[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 106 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5622-H5623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MAKING TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN MARINE FISH CONSERVATION 
                                STATUTES

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 4528) to make technical amendments to certain marine 
fish conservation statutes, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4528

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

     SECTION 1. BILLFISH CONSERVATION ACT OF 2012.

       Section 4(c)(1) of the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 
     (16 U.S.C. 1827a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting ``and 
     retained'' after ``landed''.

     SEC. 2. SHARK CONSERVATION ACT OF 2010.

       The Act entitled ``An Act to amend the High Seas Driftnet 
     Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens 
     Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the 
     conservation of sharks'', approved January 4, 2011 (Public 
     Law 111-348; 124 Stat. 3668), is amended--
       (1) by striking section 104 and inserting the following:

     ``SEC. 104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       ``Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 
     title shall be construed as affecting, altering, or 
     diminishing in any way the authority of the Secretary of 
     Commerce to establish such conservation and management 
     measures as the Secretary considers necessary and appropriate 
     under sections 302(a)(3) and 304(g) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
     Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
     1852(a)(3), 1854(g)).''; and
       (2) in section 1, by striking the item relating to section 
     104 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 104. Rule of construction.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Today, we are considering an amendment to the Billfish Conservation 
Act that was passed in 2012. Unfortunately, when it was passed, there 
was a loophole in the bill. What this bill today does is close that 
loophole, preserving the original congressional intent, while also 
preserving traditional markups in Hawaii, as well as in our Pacific 
territories. It is supported by everybody and their third cousin.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a 2-page letter of support from 
a broad coalition of sportsmen's groups, manufacturing associations, 
and conservation groups, plus a full list of the supporting 
organizations for this bill.

                                                December 19, 2017.
     The Hon. Rob Bishop
     Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, 
         DC.
     Hon. Raul Grijalva
     Ranking Member, House Committee on Natural Resources, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Grijalva: we 
     strongly urge the House Natural Resources Committee to 
     immediately consider and pass out of committee S. 396, a bill 
     to make a technical amendment to the Billfish Conservation 
     Act of 2012 (P. L. 112-183). The Senate passed S. 396 by 
     unanimous consent on October 2, 2017, receiving no objections 
     or holds during the process to hotline and clear the bill. 
     Considering such bipartisan support in the Senate for this 
     important conservation legislation for Pacific billfish, it 
     is our sincere request that the House Natural Resources 
     Committee clear this bill as soon as possible and have the 
     bill move out of the House under suspension.
       S. 396 provides a technical amendment to the Billfish 
     Conservation Act (BCA) to clarify a slight ambiguity related 
     to the treatment of covered Pacific billfish under the law. 
     The BCA was passed by both the House and Senate with broad 
     bipartisan support on October 5, 2012. The legislation was a 
     rare event in Congress where Members on both sides of the 
     aisle saw the wisdom of passing a bill that would put in 
     place a critical prohibition on the sale of billfish in the 
     continental U.S. The law was intended to put similar 
     prohibitions on the sale of Pacific billfish as those for 
     Atlantic billfish, effectively eliminating an estimated 
     30,000 billfish being imported to the U.S. each year from the 
     Pacific.
       However, over five years since passage of the BCA, the 
     National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) failed to issue 
     regulations to properly implement the law. Failure by NMFS to 
     issue regulations to implement the BCA is effectively 
     undermining the conservation goals of the law and creating 
     uncertainty, where there should be none, on whether Pacific 
     billfish can be sold in the continental U.S. The House 
     passage of S. 396 would eliminate this ambiguity.
       The legislative history in both the House and Senate is 
     extremely clear that the BCA was written to allow 
     traditional, cultural fishing and markets for billfish in 
     Hawaii and the Pacific Insular Area, but otherwise eliminated 
     the market for billfish in the remainder of the U.S. House 
     passage of S. 396 would make this absolutely clear and would 
     immediately put into force the critical conservation 
     requirements of the BCA.
       The Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 was a great 
     conservation win for saltwater anglers. We request you pass 
     S. 396 out of committee to further solidify this victory for 
     preserving Pacific billfish.
           Sincerely,
         Mike Nussman, President & CEO, American Sportfishing 
           Association; Jeff Angers, President, Center for 
           Sportfishing Policy; Patrick Murray, President, Coastal 
           Conservation; Jeff Crane, President, Congressional 
           Sportsmen's Foundation; Guy Harvey, President, Guy 
           Harvey Ocean Foundation; Nehl Horton, President, 
           International Game Fish Association; Thom Dammrich, 
           President, National Marine Manufacturers Association; 
           Ellen Peel, President, The Billfish Foundation.
       International Game Fish Association; Greenpeace; Wild 
     Oceans; Nature Abounds; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Oceana; 
     Blue Ocean Institute; Sierra Club; Center for Biological 
     Diversity; Turttle Island Restoration Network; Endangered 
     Species Coalition; Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation 
     Network; Friends of Earth; WildAid; Mobile Bay Audubon 
     Scoety; BlueVoice.org; Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife; Ocean 
     Conservation Research; Citrus County Audubon Society; Ocean 
     Futures Society.
       Coastal Wildlife Club; WILDCOAST; Duval Audubon Society; 
     E.O. Wison Biophilia Center; Deleware Nature Society; Sierra 
     Club, Delaware Chapter; Eltrose Farms; Alachua Audubon 
     Society; Big Bend Coastal

[[Page H5623]]

     Conservency; Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper; Florida Billfish, 
     Inc.; Florida Wildlife Federation; Four Rivers Audubon; 
     Friends of Gumbo Limbo; Halifax River Audubon Society; 
     Highlands County Audubon Society; Just-in-Time Charters; 
     Loxahatchee Group Sierra Club; Mean Tide Media, LLC; North 
     Swell Media & Consulting.
       Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society; Peace River Audubon 
     Society; Rescue Earth; Save-A-Turtle; Sea to Shore Alliance; 
     Shark Whisperer; Space Coast Audubon Society; Space Coast 
     Kayaking; Wild Florida Adventures; Georgia Conservancy; 
     Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals & Nature; 
     Conservation Council for Hawai`i; Marine Conservation Science 
     Institute; Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter; Gulf Restoration 
     Network; Downeasy Audubon; Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy; 
     Berkshire Environmental Action Team; Cape Cod Bay Watch; New 
     England Coastal Wildlife Alliance.
       Sustainable Plymouth; SandyHook SeaLife Foundation; 
     HerpDigest; New York Turtle and Tortoise Society; Shark 
     Angels; Charlotte Saltwater Sport Fishing Club; North 
     Carolina Wildlife Federation; OCEAN Magazine; PenderWatch & 
     Conservancy; Green Alliance; Coastal Conservation League; 
     Vermonters for Sustainable Population; American Sportfishing 
     Association; Center for Sportfishing Policy; Coastal 
     Conservation Association; Congressional Sportsmen's 
     Foundation; Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation; Internationl Game 
     Fish Association; National Marine Manufacturers Association; 
     The Billfish Foundation.

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 4528, a 
bill to make technical changes to certain marine fish conservation 
statutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bishop--and, Mr. Speaker, I did ask my 
third cousin; he is in support, too--as well as Ranking Member Grijalva 
for all of their collaboration and support on this important bill.
  H.R. 4528 makes technical amendments to two marine fish conservation 
statutes, the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 and the Shark 
Conservation Act of 2010.
  First, the bill amends the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012. It 
clarifies that the exemption from marlin and billfish fishing in Hawaii 
and Pacific insular areas, as is tradition, can only be sold locally. 
More specifically, it clarifies these fish cannot be sold to the other 
49 States. This strikes a balance between preserving traditional 
cultural fishing in these areas and the overall intent to prevent 
large-scale commercial fishing of these billfish.
  Second, it clarifies that, under the Shark Conservation Act of 2010, 
there is no language in the Shark Conservation Act that alters existing 
authority of the Secretary of Commerce to manage Atlantic highly 
migratory species under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It also cleans up 
language in the Shark Conservation Act by removing an expired offset.
  The main goal of this is to ensure protection against shark finning. 
H.R. 4528 will fix confusion within the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration to allow rulemaking to go forward for the 
Atlantic smooth dogfish, a type of shark.
  This bill has support from both the sportsmen-anglers communities and 
conservation groups.
  Again, I thank the Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bishop and 
Ranking Member Grijalva for working with me on this. Without their 
support, this legislation would not be on the floor today.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues in the Chamber to support 
H.R. 4528, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, it is a good bill. I urge its 
support, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Marshall). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4528.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________