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To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

April 22, 2009CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. REED, Mr. BURRIS, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. BAYH, Mr. VITTER, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. LEAHY, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Shark Conservation Act of 2009’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF HIGH SEAS DRIFTNET FISHING MORATORIUM PROTECTION ACT.

(a) ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS- Section 608 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826i) is amended-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (1)-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘and’ at the end; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘and’ after the semicolon; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(F) to adopt shark conservation measures, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and discarding the carcass of the shark at sea;’; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘and’ at the end; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) seeking to enter into international agreements that require measures for the conservation of sharks, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and discarding the carcass of the shark at sea, that are comparable to those of the United States, taking into account different conditions; and’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, OR UNREGULATED FISHING- Subparagraph (A) of section 609(e)(3) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826j(e)(3)) is amended-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by striking the ‘and’ before ‘bycatch reduction requirements’; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ‘, and shark conservation measures;’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) EQUIVALENT CONSERVATION MEASURES- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IDENTIFICATION- Subsection (a) of section 610 of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k) is amended-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘607, a nation if--’and inserting ‘607--’; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (1)--(AB) in paragraph (1)-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(Bii) by moving clauses (i) and (ii) (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4D) by moving subparagraphs (A) through (C) (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5E) by inserting before subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated) the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) a nation if--’; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6F) in subparagraph (C) (as so redesignated) by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘; and’; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7G) by adding at the end the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) a nation if-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) fishing vessels of that nation are engaged, or have been engaged during the preceding calendar year, in fishing activities or practices in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that target or incidentally catch sharks; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) the nation has not adopted a regulatory program to provide for the conservation of sharks, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and discarding the carcass of the shark at sea, that is comparable to that of the United States, taking into account different conditions.’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) INITIAL IDENTIFICATIONS- The Secretary of Commerce shall begin making identifications under paragraph (2) of section 610(a) of the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1826k(a)), as added by paragraph (1)(G), not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT.

Paragraph (1) of section 307 of Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1857) is amended-- CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by amending subparagraph (P) to read as follows: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(P)(i) to remove any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) at sea; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) to have custody, control, or possession of any such fin aboard a fishing vessel unless it is naturally attached to the corresponding carcass; CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) to transfer any such fin from one vessel to another vessel at sea, or to receive any such fin in such transfer, without the fin naturally attached to the corresponding carcass; or CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iv) to land any such fin that is not naturally attached to the corresponding carcass, or to land any shark carcass without such fins naturally attached;’; and CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by striking the matter following subparagraph (R) and inserting the following: CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘For purposes of subparagraph (P), there shall be a rebuttable presumption that if any shark fin (including the tail) is found aboard a vessel, other than a fishing vessel, without being naturally attached to the corresponding carcass, such fin was transferred in violation of subparagraph (P)(iii) andor that if, after landing, the total weight of shark fins (including the tail) landed from any vessel exceeds five percent of the total weight of shark carcasses landed, such fins were taken, held, or landed in violation of subparagraph (P). In such subparagraph, the term ‘naturally attached’, with respect to a shark fin, means attached to the corresponding shark carcass through some portion of uncut skin.’. CommentsClose CommentsPermalink