Cardon Man
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Billfish Conservation Act is signed into law
Today, President Obama signed the the Billfish Conservation Act into law, effectively banning the importation of all billfish into the continental
United States. The signing marks the culmination of a united undertaking by a diverse coalition of angling and conservation organizations working in
cooperation with a bipartisan group of congressional champions. Although there are no commercial fisheries targeting billfish in the US, the US has
been the largest importer of billfish in the world, importing about 30,000 billfish annually.
"This is a tremendous success for these highly migratory species," National Coalition for Marine Conservation President (NCMC) Ken Hinman said.
"Marlin, sailfish, and spearfish do not know country boundaries and travel through three of the planet's oceans. Giving them greater protection in the
United States sets the stage for better protection worldwide."
With the largest buyer out of the market, the NCMC and the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), who championed the bill, will now turn their
attention to the international challenges facing these imperiled species. And with populations of three species of marlin having declined by more than
50%, their efforts come not a moment too soon.
"Recreational anglers and ocean conservationists have been the primary supporters behind the Billfish Conservation Act," IGFA President Rob Kramer
commented, "and I am confident that with this strong step by the United States, we will be able to raise support for more robust measures elsewhere."
The support of the Billfish Conservation Act by groups like the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Coastal Conservation, the Coastal
Conservation Association, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, Keep America Fishing, the National Marine
Manufacturer's Association, OCEARCH and numerous partners in the environmental community played an integral part in the bill's success.
"We have sound science that indicates that billfish are not doing well on a global level," IGFA Conservation Director Jason Schratwieser added.
"Better international protection for these fish benefits open ocean ecosystems and recreational anglers around the world."
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BajaBruno
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Violation of this act is a civil offense with a maximum penalty of $100,000.
Let's hope that Customs, or whoever inspects pet food coming into the U.S., can tell which bags and cans contain billfish. I'm not optimistic.
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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bajadave1
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swordfish?????????????
Does it mention swordfish? really overfished & depleted.
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bill erhardt
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajadave1
Does it mention swordfish? really overfished & depleted.
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No. Swordfish are not included.
A BILL
To prohibit the sale of billfish.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Billfish Conservation
5 Act of 2011’’.
6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
7 Congress finds the following:
8 (1) Billfish populations are severely depleted
9 and in need of greater protection.
10 (2) Billfish population declines are largely at11
tributable to overfishing by non-United States com-
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•HR 2706 IH
1 mercial fishing fleets that harvest billfish as bycatch
2 while targeting other species.
3 (3) Commercial fisheries in the United States
4 do not target billfish.
5 (4) The current United States prohibition on
6 the commercial harvest and sale of billfish is limited
7 to Atlantic-caught fish.
8 (5) There are no existing conservation measures
9 that prohibit the importation of Pacific-caught bill10
fish.
11 (6) Billfish account for less than 0.1 percent of
12 the market value of United States seafood.
13 (7) The United States seafood market is highly
14 elastic and consumers have a large number of sus15
tainable seafood alternatives.
16 (8) Catch and release recreational angling for
17 billfish generates billions of dollars in economic ben18
efits to the United States economy each year.
19 (9) Prohibiting the sale of Pacific-caught bill20
fish in the continental United States will assist in
21 the recovery of billfish populations worldwide.
22 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.
23 The Congress enacts this Act pursuant to clause 3
24 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution.
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1 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF BILLFISH.
2 (a) PROHIBITION.—No person shall offer for sale,
3 sell, or have custody, control, or possession of for purposes
4 of offering for sale or selling billfish or products con5
taining billfish.
6 (b) PENALTY.—For purposes of section 308(a) of the
7 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage8
ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858(a)), a violation of this section
9 shall be treated as an act prohibited by section 307 of
10 that Act (16 U.S.C. 1857).
11 (c) EXEMPTION FOR TRADITIONAL FISHERIES AND
12 MARKETS.—Subsection (a) does not apply to the State of
13 Hawaii and Pacific Insular Area as defined in section
14 3(35) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
15 Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802(35)), except that bill16
fish may be sold under this exemption only in Hawaii and
17 the Pacific Insular Area.
18 (d) BILLFISH DEFINED.—In this section the term
19 ‘‘billfish’’—
20 (1) means any fish of the species—
21 (A) Makaira nigricans (blue marlin);
22 (B) Kajikia audax (striped marlin);
23 (C) Istiompax indica (black marlin);
24 (D) Istiophorus platypterus (sailfish);
25 (E) Tetrapturus angustirostris (shortbill
26 spearfish);
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1 (F) Kajikia albida (white marlin);
2 (G) Tetrapturus georgii (roundscale spear3
fish);
4 (H) Tetrapturus belone (Mediterranean
5 spearfish); and
6 (I) Tetrapturus pfluegeri (longbill spear7
fish); and
8 (2) does not include the species Xiphias gladius
9 (swordfish).
Ć
VerDate
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Skipjack Joe
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Now we can put an end to the "discussion" of marlin fishing practices in La Bocana.
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bill erhardt
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Now we can put an end to the "discussion" of marlin fishing practices in La Bocana. |
This bill deals only with selling or possessing billfish or billfish products in the U. S. of A. It has nothing at all to do with the legality of
killing and keeping one billfish per day per fisherman with a valid Mexican sportfishing license in La Bocana or anyplace else in Mexico. That is a
fight for another day......
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Pescador
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Now we can put an end to the "discussion" of marlin fishing practices in La Bocana. |
Last I heard they were wondering in La Bocana whether to allow the "harvest' of one Kajikia Audax, and prohibit the "harvest" of any Makaira
Nigricans. 
[Edited on 10-6-2012 by Pescador]
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castaway$
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Guess I'll have to eat all of my smoked marlin tacos before I leave Baja so I don't get in trouble.
Live Indubiously!
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Skipjack Joe
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bill erhardt
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Now we can put an end to the "discussion" of marlin fishing practices in La Bocana. |
This bill deals only with selling or possessing billfish or billfish products in the U. S. of A. It has nothing at all to do with the legality of
killing and keeping one billfish per day per fisherman with a valid Mexican sportfishing license in La Bocana or anyplace else in Mexico. That is a
fight for another day...... |
Actually this bill has very much to do with the marlin fishing practices at asuncion.
The bill passed because the marlin fisheries are down worldwide. It's an attempt to force countries to downsize their catch by not providing a market
for them.
"We have sound science that indicates that billfish are not doing well on a global level," IGFA Conservation Director Jason Schratwieser added.
"Better international protection for these fish benefits open ocean ecosystems and recreational anglers around the world."
The legality of a mexican fishing license is not the point. This bill in effect says that mexican marlin fish limits are too high.
This bill should erase any doubt marlin fishermen have on the abundance of the resource. It clearly states it. That's how this ties to la bocana.
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dorado50
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A small step in the right direction........
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LancairDriver
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Yes, certainly a step in the right direction. However, the Japanese and Chinese and many others who will eat anything down to the last of a species,
will probably step in and more than make up for it.
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BajaBruno
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An interesting research article on billfish harvesting and consumption is here:
www.gentnergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/final073107.pdf
"The top five consumers of billfish . . ." are
Taiwan Province of China – 14,630mt/year
�� Sri Lanka – 11,637mt/year
�� Japan – 11,346mt/year
�� Philippines – 8,010mt/year
�� Iran – 5,970mt/year
That's a lot of billfish meat being killed and "consumed." The number one exporter to the U.S. is Costa Rica at 342mt/year.
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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Cardon Man
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaBruno
That's a lot of billfish meat being killed and "consumed." The number one exporter to the U.S. is Costa Rica at 342mt/year. |
Not anymore. This Act put an end to that.
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Cardon Man
Today, President Obama signed the the Billfish Conservation Act into law,... |
successful hoping!
proof that yes, we can!
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BajaRat
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Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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I wonder why the swords weren't included. It's so sad to see those tiny little steaks for sale. I long for the days of the giants that use to lounge
off the Channel Islands.
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