[House Report 115-1089]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { Rept. 115-1089
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 1
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MEASURES TO COMBAT INVASIVE LIONFISH
_______
December 20, 2018.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 6255]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 6255) to amend title 18, United States Code, to
establish measures to combat invasive lionfish, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 6255 is to amend title 18, United
States Code, to establish measures to combat invasive lionfish.
Background and Need for Legislation
The Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.; also 18 U.S.C. 42)
makes it unlawful to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase
fish, wildlife or plants that are taken, possessed,
transported, or sold in violation of federal, State, tribal or
foreign law or treaty.\1\ Congress originally enacted this law
in response to concerns over the health of native species and
competition from nonnative species.\2\ The Act authorized the
Secretary of Agriculture to reintroduce or bolster native
``game, song, and insectivorous birds'' to the benefit of U.S.
agriculture.\3\ The Act also authorized the Secretary of
Agriculture to prevent the introduction of foreign wildlife.\4\
Finally, the Act sought to supplement State laws for the
protection of game and birds, by preventing wildlife
traffickers from harvesting species illegally in one State and
transporting them for sale in States where similar prohibitions
did not exist.\5\ A statutory list of injurious species banned
from being imported and from certain types of interstate
transportation is found at 18 U.S.C. 42.
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\1\https://www.fws.gov/international/laws-treaties-agreements/us-
conservation-laws/lacey-act.html.
\2\Act of May 25, 1900, 1, 31 Stat. 188.
\3\H. Rep. No. 56-474, at 1 (1900).
\4\Id. at 2.
\5\Id.
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Congress approved significant amendments to the Lacey Act
in 1969, 1981, 1988 and 2008, among numerous smaller amendments
made since the law's enactment.\6\ The 1969 amendments expanded
the Act to include amphibians, reptiles, mollusks and
crustaceans.\7\ The 1981 amendments were more comprehensive in
nature and focused on increasing civil and criminal penalties
while lowering the threshold for an individual's knowledge of
wrongdoing required for convictions under the Act.\8\ The 1988
amendment made prohibitions on wildlife sold in violation of
federal, tribal, State or foreign laws uniform throughout the
law.\9\ This amendment further strengthened prohibitions and
penalties on mislabeling shipments of fish, wildlife, and
plants.\10\ The 2008 amendment extended the Act's prohibitions
to cover nonnative plants and violations of foreign law. This
significant expansion imposed broad compliance requirements for
importers covering virtually all global plant species, in the
name of curbing international illegal logging.\11\ The
Departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture, acting
through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine
Fisheries Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, respectively, enforce the Lacey Act in its current
form.\12\
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\6\https://www.animallaw.info/article/overview-lacey-act-16-usc-ss-
3371-3378.
\7\S. Rep. No. 91-526, at 1(1969).
\8\Anderson, R.S. (1995), The Lacey Act: America's Premier Weapon
in the Fight Against Unlawful Wildlife Trafficking (16 Pub. Land L.
Rev. 27), at 50.
\9\Id. at 52.
\10\Id. at 52-53.
\11\H. Rep. 110-627 at 893.
\12\Anderson, R.S. (1995), The Lacey Act: America's Premier Weapon
in the Fight Against Unlawful Wildlife Trafficking (16 Pub. Land L.
Rev. 27), at 54.
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Lionfish is a type of carnivorous fish native to the South
Pacific and Indian Oceans.\13\ Lionfish thrive in warm waters
of the tropics and in a variety of habitats. According to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
lionfish were spread to the Atlantic via the aquarium trade and
were likely released into the wild voluntarily.\14\ Lionfish
are voracious and reproduce year-round in high volumes; as such
lionfish have come to dominate many ecosystems across the South
Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.\15\
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\13\NOAA, What is a lionfish?, Official website of the National
Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish-facts.html.
\14\NOAA, Lionfish Invasion! Lionfish Invade U.S. Waters, Official
website of the National Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/
education/stories/lionfish/lion02_invade.html.
\15\Id.
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Invasive species cost the U.S. economy an estimated $137
billion annually.\16\ According to NOAA, the first evidence of
established lionfish populations in the Atlantic came in 2002
from a specimen retrieved by divers off the coast of North
Carolina;\17\ however, there were sightings off Florida as
early as the 1980s.\18\ In a 2012 study, researchers found
that, as of 2010, lionfish represented approximately 40% of the
total predator biomass throughout their survey range in reefs
off the coast of the Bahamas.\19\ In Atlantic waters, lionfish
have almost no natural predators, but feed on a variety of fish
and crustaceans, including commercially valuable species such
as snapper and grouper.\20\ It is unclear to what degree
lionfish abundance adversely impacts abundance of native prey
species.\21\ Lionfish can also have indirect ecological
impacts: they prey on herbivorous parrotfish which, if
unchecked, can increase nuisance vegetation in reefs.\22\
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\16\Morris, J.A., Jr., and P.E. Whitfield. 2009. Biology, Ecology,
Control and Management of the Invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish: An
Updated Integrated Assessment. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS
99.57 at 1 http://aquaticcommons.org/2847/1/NCCOS_TM_99.pdf.
\17\NOAA, Lionfish Invade! Lionfish Invade U.S. Waters, Official
Website of the National Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/
education/stories/lionfish/lion02_invade.html.
\18\Morris, J.A., Jr., and P.E. Whitfield. 2009. Biology, Ecology,
Control and Management of the Invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish: An
Updated Integrated Assessment. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 99.
57 pp, at i http://aquaticcommons.org/2847/1/NCCOS_TM_99.pdf.
\19\Green, S. J., Akins, J. L., Maljkovic, A., & Cote, I. M.
(2012). Invasive Lionfish Drive Atlantic Coral Reef Fish Declines. PLoS
ONE,7(3). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032596.
\20\NOAA, What is a turkeyfish?, Official website of the National
Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/turkeyfish.html.
\21\Hackerott, S., Valdivia, A., Cox, C. E., Silbiger, N. J., &
Bruno, J. F. (2017). Invasive lionfish had no measurable effect on prey
fish community structure across the Belizean Barrier Reef. PeerJ,5.
doi:10.7717/peerj.3270.
\22\NOAA, What is a lionfish?, Official website of the National
Ocean Service, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish-facts.html.
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Gulf States have taken the lead on lionfish control.
Florida organizes an annual competition where the State rewards
participants for harvesting certain amounts of lionfish with
increasing rewards for more.\23\ In 2014, Florida became the
first State to ban the importation of live lionfish while
simultaneously loosening fishing restrictions.\24\ Creating and
boosting demand for lionfish as food is the centerpiece and
most promising of the control efforts.\25\
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\23\Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Lionfish
Challenge 2018, Official Website of Florida FWCC, http://myfwc.com/
fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/challenge/.
\24\Pillion, D. (2014, June 18). Florida bans importing live
lionfish in aquarium trade, allows more spearfishing to combat invasive
species. Retrieved from https://www.al.com/news/beaches/index.ssf/2014/
06/florida_bans_importing_live_li.html.
\25\Shemkus, S. (2016, April 11). Eat an Invasive Species for
Dinner. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/
2016/04/invasive-lionfish/477570/.
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In response to fears over the further spread of lionfish
throughout the U.S. marine environment, Congressman Darren Soto
introduced H.R. 6255, which would add several species of
lionfish to the injurious species list codified at 18 U.S.C.
42.\26\ In an effort to preserve control efforts focused on
markets for lionfish products, this legislation provides an
exemption with respect to importation and exportation permits
for certain lionfish seafood products.
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\26\H.R. 6255, 115th Cong. (2018), available at https://
www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6255.
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H.R. 6255 would have the United States follow the example
of Florida and ban the importation and some domestic
transportation of lionfish. The conservation benefits of
enacting this legislation are unclear, and there may be
unintended consequences this bill would have on efforts to
create markets for lionfish products. Potential unintended
consequences notwithstanding, this legislation is a good-faith
attempt to address a serious challenge for coastal communities
in Florida and across the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic.
Committee Action
H.R. 6255 was introduced on June 27, 2018, by Congressman
Darren Soto (D-FL). The bill was referred primarily to the
Committee on the Judiciary and additionally to the Committee on
Natural Resources. Within the Natural Resources Committee, the
bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and
Oceans. On September 26, 2018, the Natural Resources Committee
met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by
unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill was
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by
unanimous consent.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Compliance With House Rule XIII and Congressional Budget Act
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, December 19, 2018.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 6255, a bill to
amend title 18, United States Code, to establish measures to
combat invasive lionfish, and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 6255--A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to establish
measures to combat invasive lionfish, and for other purposes
H.R. 6255 would amend the Lacey Act to prohibit the
importation of 11 species of live lionfish. The bill also would
restrict domestic transportation of those species. Using
information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, CBO estimates that the cost of implementing
H.R. 6255 would not be significant in any year.
Because people convicted of importing lionfish under H.R.
6255 could be subject to criminal fines, the federal government
might collect additional fines under the bill. Criminal fines
are recorded as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund,
and later spent without further appropriation action. CBO
expects that any additional revenues and direct spending would
not be significant because the bill would probably affect only
a small number of cases.
Because enacting H.R. 6255 could affect direct spending and
revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO
estimates that the bill's net effect on the deficit would be
negligible.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6255 would not
significantly increase net direct spending and would not
increase on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-
year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 6255 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by prohibiting live
lionfish from being imported into and transported within the
United States. The bill would primarily affect vendors who sell
live lionfish as pets across state lines. CBO estimates that
the loss of income to those vendors resulting from the bill's
prohibitions would be small and fall below the annual threshold
established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($160 million
in 2018, adjusted annually for inflation).
The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined
in UMRA.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Robert Reese
(for federal costs) and Zachary Byrum (for mandates). The
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to amend title 18, United States
Code, to establish measures to combat invasive lionfish.
Earmark Statement
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Compliance With H. Res. 5
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE
PART I--CRIMES
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CHAPTER 3--ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND PLANTS
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Sec. 42. Importation or shipment of injurious mammals, birds, fish
(including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and
reptiles; permits, specimens for museums;
regulations
(a)(1) The importation into the United States, any territory
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any possession of the United
States, or any shipment between the continental United States,
the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, or any possession of the United States, of the mongoose
of the species Herpestes auropunctatus; of the species of so-
called ``flying foxes'' or fruit bats of the genus Pteropus; of
the zebra mussel of the species Dreissena polymorpha; of the
red lionfish of the species Pterois volitans; of the devil
lionfish of the species Pterois miles; of the Hawaiian
turkeyfish of the species Pterois sphex; of the soldier
lionfish of the species Pterois russelii; of the clearfin
lionfish of the species Pterois radiata; of the species Pterois
paucispinula; of the frillfin turkeyfish of the species Pterois
mombasae; of the luna lionfish of the species Pterois lunalata;
of the mandritsa of the species Pterois brevipectoralis; of the
spotfin lionfish of the species Pterois antennata; of the
scorpionfish of the species Pterois andover; of the bighead
carp of the species Hypophthalmichthys nobilis; and such other
species of wild mammals, wild birds, fish (including mollusks
and crustacea), amphibians, reptiles, brown tree snakes, or the
offspring or eggs of any of the foregoing which the Secretary
of the Interior may prescribe by regulation to be injurious to
human beings, to the interests of agriculture, horticulture,
forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the
United States, is hereby prohibited. All such prohibited
mammals, birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea),
amphibians, and reptiles, and the eggs or offspring therefrom,
shall be promptly exported or destroyed at the expense of the
importer or consignee. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to repeal or modify any provision of the Public
Health Service Act or Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Also, this section shall not authorize any action with respect
to the importation of any plant pest as defined in the Federal
Plant Pest Act, insofar as such importation is subject to
regulation under that Act.
(2) As used in this subsection, the term ``wild'' relates to
any creatures that, whether or not raised in captivity,
normally are found in a wild state; and the terms ``wildlife''
and ``wildlife resources'' include those resources that
comprise wild mammals, wild birds, fish (including mollusks and
crustacea), and all other classes of wild creatures whatsoever,
and all types of aquatic and land vegetation upon which such
wildlife resources are dependent.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Secretary of the
Interior, when he finds that there has been a proper showing of
responsibility and continued protection of the public interest
and health, shall permit the importation for zoological,
educational, medical, and scientific purposes of any mammals,
birds, fish, (including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and
reptiles, or the offspring or eggs thereof, where such
importation would be prohibited otherwise by or pursuant to
this Act, and this Act shall not restrict importations by
Federal agencies for their own use.
(4) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the importation
of dead natural-history specimens for museums or for scientific
collections, or the importation of domesticated canaries,
parrots (including all other species of psittacine birds), or
such other cage birds as the Secretary of the Interior may
designate.
(5) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of the
Interior shall enforce the provisions of this subsection,
including any regulations issued hereunder, and, if requested
by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury
may require the furnishing of an appropriate bond when
desirable to insure compliance with such provisions.
(b) Whoever violates this section, or any regulation issued
pursuant thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than six months, or both.
(c) The Secretary of the Interior within one hundred and
eighty days of the enactment of the Lacey Act Amendments of
1981 shall prescribe such requirements and issue such permits
as he may deem necessary for the transportation of wild animals
and birds under humane and healthful conditions, and it shall
be unlawful for any person, including any importer, knowingly
to cause or permit any wild animal or bird to be transported to
the United States, or any Territory or district thereof, under
inhumane or unhealthful conditions or in violation of such
requirements. In any criminal prosecution for violation of this
subsection and in any administrative proceeding for the
suspension of the issuance of further permits--
(1) the condition of any vessel or conveyance, or the
enclosures in which wild animals or birds are confined
therein, upon its arrival in the United States, or any
Territory or district thereof, shall constitute
relevant evidence in determining whether the provisions
of this subsection have been violated; and
(2) the presence in such vessel or conveyance at such
time of a substantial ratio of dead, crippled,
diseased, or starving wild animals or birds shall be
deemed prima facie evidence of the violation of the
provisions of this subsection.
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