Management Plan. Stock assessments must: (1) incorporate fisheries survey information collected by universities; (2) use state, university, and private assets to conduct surveys; (3) incorporate surveys conducted on natural and artificial reefs; and (4) emphasize constituent and stakeholder participation in the development of the assessment.

The program created to improve the quality and accuracy of information generated by the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey must take into consideration all fishery effort data collection activities undertaken by the marine resources division of each relevant state of the Council.

Members of the Council are no longer appointed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Healthy Fisheries through Better Science Act

This bill amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require the Department of Commerce to develop and publish a plan to conduct stock assessments for all stocks of fish for which a fishery management plan is in effect. A "stock assessment" is an evaluation of the past, present, and future status of a stock of fish, including: (1) a range of life history characteristics, including the stock's geographical boundaries, age, growth, natural mortality, sexual maturity and reproduction, feeding habits, and habitat preferences; and (2) fishing for the stock. The plan must be developed and published on the same schedule as required for the fisheries research strategic plan.

The plan must: (1) establish schedules for conducting initial stock assessments and updating previously conducted assessments, and (2) identify data and analysis that would reduce uncertainty in and improve the accuracy of future stock assessments. A stock assessment is not required for a stock of fish in the plan if Commerce determines that the assessment is not necessary and justifies the determination in the Federal Register notice.

Commerce must develop and publish in the Federal Register guidelines to incorporate data, analysis, and stock assessments from nongovernmental sources into fisheries management decisions and to establish a registry of information providers. Commerce and Regional Fishery Management Councils must use all data and analyses that meet the guidelines published as the best scientific information available in fisheries management decisions, unless otherwise determined by the science and statistical committees of the Councils.

Commerce may not collect certain fishing permit fees and North Pacific Council fisheries research plan implementation fees before identifying the costs that will be recovered by such fee.

Date: 2015-03-02
Topic: Agriculture (Fisheries & Fishing)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources