[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S11649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED:
  S. 1624. A bill to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act to add Rhode Island to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Rhode Island 
Fishermen's Fairness Act of 2003. This legislation would address a 
serious flaw in our Nation's regional fisheries management system by 
adding Rhode Island to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
(MAFMC), which currently consists of representatives from New York, New 
Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
  The MAFMC manages the following 13 species, all of which are landed 
in Rhode Island: Illex squid, loligo squid, Atlantic mackerel, black 
sea bass, bluefish, butterfish, monkfish, scup, spiny dogfish, summer 
flounder, surfclam, ocean quahog, and tilefish.
  In 2001, the most recent year for which final data are available, 
Rhode Island fishermen brought in over 21 percent of MAFMC landings by 
weight--more than any of the MAFMC member States except New Jersey, 
which is responsible for about 56 percent of total MAFMC landings. In 
fact, with the exception of New Jersey, Rhode Island's total 2001 MAFMC 
landings, 44.1 million pounds, nearly equaled those of all other MAFMC 
member States combined, 45.9 million pounds.
  If Rhode Island fishermen are responsible for a large percentage of 
overall MAFMC landings, these species make up an even larger proportion 
of landings within Rhode Island every year. Between 1995 and 2002, 
MAFMC species represented between 29 percent and 58 percent of all 
finfish landed in Rhode Island annually, for an average of 43 percent 
of total landings by weight. In eight of the years between 1990 and 
2002, squid, Illex and loligo, was the number one finfish landed in 
Rhode Island, with a value of between $13 million and $20 million 
annually.
  Yet Rhode Island has no voice in the management of these species.
  Following council tradition and Federal fisheries law, the Rhode 
Island Fishermen's Fairness Act would create two seats on the MAFMC for 
Rhode Island: one seat nominated by the Governor of Rhode Island and 
appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, and a second seat filled by 
Rhode Island's principal State official with marine fishery management 
responsibility. The MAFMC would increase in size from 21 voting members 
to 23.
  There is a precedent for this proposed legislation. In 1996, North 
Carolina's representatives in Congress succeeded in adding that State 
to the MAFMC through an amendment to the Sustainable Fisheries Act. 
Like Rhode Island, a significant proportion of North Carolina's landed 
fish species were managed by the MAFMC, yet the State had no vote on 
the council. Today, Rhode Island's share of total landings for species 
managed by the MAFMC is more than six times greater than that of North 
Carolina.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to restore a measure of 
equity to the fisheries management process by passing the Rhode Island 
Fishermen's Fairness Act. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 
legislation be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1624

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

     SECTION 1. ADDITION OF RHODE ISLAND TO THE MID-ATLANTIC 
                   FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL.

       Section 302(a)(1)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
     Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(1)(B)) is 
     amended--
       (1) by inserting ``Rhode Island,'' after ``Virginia,'';
       (2) by inserting ``Rhode Island,'' after ``except North 
     Carolina,'';
       (3) by striking ``21'' and inserting ``23''; and
       (4) by striking ``13'' and inserting ``14''.
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