Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 Public Law 112–183, as amended Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 183 115–228 Statute Compilation United States House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1 2021-10-15 Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 10034 112 2012-10-05 Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 [(Public Law 112–183)] [As Amended Through P.L. 115–228, Enacted August 2, 2018] [Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 112-183. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/] [Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]
AN ACTTo prohibit the sale of billfish. 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 “Billfish Conservation Act of 2012”.
SEC. 2. [16 U.S.C. 1827a note] FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) The United States carefully regulates its domestic fisheries for billfish and participates in international fishery management bodies in the Atlantic and Pacific. (2) Global billfish populations have declined significantly, however, because of overfishing primarily through retention of bycatch by non-United States commercial fishing fleets. (3) Ending the importation of foreign-caught billfish for sale in the United States aligns with U.S. management measures of billfish and protects the significant economic benefits to the U.S. economy of recreational fishing and marine commerce and the traditional cultural fisheries.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. The Congress enacts this Act pursuant to clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution.
SEC. 4. [16 U.S.C. 1827a] PROHIBITION ON SALE OF BILLFISH. (a) Prohibition.—No person shall offer for sale, sell, or have custody, control, or possession of for purposes of offering for sale or selling billfish or products containing billfish. (b) Penalty.—For purposes of section 308(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1857). (c) Exemptions for Traditional Fisheries and Markets.— (1) Subsection (a) does not apply to billfish caught by US fishing vessels and landed and retained in the State of Hawaii or Pacific Insular Areas as defined in section 3(35) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802(35)). (2) Subsection (a) does not apply to billfish landed by foreign fishing vessels in the Pacific Insular Areas when the foreign caught billfish is exported to non-US markets or retained within Hawaii and the Pacific Insular Areas for local consumption. (d) Billfish Defined.—In this section the term “billfish”— (1) means any fish of the species— (A) Makaira nigricans (blue marlin); (B) Kajikia audax (striped marlin); (C) Istiompax indica (black marlin); (D) Istiophorus platypterus (sailfish); (E) Tetrapturus angustirostris (shortbill spearfish); (F) Kajikia albida (white marlin); (G) Tetrapturus georgii (roundscale spearfish); (H) Tetrapturus belone (Mediterranean spearfish); and (I) Tetrapturus pfluegeri (longbill spearfish); and (2) does not include the species Xiphias gladius (swordfish).