Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Give Our Fishermen Immediate Snapper Help Act” or the “GOFISH Act”.
Give Our Fishermen Immediate Snapper Help Act
A BILL
To establish requirements and restrictions for the commercial, charter, and recreational red snapper fishing seasons in the Gulf of Mexico for the 2017 and 2018 fishing seasons, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Red snapper fishing seasons in the Gulf of Mexico
In general— Notwithstanding any provision of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), any fishery management plan under that Act, or any other Federal law, for each of the 2017 fishing season and 2018 fishing season—
the red snapper fishing season for the recreational fishing sector in the Gulf of Mexico—
shall be 62 consecutive days in duration; and
shall begin on July 1;
the allocation of red snapper, and the duration of the red snapper fishing season, for the commercial fishing sector in the Gulf of Mexico shall be the same as the allocation and duration, respectively, that applied to such sector for the 2016 fishing season;
the allocation of red snapper, and the duration of the red snapper fishing season, for the charter fishing sector in the Gulf of Mexico may not be less than the allocation and duration that applied to such sector for the 2016 fishing season; and
the red snapper catch limit and size limit for each such sector shall be no less than the catch limit and size limit, respectively, that applied to such sector for the 2016 fishing season.
Proposed rule— The Secretary of Commerce shall issue a proposed rule to implement subsection (a) for the 2017 fishing season and 2018 fishing season, respectively.