[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 43 (Monday, October 29, 2007)]
[Pages 1392-1393]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13449--Protection of Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish 
Populations

October 20, 2007

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, to assist in ensuring faithful 
execution of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, and the 
Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act (chapters 38, 71, and 71A of 
title 16, United States Code), and to conserve striped bass and red drum 
fish, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the United States to 
conserve striped bass and red drum for the recreational, economic, and 
environmental benefit of the present and future generations of 
Americans, based on sound science and in cooperation with State, 
territorial, local, and tribal governments, the private sector, and 
others, as appropriate.
    Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) To carry out the policy set forth in 
section 1, the Secretary of Commerce shall:
    (i) encourage, as appropriate, management under Federal, State, 
territorial, tribal, and local laws that supports the policy of 
conserving striped bass and red drum, including State designation as 
gamefish where the State determines appropriate under applicable law;
    (ii) revise current regulations, as appropriate, to include 
prohibiting the sale of striped bass and red drum caught within the 
Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States off the Atlantic Ocean and 
the Gulf of Mexico;
    (iii) periodically review the status of the striped bass and red 
drum populations within waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
States and:
(A)          take such actions within the authority of the Secretary of 
            Commerce as may be appropriate to carry out the policy set 
            forth in section 1 of this order; and
(B)          recommend to the President such actions as the Secretary 
            may deem appropriate to advance the policy set forth in 
            section 1 that are not within the authority of the 
            Secretary.
    (b) Nothing in this order shall preclude or restrict the production, 
possession, or sale of striped bass or red drum fish that have been 
produced by aquaculture.
    (c) The Secretary of Commerce shall implement subsections 2(a)(i) 
and (iii), insofar as they relate to Atlantic striped bass, jointly with 
the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate.
    Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this order:
    (a) ``Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States'' means the 
marine area of the United States as defined in Presidential Proclamation 
5030 of March 10, 1983, with, for purposes of this order, the inner 
boundary of that zone being a line coterminous with the seaward boundary 
of each of the coastal States;
    (b) ``red drum'' means the species Sciaenops ocellatus; and
    (c) ``striped bass'' means the species Morone saxatilis.
    Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented in a 
manner consistent with applicable law (including but not limited to 
interstate compacts to which the United States has consented by law, 
treaties and other international agreements to which the United States 
is a party, treaties to which the United States and an Indian tribe are 
parties, and laws of the United States conferring rights on Indian 
tribes) and subject to the availability of appropriations.
    (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise 
affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative proposals.
    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a 
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, 
instrumentalities, enti-


[[Page 1393]]

ties, officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 October 20, 2007.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:50 a.m., October 23, 
2007]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
October 24.