Red Snapper Act of 2025

[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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