H.R. 1080 (111th): Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2009

Introduced:
Feb 13, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU0]
Status:
Died (Passed House)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 4100 (112th) on Feb 28, 2012.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on September 22, 2009 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Feb 13, 2009
Referred to Committee Feb 13, 2009
Reported by Committee Jun 10, 2009
Passed House Sep 22, 2009
Cosponsors
15 cosponsors (14D, 1R) (show)
Committees

House Natural Resources

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To strengthen enforcement mechanisms to stop illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Sep 23, 2009.
34 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

9/22/2009.
Section 2 -
Amends the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to enforce that Act and the Pacific Salmon Treaty Act of 1985, the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, the North Pacific Anadromous Stocks Act of 1992, the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988, the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984, the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act of 1995, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act. Directs the Secretary to prevent violations of any of those Acts with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though specified provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act were incorporated into and made a part of, and applicable to, each such Act. Authorizes additional enforcement measures relating to search or inspection of facilities or conveyances, records inspection, shipment detention, arrest, search and seizure, and service of civil or criminal process.
Authorizes the Secretary to disclose certain information to state or federal agencies or internationally to ensure compliance with measures the Secretary enforces, including international fishery agreements to which the United States is a party.
Directs the Secretary to take actions to improve the effectiveness of arrangements made pursuant to an international fishery agreement.
Authorizes:
(1) the development and publication of a list of vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing (IUU), including vessels or owners identified by an international fishery management organization or arrangement made pursuant to an international fishery agreement; and
(2) taking action against listed vessels.
Removes language imposing various sanctions, including denial of port privileges and prohibition of fish and fish product importation, if the Secretary has not yet issued a positive certification regarding whether a nation's nationals or vessels engage in IUU. (Subjects only nations issued a negative certification to enforcement provisions).
Requires identification and listing of nations that:
(1) violate conservation and management measures required under an international fishery management agreement to which the United States is a party; or
(2) fail to effectively address or regulate IUU. Applies the provisions of the Act that apply to nations, as appropriate, to other entities that have competency to enter into international fishery management agreements.
Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions related to IUU and to equivalent conservation measures.
Section 3 -
Amends the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act to require denial of port privileges and other sanctions for vessels of a nation the Secretary has given a negative IUU or conservation certification and prohibits importing fish and fish products and sport fishing equipment from nations with either of such negative certifications.
Section 4 -
Amends the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950 to make it unlawful for a person in charge of a fishing vessel of the United States to (under current law, to knowingly) transport, purchase, sell, offer for sale, import, export, or possess any fish taken in violation of regulations made under specified provisions of the Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. Modifies penalties for violation of regulations promulgated pursuant to the Convention.
Section 6 -
Amends the Pacific Salmon Treaty Act of 1985 to modify penalties for violation of the Act.
Section 7 -
Amends the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act to modify the composition of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Modifies prohibitions and related penalties under the Act.
Section 8 -
Amends the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 to modify penalties under the Act.
Section 9 -
Amends the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984 remove a requirement that, in order to be a violation of the Act, a person knew, or reasonably should have known, that an Antarctic marine living resource was harvested in violation of the Act. Modifies penalties under the Act.
Section 10 -
Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to modify requirements regarding enforcement of, and penalties under, the Act. Removes language requiring an annual report to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate regarding the conservation and management of highly migratory species.
Section 11 -
Amends the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act of 1995 to modify provisions relating to the validity of high seas fishing permits, including removing a five year permit term and voiding the permit if: (1) any other required permit or authorization is expired, revoked, or suspended; or (2) the vessel is no longer documented under the laws of the United States.
Section 12 -
Amends the Pacific Whiting Act of 2006 to direct the Secretary to appoint no more than 2 (under current law, to appoint between 6 and 12) individuals to serve as scientific experts on the joint technical committee established by the Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada on Pacific Hake/Whiting.
Section 13 -
Amends the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act to modify the penalties under the Act.
Section 14 -
Amends the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 to expand enforcement powers under the Act.
Section 15 -
Amends the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act of 1995 to modify penalties under the Act.
Section 16 -
Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to make it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any fish taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any treaty or in contravention of any binding conservation measure adopted by an international agreement or organization to which the United States is a party.
Section 17 -
Authorizes an international cooperation and assistance program, including grants, to provide assistance for sustainable fishery management capacity building efforts. Authorizes appropriations.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hr1080.

Background

According to House Report 111-228, more than seventy percent of the world's fishing stocks are over fished. There are currently a number of laws meant to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, but each has different enforcement provisions. H.R. 1080 would increase and broaden illegal fishing punishments across the board and allow NOAA and the Coast Guard increased authority when attempting to combat illegal fishing. Illegal fishing represents between 11 and 26 million tons of all fish harvested annually and costs between $10 billion and $23 billion annually, according to the Natural Resources Committee.

According to the Committee, a recent report released to Congress in January, 2009, showed that France, Italy, Libya, Panama, China, and Tunisia all had vessels engaged in illegal fishing. NOAA has opened up consultations with these nations in an attempt to stop the illegal fishing. As a part of the effort to stop international illegal fishing, the legislation would reauthorize funding for the NOAA and the Coast Guard enforcement work and create a new grant program to provide funding and technical expertise to other nations to help them address illegal fishing. Some Members, however, may find it objectionable to use U.S. tax dollars to fund programs for other nations to combat illegal fishing conducted by their citizens.

 

Summary

H.R. 1080 would increase current authority to combat illegal and unregulated fishing and would reauthorize $65 million over five years for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to fight illegal fishing.

Specifically, the bill applies the enforcement authority to a number of current fishing-related statutes, including the Pacific Salmon Treaty Act of 1985, the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, and the North Pacific Anadromous Stocks Act of 1992. H.R. 1080 would grant NOAA and the Coast Guard new authority to enforce fishing restrictions by boarding vessels, making arrests, detaining fish or other evidence for up to five days, searching and seizing vessels, accessing data related to fishing voyages, including inspection of voyage records, and executing warrants. Violations of fishing laws and restrictions would be punishable by $100,000 fines and/or up to six months imprisonment.

The bill would also create a new International Cooperation and Assistance Program, operated by the Secretary of Commerce, through the National Marine Fisheries Service. The program would provide funding and grants to international fishery management efforts. The bill would authorize $5 million annually to establish this new federal grant program for other nations.

 

Cost

According to CBO, H.R. 1080 would cost approximately $55 million over the 2010-2014 period and would increase revenue by less than $500,000 annually from civil penalties.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

  • Public Law 109-479

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Other Citations

  • 5 U.S.C. Chapter 81