[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4087 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4087

 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
    to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain 
             overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 6, 2007

 Mr. Jones of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
    to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain 
             overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Flexibility in Rebuilding American 
Fisheries Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR REBUILDING CERTAIN OVERFISHED 
              FISHERIES.

    Section 304(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (i) by striking ``possible'' and 
                inserting ``practicable''; and
                    (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) not exceed 10 years, except in cases 
                        where--
                                    ``(I) characteristics of the 
                                biology of the stock of fish, other 
                                environmental conditions, or management 
                                measures under an international 
                                agreement in which the United States 
                                participates dictate otherwise;
                                    ``(II) the Secretary determines 
                                that such 10-year period should be 
                                extended because the cause of the 
                                fishery decline is outside the 
                                jurisdiction of the Council or the 
                                rebuilding program cannot be effective 
                                only by limiting fishing activities;
                                    ``(III) the Secretary determines 
                                that such 10-year period should be 
                                extended to provide for the sustained 
                                participation of fishing communities or 
                                to minimize the economic impacts on 
                                such communities, provided that there 
                                is evidence that the stock is on a 
                                positive rebuilding trajectory;
                                    ``(IV) the Secretary determines 
                                that such 10-year period should be 
                                extended for one or more stocks of a 
                                multi-species fishery, provided that 
                                there is evidence that those stocks are 
                                on a positive rebuilding trajectory; or
                                    ``(V) the Secretary determines that 
                                such 10-year period should be extended 
                                because of a substantial change to the 
                                biomass rebuilding target for the stock 
                                of fish concerned after the rebuilding 
                                plan has taken effect.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) If the Secretary determines that extended rebuilding 
        time is warranted under subclause (III), (IV), or (V) of 
        paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the maximum time allowed for rebuilding 
        the stock of fish concerned may not exceed the sum of the 
        following time periods:
                    ``(A) The initial 10-year rebuilding period.
                    ``(B) The expected time to rebuild the stock absent 
                any fishing mortality and under prevailing 
                environmental conditions.
                    ``(C) The mean generation time of the stock.''.
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