Legislative/Congressional

National Legislation
While the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 is the primary fisheries mandate for the Council, it isn’t stagnant and has been updated and reauthorized, the last time in 2006.  Legislation is constantly being introduced in Congress that may impact fisheries in the Western Pacific region.

*From Pacific Islands Fisheries News Spring 2024-Congressional Corner:
With 2024 being an election year and the last year of the 118th Congress, legislation is sure to be moving fast and heavy towards the end of the year. While efforts have focused on the ongoing conflicts in the Ukraine and Palestine, Congress has also been looking at some seafood bills that are worth following.

Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced S. 2011 that would prohibit the importation of seafood and seafood products from Russia. This bill reacts to a Russian prohibition on the importation of U.S. seafood products.
Another bill, S. 2979, introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), increases the rate of duty on shrimp originating from India. While both seafood-related bills are reactive to other national interests, the idea of regulating imports of seafood is significant to fisheries in the Western Pacific. Imports of fish and seafood from foreign countries have hit both the longline and purse seine industry hard, affecting both the fishers and consumers. At the 198th Council meeting in March 2024, Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma testified that market conditions are unprecedented and that the U.S. market is seeing a lot of foreign subsidized, frozen, gassed product overtaking fresh, sustainable, local product.

In other congressional news, Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS) continues to emphasize the importance of American Samoa’s fishing industry in the House Committee on Natural Resources. In a May
1, 2024, hearing on “Examining the President’s FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior,” Rep. Radewagen stated “our fishing industry and our self-sufficiency is now under [existential] pressure from
over-zealous and short-sighted green politics,” referring to an initiative proposing a national marine sanctuary for the Pacific Remote Island Areas. She said the proposal “adds another layer of bureaucracy and adds
no further protection.” She continued “the territories do not want to be a charity case,” but that “if the fishing industry fails in American Samoa, the long-term cost to the federal government will increase exponentially.”
The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held hearings in March on many bills. One bill, H.R. 1792 introduced by Rep. Radewagen, aimed at revising federal
requirements for U.S. commercial fishing vessels operating in the South Pacific, underwent hearings, debates and ultimately passed in the House. Currently awaiting Senate action is the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act of 2023 that details the mutual obligations of the United States and 16 Pacific Island countries when U.S. fishing vessels operate in their region.

The 118th Congress is far from over and likely to ramp up towards its conclusion in December. There is still a lot of time left in the session and extra motivation during this election year.

Click here for current bills in Congress that are of interest to the Council.  Please note that these bills may change and for the most current information, visit www.congress.gov

Regional Legislation
Each of the island areas in the Western Pacific region also have legislative bodies that pass laws that may have impacts on fisheries and fishing communities in their island areas.  To follow legislation of each island area, click on the links below:
American Samoa
CNMI
Guam
Hawaii

Presidential Executive Orders
The President can also impact fisheries through direct management from the Administration in the form of Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations, and other directives.  The table below lists some of the recent Executive Orders that also have a fisheries component.