It is unlawful—

(1) for any person—

(A) to violate any provision of this chapter or any regulation or permit issued pursuant to this chapter;

(B) to use any fishing vessel to engage in fishing after the revocation, or during the period of suspension, of an applicable permit issued pursuant to this chapter;

(C) to violate any provision of, or regulation under, an applicable governing international fishery agreement entered into pursuant to section 1821(c) of this title;

(D) to refuse to permit any officer authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter (as provided for in section 1861 of this title) to board a fishing vessel subject to such person‘s control for purposes of conducting any search or inspection in connection with the enforcement of this chapter or any regulation, permit, or agreement referred to in subparagraph (A) or (C);

(E) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with any such authorized officer in the conduct of any search or inspection described in subparagraph (D);

(F) to resist a lawful arrest for any act prohibited by this section;

(G) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, purchase, import, export, or have custody, control, or possession of, any fish taken or retained in violation of this chapter or any regulation, permit, or agreement referred to in subparagraph (A) or (C);

(H) to interfere with, delay, or prevent, by any means, the apprehension or arrest of another person, knowing that such other person has committed any act prohibited by this section;

(I) to knowingly and willfully submit to a Council, the Secretary, or the Governor of a State false information (including, but not limited to, false information regarding the capacity and extent to which a United States fish processor, on an annual basis, will process a portion of the optimum yield of a fishery that will be harvested by fishing vessels of the United States) regarding any matter that the Council, Secretary, or Governor is considering in the course of carrying out this chapter;

(J) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, or purchase, in interstate or foreign commerce, any whole live lobster of the species Homarus americanus, that—

(i) is smaller than the minimum possession size in effect at the time under the American Lobster Fishery Management Plan, as implemented by regulations published in Part 649 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor to that plan implemented under this subchapter, or in the absence of any such plan, is smaller than the minimum possession size in effect at the time under a coastal fishery management plan for American lobster adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.);

(ii) is bearing eggs attached to its abdominal appendages; or

(iii) bears evidence of the forcible removal of extruded eggs from its abdominal appendages;


(K) to to 1 steal or attempt to steal or to negligently and without authorization remove, damage, or tamper with—

(i) fishing gear owned by another person, which is located in the exclusive economic zone, or

(ii) fish contained in such fishing gear;


(L) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, sexually harass, bribe, or interfere with any observer on a vessel under this chapter, or any data collector employed by the National Marine Fisheries Service or under contract to any person to carry out responsibilities under this chapter;

(M) to engage in large-scale driftnet fishing that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, including use of a fishing vessel of the United States to engage in such fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation, unless such large-scale driftnet fishing—

(i) deploys, within the exclusive economic zone, a net with a total length of less than two and one-half kilometers and a mesh size of 14 inches or greater; and

(ii) is conducted within 5 years of December 29, 2022;


(N) to strip pollock of its roe and discard the flesh of the pollock;

(O) to knowingly and willfully fail to disclose, or to falsely disclose, any financial interest as required under section 1852(j) of this title, or to knowingly vote on a Council decision in violation of section 1852(j)(7)(A) of this title;

(P)(i) to remove any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) at sea;

(ii) to have custody, control, or possession of any such fin aboard a fishing vessel unless it is naturally attached to the corresponding carcass;

(iii) to transfer any such fin from one vessel to another vessel at sea, or to receive any such fin in such transfer, without the fin naturally attached to the corresponding carcass; or

(iv) to land any such fin that is not naturally attached to the corresponding carcass, or to land any shark carcass without such fins naturally attached;

(Q) to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any fish taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any foreign law or regulation or any treaty or in contravention of any binding conservation measure adopted by an international agreement or organization to which the United States is a party; or

(R) to use any fishing vessel to engage in fishing in Federal or State waters, or on the high seas or in the waters of another country, after the Secretary has made a payment to the owner of that fishing vessel under section 1861a(b)(2) of this title.


For purposes of subparagraph (P), there shall be a rebuttable presumption that if any shark fin (including the tail) is found aboard a vessel, other than a fishing vessel, without being naturally attached to the corresponding carcass, such fin was transferred in violation of subparagraph (P)(iii) or that if, after landing, the total weight of shark fins (including the tail) landed from any vessel exceeds five percent of the total weight of shark carcasses landed, such fins were taken, held, or landed in violation of subparagraph (P). In such subparagraph, the term “naturally attached”, with respect to a shark fin, means attached to the corresponding shark carcass through some portion of uncut skin.

(2) for any vessel other than a vessel of the United States, and for the owner or operator of any vessel other than a vessel of the United States, to engage—

(A) in fishing within the boundaries of any State, except—

(i) recreational fishing permitted under section 1821(i) of this title;

(ii) fish processing permitted under section 1856(c) of this title; or

(iii) transshipment at sea of fish or fish products within the boundaries of any State in accordance with a permit approved under section 1824(d) of this title;


(B) in fishing, except recreational fishing permitted under section 1821(i) of this title, within the exclusive economic zone, or for any anadromous species or Continental Shelf fishery resources beyond such zone, unless such fishing is authorized by, and conducted in accordance with, a valid and applicable permit issued pursuant to section 1824(b), (c), or (d) of this title; or

(C) except as permitted under section 1856(c) of this title, in fish processing (as defined in paragraph (4)(A) of such section) within the internal waters of a State (as defined in paragraph (4)(B) of such section);


(3) for any vessel of the United States, and for the owner or operator of any vessel of the United States, to transfer at sea directly or indirectly, or attempt to so transfer at sea, any United States harvested fish to any foreign fishing vessel, while such foreign vessel is within the exclusive economic zone or within the boundaries of any State except to the extent that the foreign fishing vessel has been permitted under section 1824(d) of this title or section 1856(c) of this title to receive such fish;

(4) for any fishing vessel other than a vessel of the United States to operate, and for the owner or operator of a fishing vessel other than a vessel of the United States to operate such vessel, in the exclusive economic zone or within the boundaries of any State, if—

(A) all fishing gear on the vessel is not stored below deck or in an area where it is not normally used, and not readily available, for fishing; or

(B) all fishing gear on the vessel which is not so stored is not secured and covered so as to render it unusable for fishing;


unless such vessel is authorized to engage in fishing in the area in which the vessel is operating; and

(5) for any vessel of the United States, and for the owner or operator of any vessel of the United States, to engage in fishing in the waters of a foreign nation in a manner that violates an international fishery agreement between that nation and the United States that has been subject to Congressional oversight in the manner described in section 1823 of this title, or any regulations issued to implement such an agreement; except that the binding provisions of such agreement and implementing regulations shall have been published in the Federal Register prior to such violation.

Terms Used In 16 USC 1857

  • anadromous species: means species of fish which spawn in fresh or estuarine waters of the United States and which migrate to ocean waters. See 16 USC 1802
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Continental Shelf: means the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast, but outside the area of the territorial sea, of the United States, to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of such areas. See 16 USC 1802
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Council: means any Regional Fishery Management Council established under section 1852 of this title. See 16 USC 1802
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • exclusive economic zone: means the zone established by Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983. See 16 USC 1802
  • fish: means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and all other forms of marine animal and plant life other than marine mammals and birds. See 16 USC 1802
  • fishery: means &mdash. See 16 USC 1802
  • fishing: means &mdash. See 16 USC 1802
  • fishing vessel: means any vessel, boat, ship, or other craft which is used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type which is normally used for&mdash. See 16 USC 1802
  • foreign fishing: means fishing by a vessel other than a vessel of the United States. See 16 USC 1802
  • high seas: means all waters beyond the territorial sea of the United States and beyond any foreign nation's territorial sea, to the extent that such sea is recognized by the United States. See 16 USC 1802
  • international fishery agreement: means any bilateral or multilateral treaty, convention, or agreement which relates to fishing and to which the United States is a party. See 16 USC 1802
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • large-scale driftnet fishing: means a method of fishing in which a gillnet composed of a panel or panels of webbing, or a series of such gillnets, with a total length of two and one-half kilometers or more, or with a mesh size of 14 inches or greater, is placed in the water and allowed to drift with the currents and winds for the purpose of entangling fish in the webbing. See 16 USC 1802
  • Marine Fisheries Commission: means the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, or the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. See 16 USC 1802
  • observer: means any person required or authorized to be carried on a vessel for conservation and management purposes by regulations or permits under this chapter. See 16 USC 1802
  • officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • person: means any individual (whether or not a citizen or national of the United States), any corporation, partnership, association, or other entity (whether or not organized or existing under the laws of any State), and any Federal, State, local, or foreign government or any entity of any such government. See 16 USC 1802
  • recreational fishing: means fishing for sport or pleasure. See 16 USC 1802
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Commerce or his designee. See 16 USC 1802
  • State: means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. See 16 USC 1802
  • treaty: means any international fishery agreement which is a treaty within the meaning of section 2 of article II of the Constitution. See 16 USC 1802
  • United States: when used in a geographical context, means all the States thereof. See 16 USC 1802
  • United States harvested fish: means fish caught, taken, or harvested by vessels of the United States within any fishery regulated under this chapter. See 16 USC 1802
  • vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See 1 USC 3
  • vessel of the United States: means &mdash. See 16 USC 1802
  • waters of a foreign nation: means any part of the territorial sea or exclusive economic zone (or the equivalent) of a foreign nation, to the extent such territorial sea or exclusive economic zone is recognized by the United States. See 16 USC 1802