[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3735 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3735

To disapprove a rule requiring the use of bycatch reduction devices in 
               the shrimp fishery of the Gulf of Mexico.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 1998

   Mr. Paul (for himself, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Brady, Mr. 
   Cooksey, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Taylor of Mississippi, Mr. Callahan, Mr. 
Scarborough, Mr. John, and Mr. Bonilla) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To disapprove a rule requiring the use of bycatch reduction devices in 
               the shrimp fishery of the Gulf of Mexico.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DISAPPROVAL OF RULE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The National Marine Fisheries Service approved 
        Amendment 9 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp 
        Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico on July 30, 1997, and issued a 
        final rule implementing the amendment on April 14, 1998.
            (2) Such approval is inconsistent with the requirements of 
        the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
        and the provisions popularly known as the Administrative 
        Procedure Act on several grounds, including but not limited to 
        the following:
                    (A) Amendment 9 is not based on the best available 
                scientific and commercial information.
                    (B) The economic information used as a basis for 
                the approval is inaccurate and incomplete and 
                significantly understates the negative impact on the 
                shrimp fishery and coastal communities.
                    (C) The National Marine Fisheries Service failed to 
                establish that bycatch reduction devices are 
                practicable or that approved devices in fact reduce 
                juvenile red snapper mortality by the amounts required 
                to obtain any positive change in the fishery.
    (b) Disapproval of Rule.--The rule issued by the National Marine 
Fisheries Service on April 14, 1998, making amendments to part 622 of 
title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, to implement Amendment 9 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, 
shall have no force or effect.
                                 <all>