119-hr470

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 470 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 470

To provide that the Secretary of Commerce shall not issue an interim or 
 final rule or Secretarial Amendment that includes an area or bottom 
 closure in the South Atlantic for species managed under the Fishery 
 Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 
 Region until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count study is 
 complete and the data related to that study is integrated into the 
 stock assessment.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 16, 2025

Mr. Rutherford (for himself, Mr. Soto, Mr. Bean of Florida, Mr. Carter 
 of Georgia, Ms. Mace, Mr. Webster of Florida, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. 
 Donalds, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Dunn of 
Florida, Ms. Lee of Florida, Mr. Mast, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Fry, Mr. Austin 
 Scott of Georgia, and Mrs. Luna) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To provide that the Secretary of Commerce shall not issue an interim or 
 final rule or Secretarial Amendment that includes an area or bottom 
 closure in the South Atlantic for species managed under the Fishery 
 Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 
 Region until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count study is 
 complete and the data related to that study is integrated into the 
 stock assessment.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Red Snapper Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. CONDITIONS FOR RULES AND SECRETARIAL AMENDMENTS RELATED TO 
 CERTAIN AREA CLOSURES.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) Fishing is a major economic driver in the South 
 Atlantic. In Florida alone, recreational anglers provide 
 $14,000,000,000 in economic output and support 119,000 jobs.

    (2) Red snapper is a highly prized and sought after reef 
 fish by both recreational and commercial fishermen.

    (3) The 6-day recreational red snapper season in 2018 added 
 $13,000,000 to the gross domestic product of the South Atlantic 
 region.

    (4) Since 2010, fishery managers have successfully been 
 working to rebuild the red snapper stock in the South Atlantic. 
 There is currently record high abundance and strong recruitment 
 within the stock.

    (5) This record abundance has led to increased out-of-
 season encounters and discards which is driving red snapper 
 mortality.

    (6) Despite these increased discards, it is the overriding 
 opinion of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's 
 Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel that based on members' 
 collective on-the-water experience, the red snapper fishery is 
 recovered.

    (7) However, options for future consideration to reduce 
 out-of-season encounters and red snapper mortalities include 
 shorter seasons and broad area closures for the snapper-grouper 
 fishery in the South Atlantic.

    (8) The State of Florida is concerned with the economic 
 implications of area closures for the South Atlantic snapper-
 grouper recreational fishery.

    (9) $8,700,000 has been invested in independent survey data 
 over the last 3 fiscal years, including $3,300,000 for the 
 South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count to estimate the number 
 of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the South Atlantic 
 waters from North Carolina to Florida.

    (10) The National Marine Fisheries Service should 
 incorporate data from this survey into the National Marine 
 Fisheries Service stock assessments as expeditiously as 
 possible to better inform fishery management decisions.

    (b) Condition on Issuance of Certain Rule or Secretarial 
Amendment.--The Secretary of Commerce shall not issue an interim or 
final rule or a Secretarial Amendment that includes an area or bottom 
closure in the South Atlantic for species managed under the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 
Region until--

    (1) the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count study is 
 complete; and

    (2) the data related to that study is integrated into the 
 first South Atlantic red snapper Southeast Data, Assessment and 
 Review stock assessment that is carried out after the date of 
 the enactment of this section.
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