H.R. 3588 would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to authorize the U.S. Gulf States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) to exercise exclusive management authority over the recreational red snapper fishery through 2024. The bill also would require the Gulf States to consider a variety of factors, including up-to-date stock assessments, surveys, and recreational catch rates for red snapper, when developing management plans. Those plans would be reviewed and approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Using information from NOAA, CBO estimates that any additional costs related to collecting and reviewing state management plans under H.R. 3588 would not be significant.
Enacting H.R. 3588 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3588 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 3588 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring the five Gulf States to develop and promote best practices to reduce barotrauma in red snapper. Using information on similar practices, CBO estimates the states’ costs would be small and fall well below the thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($78 million in 2017).
The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
