[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2593 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2593
To protect diverse and structurally complex areas of the seabed in the
United States exclusive economic zone by establishing a maximum
diameter size limit on rockhopper, roller, and all other ground gear
used on bottom trawls.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 6, 2002
Mr. Torricelli (for himself and Mr. Cleland) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect diverse and structurally complex areas of the seabed in the
United States exclusive economic zone by establishing a maximum
diameter size limit on rockhopper, roller, and all other ground gear
used on bottom trawls.
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 ``Ocean Habitat Protection Act of
2002''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The fish and other marine species that are associated
with three-dimensional structurally complex seafloor habitats
within the exclusive economic zone of the United States--
(A) constitute valuable and renewable natural
resources;
(B) are an essential component of marine
biodiversity;
(C) contribute to the food supply, economy, and
health of the United States;
(D) support the economies of coastal communities;
and
(E) provide recreational opportunities.
(2) Commercial and recreational fishing constitute major
sources of employment and contribute significantly to the
economy of the United States.
(3) The United States is dependent upon healthy and diverse
ocean ecosystems for income, nutrition, medicines, raw
materials, and valuable natural processes.
(4) Diverse types of sponges, deep sea corals, and other
species are found in marine habitats, many of which have not
been adequately studied for their potential benefit to society
or their ecological importance to fish species and other forms
of marine life.
(5) Habitat complexity and marine biodiversity created by
geologic structures and structure-forming organisms on the
seabed are essential to numerous fish species, including
commercially and recreationally harvested species, that rely on
them for food and shelter from predation.
(6) Bottom trawling reduces habitat complexity and
biological diversity by smoothing geologic bedforms and by
removing, crushing, burying, and exposing benthic organisms to
predators and scavengers.
(7) The reduction of biodiversity caused by bottom trawling
is detrimental to many commercially and recreationally
important species and to the industries and people that depend
on them.
(8) In the past, the practice of bottom trawling was
conducted mainly on soft bottom areas, and was rarely used in
three-dimensional, structurally complex habitats.
(9) Technological modifications to bottom trawls, including
the creation of large rockhopper and roller gear and chafing
gear, facilitate the use of bottom trawls in rocky and other
complex marine habitats that were once refuges for fishes and
other marine life.
(10) The expansion in the use of bottom trawls from soft
bottom areas to three-dimensional, structurally complex
habitats over the past 20 years has had and continues to have
significant, adverse effects on the diversity and habitat
complexity of these areas.
(11) Numerous scientific studies show that bottom trawling
is especially damaging to three-dimensional, structurally
complex habitats such as corals, boulder fields, sponge beds,
and gravel bottoms.
(12) Bottom trawling in these habitats significantly
reduces their value for economically and ecologically important
fishes and other marine life. Reductions in structural
complexity may be long-term and irreversible. Recovery of some
of these areas to their natural state after a single pass of a
trawl may take decades or centuries. With repeated trawling in
the same area, the damage may be irreversible.
(13) Prohibiting the use of large rockhopper, roller, and
other ground gear is a practical, precautionary, and
enforceable measure to protect structurally complex, benthic
marine habitats from the damaging effects of bottom trawling.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF LARGE ROCKHOPPER AND ROLLER GEAR ON
BOTTOM TRAWL NETS.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to prevent bottom
trawls from accessing and damaging three-dimensional, structurally
complex marine habitats that are needed by commercially and
recreationally important fish and other marine life for food and
shelter from predation.
(b) Prohibition.--Section 307(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (O);
(2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (P)
and inserting ``; or''; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (P) the following:
``(Q) to use a bottom trawl with rollers, bobbins,
tires, rockhoppers, or any other devices attached to
the foot rope of the trawl net that are in excess of 8
inches in diameter for fishing that is subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, including fishing by
a vessel of the United States beyond the equivalent of
the exclusive economic zone of all countries.''.
(c) Rebuttable Presumption.--Section 310(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1860(e)) is
amended--
(1) by aligning paragraph (3) with paragraph (2); and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) For purposes of this Act, it shall be a rebuttable
presumption that any vessel that is shoreward of the outer boundary of
the exclusive economic zone or beyond the equivalent zone of all
countries, and that has on board gear comprised of a bottom trawl net
with rollers, bobbins, tires, rockhoppers, or any other device attached
to the foot rope of the trawl net that is in excess of 8 inches in
diameter, is engaged in fishing using such gear.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5207-5208)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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