H.R. 4742: Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

113th Congress · introduced 2014-05-23 · Public Lands and Natural Resources · Latest: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 113-711.

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Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2014-05-23 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Hastings, Doc [R-WA-4] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 113-711. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Plain summary

Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act - Revises and reauthorizes through FY2018 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Revises requirements for fishery management plans for overfished fisheries. Modifies annual catch limit requirements, including by authorizing Regional Fishery Management Councils to consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic needs of the fishing communities when establishing the limits. Replaces the term “overfished” with “depleted” throughout the MSA to distinguish between fish that are depleted due to fishing and those that are depleted for other reasons. Requires fishery management plans to include a fishery impact statement to assess, specify, and analyze the likely effects and impacts of the proposed action on the quality of the human environment. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations governing the use of electronic monitoring of fisheries. Authorizes the Secretary to obligate amounts received as fisheries enforcement penalties for collecting information on data-poor fisheries. Requires the Secretary to publish within a year a plan for implementing the Cooperative Research and Management Program. Extends the offshore jurisdiction of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama from three miles to nine miles for the recreational management of red snapper. Specifies the role of the MSA in relationship to certain environmental laws. Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act or the REFI Pacific Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue a loan to refinance the existing debt obligation funding the fishing capacity reduction program for the West Coast groundfish fishery implemented under the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Hastings, Doc [R-WA-4] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Jurisdiction: The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.
Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113hr4742.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/hr>

Record fed-us-cong113-hr4742 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113