In this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1) The term “coastal fishery management plan” means a plan for managing a coastal fishery resource, or an amendment to such plan, prepared and adopted by the Commission, that—

(A) contains information regarding the status of the resource and related fisheries; and

(B) specifies conservation and management actions to be taken by the States.


(2) The term “coastal fishery resource” means any fishery, any species of fish, or any stock of fish that moves among, or is broadly distributed across, waters under the jurisdiction of two or more States or waters under the jurisdiction of one or more States and the exclusive economic zone.

(3) The term “Commission” means the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission established under the interstate compact consented to and approved by the Congress in Public Laws 77-539 and 81-721.

(4) The term “conservation” means the restoring, rebuilding, and maintaining of any coastal fishery resource and the marine environment, in order to assure the availability of coastal fishery resources on a long-term basis.

(5) The term “Councils” means Regional Fishery Management Councils established under section 1852 of this title.

(6) The term “exclusive economic zone” means the exclusive economic zone of the United States established by Proclamation Number 5030, dated March 10, 1983. For the purposes of this chapter, the inner boundary of that zone is a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each of the coastal States, and the outer boundary of that zone is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured.

(7) The term “fish” means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and all other forms of marine animal life other than marine mammals and birds.

(8) The term “fishery” means—

(A) one or more stocks of fish that can be treated as a unit for purposes of conservation and management and that are identified on the basis of geographical, scientific, technical, commercial, recreational, or economic characteristics; or

(B) any fishing for such stocks.


(9) The term “fishing” means—

(A) the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish;

(B) the attempted catching, taking, or harvesting of fish;

(C) any other activity that can be reasonably expected to result in the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish; or

(D) any operations at sea in support of, or in preparation for, any activity described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).


Such term does not include any scientific research activity or the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish in an aquaculture operation.

(10) The term “implement and enforce” means to enact and implement laws or regulations as required to conform with the provisions of a coastal fishery management plan and to assure compliance with such laws or regulations by persons participating in a fishery that is subject to such plan.

(11) The term “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.

(12) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce.

(13) The term “State” means Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, the District of Columbia, or the Potomac River Fisheries Commission.

Terms Used In 16 USC 5102

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
  • Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • 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.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7