The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“COOPERATIVE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1996” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3687-H3689 on April 23, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
COOPERATIVE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1996
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2160) to authorize appropriations to carry out the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2160
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 ``Cooperative Fisheries Management Act of 1996''.
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF INTERJURISDICTIONAL FISHERIES ACT
OF 1986.
Section 308 of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 4107) is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
``(a) General Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Commerce for apportionment to carry out the purposes of this title--
``(1) $3,400,000 for fiscal year 1996;
``(2) $3,900,000 for fiscal year 1997; and
``(3) $4,400,000 for fiscal year 1998.'';
(2) in subsection (c) by striking ``$350,000 for each of the fiscal years 1989, 1990 1991, 1992, and 1993, and
$600,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994 and 1995,'' and inserting ``$650,000 for fiscal year 1996, $700,000 for fiscal year 1997, an $750,000 for fiscal year 1998,''; and
(3) in subsection (d)--
(A) in the heading by striking ``Grants'' and inserting
``Assistance'';
((B) in paragraph (1) by striking ``award grants to person engaged in commercial fisheries, for uninsured losses determined by the Secretary to have been suffered'' and inserting ``help persons engaged in commercial fisheries, either by providing assistance directly to those persons or by providing assistance indirectly through State and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations, for projects or other measures to alleviate harm determined by the Secretary to have been incurred'';
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``a grant'' and inserting
``direct assistance to a person'';
(D) in paragraph (3) by striking ``gross revenues annually,'' and inserting ``net revenues annually from commercial fishing,'';
(E) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
``(4)(A) Assistance may not be provided under this subsection as part of a fishing capacity reduction program in a fishery unless the Secretary determines that adequate conservation and management measures are in place to rebuild the fishery over a reasonable time period.
``(B) As a condition of awarding assistance with respect to a vessel under a fishing capacity reduction program, the Secretary shall--
``(i) prohibit the vessel from being used for fishing; and
``(ii) require that the vessel be--
``(I) scrapped or otherwise disposed of in a manner approved by the Secretary; or
``(II) donated to a nonprofit organization and thereafter used only for purposes of research, education, or training.
``(C) A vessel that is prohibited from fishing under subparagraph (B) shall not be eligible for a fishery endorsement under section 12108(a) of title 46, United States Code, and any such endorsement for the vessel shall not be effective.''; and
(F) in paragraph (5) by striking ``for awarding grants'' and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting ``for receiving assistance under this subsection.''.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ANADROMOUS FISH CONSERVATION
ACT.
Section 4 of the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 757d) is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 4. (a)(1) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the purposes of this Act not to exceed the following sums:
``(A) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997.
``(B) $4,250,000 for fiscal year 1998.
``(2) Sums appropriated under this subsection are authorized to remain available until expended.
``(b) Not more than $625,000 of the funds appropriated under this section in any one fiscal year shall be obligated in any one State.''.
SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE FISHERIES ACT OF 1995.
Section 309(b) of the Fisheries Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-43) is amended by striking ``July 1, 1996'' and inserting
``July 1,1997''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen] and the gentleman from Massachusetts
[Mr. Studds] will each be recognized for 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen].
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2160, the Cooperative Fisheries Management Act of 1995 reauthorizes two important fisheries laws: the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act.
Both these laws help coordinate the management of species that migrate between Federal and State waters, as well as those species migrating between neighboring States' waters. With the reauthorization of these two laws, we will provide much needed resources to States to coordinate the management of these migrating species of fish.
In addition, this legislation allows the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to release disaster assistance funds in New England, the Northwest, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is important to note that these disaster assistance funds have already been appropriated and this bill only makes legislative changes to allow the money to be used in the regional assistance programs.
For example, NOAA is conducting a vessel buy-out program in the Northeast to reduce fishing capacity. Currently, NOAA is limited to purchasing vessels valued under $100,000. This does not allow NOAA to buy-out the larger vessels, which tend to catch more fish, and are often valued at well over $100,000. During the pilot vessel buy-out program, over 95 percent of the 114 voluntary bids received were over
$100,000. This legislation lifts this cap to allowing NOAA to include the vast majority of fishing vessels in this buy-out program.
Additionally, this bill changes the term ``gross revenues'' to
``net revenues from commercial fishing.'' This change will allow the New England buy-out program to target high-liners and large vessels which might not be eligible because the vessel owner earned too much money either from fishing or from other related ventures. This type of large, successful vessel may be the very type of vessel we need to remove from the fishery. This change will allow NOAA the flexibility to target those vessels which have had the most impact on groundfish stocks, buy them out, and remove them from the fishery.
H.R. 2160, assures that vessels bought under this program will be removed from fishing in any fishery, including State waters, by invalidating the commercial fishing endorsement on the Coast Guard documentation for any vessel participating in the buy-out program. Vessels purchased through this buy-out program must either be scrapped, disposed of in a manner approved by the Secretary, or donated to a nonprofit for the purposes of education, training or research.
As I previously stated this bill also makes legislative changes allowing NOAA to expend the much needed disaster assistance funding in the Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. Speaker, fishing families in my district, and throughout the country, are struggling to adjust to new Federal restrictions on groundfishing. And while some new regulations are necessary, we in Congress have an obligation to assist fishing families survive the difficult transition period ahead.
This bill takes several steps to provide relief to fishing families who have never asked for anything more than the chance to make an honest living.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill which reauthorizes appropriations for two small, but important Federal grants programs, the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act.
These two acts authorize grants to States to encourage them to develop cooperative agreements, research, and management plans to conserve and protect anadromous and other coastal fishery resources. These are not new programs. Both have been successfully implemented for many years, and both share broad support among State and Federal fisheries management agencies and the three interstate fisheries management commissions.
In addition, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to implement a vessel buyout program to reduce over-capacity in the decimated New England groundfish fishery. This buyout will be an integral part of the effort to rebuild the stocks in New England, but it will not do the entire job. For that reason, the bill also requires that a rebuilding plan, recently developed by the New England Fishery Management Council, must be approved by the Secretary before the buyout may proceed.
This is a noncontroversial bill that extends two programs which have enjoyed years of success and ensures that taxpayer dollars spent on a buyout in New England will achieve the desired results. I ask Members to support it passage.
Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, there are no further figleaves at the moment on this side, although I must say to the gentleman I find it difficult to picture either Venus or Neptune so attired. Maybe we are immune here.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of a fig leaf-free Congress, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton].
Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being here today to manage this bill and for the very important role that he played in supporting this bill to get it here.
I would also like to say to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds], I thank him for his very fine cooperation on this and many other bills we have worked on together during his tenure here.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2160, the Cooperative Fisheries Management Act. This legislation will reauthorize two important fishery Acts: the Inter-jurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act.
These two acts have done an exceptional job of getting the States, the Federal Government, non-Federal interests and, in some cases, foreign nations to cooperate in the management of transboundary fishery resources.
Both of these acts use grant money to fund research done by the States, interstate commissions, or other interested parties. This allows us to gain a greater understanding of the resource and improve our management techniques.
By reauthorizing these acts, we are demonstrating our commitment to the survival and longevity of these unique fishery resources. Without cooperative management, these resources will likely become depleted, and some species could become extinct. I think it is important to note that we have reduced authorization levels for both of these programs by almost 50 percent.
Mr. Speaker, this is an important piece of legislation and I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on H.R. 2160.
{time} 1630
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maine [Mr. Longley].
Mr. LONGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak on behalf of the act. I think the bill authorizes two important fisheries management laws, the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 and the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act. These laws promote, through grant programs, coordination between State and Federal agencies in the management of migrating species of fish.
H.R. 2160, in addition, will allow for the expenditure of already appropriated disaster relief money in the Northwest, the Gulf of Mexico, and for a vessel buyout program in New England.
Mr. Speaker, I end my remarks by urging Members to support this bill, but with a particular reference to the very difficult time that many of the fishermen from Maine are having dealing with the depletion of the species and the need to restore our stocks. There is a limited amount that the Federal Government can do, but we are trying to do what we can to provide some relief to the fishermen that are under such distress.
So, again, I compliment my colleagues from Massachusetts on both sides of the aisle for their efforts in support of this legislation.
Mr. STUDDS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say that I have no further requests for time, and I note the return of a bipartisan comity down here, and I am tempted to call up a number of other bills but I will resist.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to say, in closing, I would like to applaud my colleague from Massachusetts as ranking member of the subcommittee, also in his previous role as chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, a very, very strong advocate of this program and many other programs, both to protect the environment and to assist fishing families. We certainly appreciate the spirit in which he has offered many pro-environmental and pro-fishing pieces of legislation, and we will certainly miss that contribution to the House Chamber when he retires at the end of this year.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to applaud the effort of our colleague from New Jersey, the chairman of the subcommittee, for the leadership he has shown in bringing this important legislation to the floor. Again, on behalf of the environment, on behalf of States managing coastal areas, I urge all Members to vote for this legislation.
Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2160, the Cooperative Fisheries Management Act. Oregon's fishermen and women who have been devastated by plummeting salmon populations will benefit greatly from this bill.
The bill accomplishes three important goals. First, the bill will allow emergency Federal assistance for fishery disasters to be provided directly to the fishers affected. Second, the measure eliminates the current cap which limits the amount of disaster assistance a fisher may receive. And finally, the bill will eliminate the $100,000 limit on assistance to any individual.
While not a cure for the complex problem of restoring the world-class salmon runs of the Pacific Northwest, this bill will help alleviate some of the hardships felt by displaced fishers. In short, H.R. 2160 helps cut out the road blocks and redtape in the fishing disaster relief program.
In August 1995, we were fortunate enough to receive a multimillion dollar assistance package for Northwest salmon fishers who had been hard-hit by the collapse of fishery resources from the effects of El Nino and drought. Passage of this legislation will ensure that we can distribute these funds in a more efficient manner and gain the most relief per dollar for struggling Northwest fishing communities.
I greatly appreciate the leadership of Chairman Young and Representative Studds on this legislation and their willingness to honor the requests of Pacific Northwest legislators like myself to move this bill quickly so that fishers in our districts can benefit immediately from its provisions.
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Upton). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen] that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2160, as amended.
The question was taken.
Mr. TORKILDSEN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5, rule I, and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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