Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-327.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act
TITLE I--NORTH PACIFIC FISHERIES
Subtitle A--North Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation
(Sec. 102) This bill authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to promulgate regulations to implement U.S. participation in the North Pacific Fisheries Convention. The convention is designed to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources and marine ecosystems in the North Pacific Ocean.
The United States must be represented by five commissioners on the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.
Additionally, a permanent advisory committee is established, which shall be comprised of 11 members. Advisory committee members shall represent groups concerned with fishery resources covered by the North Pacific Fisheries Convention.
(Sec. 103) The Department of State has the authority to receive and transmit various communications concerning the North Pacific commission, and can approve or disapprove bylaws and rules adopted by the commission.
(Sec. 104) The bill details NOAA's authority in implementing this bill and measures adopted by the commission.
(Sec. 105) NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard are required to administer and enforce this bill.
(Sec. 106) This bill lists 15 fishing and shipping activities that are prohibited in the North Pacific Ocean.
(Sec. 107) NOAA may cooperate with public and private institutions in the United States and abroad to carry out this bill. Federal agencies are authorized to cooperate with NOAA in conducting research and providing facilities and personnel to assist the commission.
(Sec. 108) The State Department must ensure that American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands participate with the commission in the same manner as territories of other nations.
(Sec. 109) Operators of commercial fishing vessels that do not carry vessel monitoring systems capable of communicating with U.S. enforcement authorities must ensure that all fishing gear is stowed below deck and not readily available for fishing.
The summary continues for 25 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on December 16, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on December 16, 2016: Became Public Law No: 114-327.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-AS) introduced it on December 7, 2016, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law