[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1646 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1646

 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
   to preserve jobs and coastal communities through transparency and 
     accountability in fishery management, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2011

  Mr. Runyan 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 preserve jobs and coastal communities through transparency and 
     accountability in fishery management, 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 ``American Angler Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING SCIENTIFIC REVIEW.

    Section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g)(1)(B)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(B)'';
                    (B) by inserting ``risk neutral'' before 
                ``scientific advice''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(i) A scientific and statistical committee may 
                not provide a recommendation to increase or decrease an 
                annual catch limit by 20 percent or greater unless the 
                recommendation has been approved in a peer review 
                process conducted exclusively by non-governmental 
                entities.''; and
            (2) in subsection (h)(7)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the 
                end of subparagraph (B); and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) be submitted to Congress; and''.

SEC. 3. 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) 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 of fish is 
                                on a positive rebuilding trend;
                                    ``(IV) the Secretary determines 
                                that such 10-year period should be 
                                extended for one or more stocks of fish 
                                of a multi-species fishery, provided 
                                that there is evidence that those 
                                stocks are on a positive rebuilding 
                                trend;
                                    ``(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; or
                                    ``(VI) the Secretary determines 
                                that such 10-year period should be 
                                extended because the biomass rebuilding 
                                target exceeds the highest abundance of 
                                the stock of fish in the 25-year period 
                                preceding and there is evidence that 
                                the stock is on a positive rebuilding 
                                trend;''; and
            (2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding subparagraph 
        (A), by inserting after the first sentence the following: ``In 
        evaluating progress to end overfishing and to rebuild 
        overfished stocks of fish, the Secretary shall review factors, 
        other than commercial fishing and recreational fishing, that 
        may contribute to a stock of fish's overfished status, such as 
        commercial, residential, and industrial development of, or 
        agricultural activity in, coastal areas and their impact on the 
        marine environment, predator/prey relationships of target and 
        related species, and other environmental and ecological changes 
        to the marine conditions.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) If the Secretary determines that extended rebuilding 
        time is warranted under subclause (III), (IV), (V), or (VI) 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.
            ``(9) In this subsection the term `on a positive rebuilding 
        trend' means that the biomass of the stock of fish has shown a 
        substantial increase in abundance since the implementation of 
        the rebuilding plan.''.

SEC. 4. DEADLINE FOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS.

    Section 312(a)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(1)'';
            (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (C), 
        respectively, as clauses (i) through (iii); and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) When acting on the request of the Governor of an affected 
State or a fishing community, the Secretary shall make the 
determination not later than 60 days after the date on which the 
Secretary receives the request.''.

SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Initiation by Eligible Fishermen.--Section 303A(c)(6)(D) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1853a(c)(6)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(D) New england, mid-atlantic, south atlantic, 
                and gulf initiation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case of a fishery 
                        under the authority of the New England, Mid-
                        Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico 
                        Fishery Management Council, a fishery 
                        management plan or an amendment to a fishery 
                        management plan that would establish a limited 
                        access privilege program to harvest fish may 
                        not take effect unless--
                                    ``(I) a petition requesting 
                                development of such a program is 
                                submitted in accordance with clause 
                                (ii) and certified under clause (iii); 
                                and
                                    ``(II) the proposed plan or 
                                amendment has been approved by a vote 
                                of two-thirds of eligible fishermen in 
                                the fishery for which the program would 
                                be established.
                            ``(ii) Petition.--A group of fishermen 
                        constituting more than 50 percent of eligible 
                        fishermen in a fishery may submit a petition to 
                        the Secretary requesting the development of a 
                        limited access privilege program for the 
                        fishery. Any such petition shall clearly state 
                        the fishery to which the limited access 
                        privilege program would apply.
                            ``(iii) Certification by secretary.--Upon 
                        the receipt of any such petition, the Secretary 
                        shall review all of the signatures on the 
                        petition and, if the Secretary determines that 
                        the signatures on the petition are those of 
                        more than 50 percent of eligible fishermen in 
                        the fishery for which the program would be 
                        established, the Secretary shall certify the 
                        petition.
                            ``(iv) Definition of eligible fishermen.--
                        For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
                        `eligible fishermen' means holders of permits 
                        issued under a fishery management plan.''.
    (b) Termination After Five Years.--Section 303A of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Termination.--A limited access privilege program for a 
fishery under the authority of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South 
Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council shall terminate 
at the end of the five-year period beginning on the date that the 
program is established unless at least two-thirds of eligible fishermen 
(as defined in subsection (c)(6)) in the fishery to which the program 
applies approve the continuation of the program.''.

SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR FISHERY CLOSURE.

    (a) Secretarial Requirements.--
            (1) Certification requirement.--Section 303 of the 
        Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1853) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Certification Required for Fishery Closure.--(1) The 
Secretary may not implement a closure of a fishery that would have a 
direct or indirect affect of at least $50,000 on each of more than 25 
small businesses that do business related to the recreational, charter, 
or commercial fishing industries involved in the fishery being closed, 
unless the Secretary certifies that--
                    ``(A) the closure is the only option available for 
                maintaining the fishery at a sustainable level;
                    ``(B) the stock assessment for the fishery has been 
                updated and peer reviewed within the preceding 3-year 
                period; and
                    ``(C) the stock assessment was developed using at 
                least 2 models that were subjected to outside peer 
                review by non-governmental entities prior to such use.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `small business' means any 
business that has had gross revenues of less than $500,000 per year for 
a minimum of three years.''.
            (2) Application to existing closures.--The Secretary 
        shall--
                    (A) review any fishery closure for which notice was 
                published in the Federal Register within the 2-year 
                period preceding the date of enactment of this Act, 
                and--
                            (i) within the 60-day period beginning on 
                        such date of enactment, make the certification 
                        described in the amendment made by subsection 
                        (a)(1) with respect to such closure; or
                            (ii) within the 90-day period beginning on 
                        such date of enactment, review and implement 
                        options other than closure for maintaining the 
                        fishery at a sustainable level;
                    (B) review the effects of each such closure on 
                coastal communities, including--
                            (i) the direct and indirect impact of the 
                        closure on all affected small businesses in 
                        such communities;
                            (ii) the job losses as a result of the 
                        closure that have already occurred in such 
                        communities; and
                            (iii) the job losses as a result of the 
                        closure that are expected to occur in such 
                        communities within the 1-year period beginning 
                        on the date the review is initiated; and
                    (C) report to Congress on the actions taken under 
                the amendment made by subsection (a)(1) or this 
                paragraph for each such closure.
    (b) Report to Congress.--The Secretary shall report to Congress by 
not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act on--
            (1) the number of fishery closures that were established 
        within the 5-year period preceding such date of enactment;
            (2) the reason for each such closure;
            (3) the duration of each such closure;
            (4) the impact of each such closure on coastal communities; 
        and
            (5) the expected duration of each such closure.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Fishery.--The term ``fishery'' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
        Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce, acting through the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration.
            (3) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means any 
        business that has had gross revenues of less than $500,000 per 
        year for a minimum of three years.
                                 <all>