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Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act
3/14/2024, 12:48 PM
Congressional Summary of HR 4742
Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act - Revises and reauthorizes through FY2018 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
Revises requirements for fishery management plans for overfished fisheries.
Modifies annual catch limit requirements, including by authorizing Regional Fishery Management Councils to consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic needs of the fishing communities when establishing the limits.
Replaces the term “overfished” with “depleted” throughout the MSA to distinguish between fish that are depleted due to fishing and those that are depleted for other reasons.
Requires fishery management plans to include a fishery impact statement to assess, specify, and analyze the likely effects and impacts of the proposed action on the quality of the human environment.
Requires the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations governing the use of electronic monitoring of fisheries. Authorizes the Secretary to obligate amounts received as fisheries enforcement penalties for collecting information on data-poor fisheries.
Requires the Secretary to publish within a year a plan for implementing the Cooperative Research and Management Program.
Extends the offshore jurisdiction of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from three miles to nine miles for the recreational management of red snapper.
Specifies the role of the MSA in relationship to certain environmental laws.
Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act or the REFI Pacific Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue a loan to refinance the existing debt obligation funding the fishing capacity reduction program for the West Coast groundfish fishery implemented under the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003.
