On Aug. 2, President Trump signed into law a bill that further protects billfish.
House Bill 4528 amends the Billfish Conservation Act (BCA) of 2012, by stating that no billfish can enter into or be trade or sold in the continental United States. According to an IGFA press release, this amendment closed a loophole that allowed circumvention of the purpose of the original bill.
Marlin, sailfish and spearfish are internationally revered by recreational anglers and produce significant regional economic benefits from catch and release fisheries, but many billfish stocks are in a depleted state. In 2007, the IGFA commissioned a study investigating the international billfish trade that found that the United States was the world’s biggest importer of billfish. This led to a collaborative effort by the IGFA and Wild Oceans to create the Take Marlin off the Menu campaign that ultimately culminated in the passage of the BCA, which banned the importation of billfish to the continental United States.
Once passed, however, questions arose over whether the same prohibitions on foreign-caught billfish imposed by the BCA would still allow billfish caught commercially in Hawaii and other Pacific territories to be shipped to the U.S. mainland, thus circumventing the intent of the law. The passage of H.B. 4528 closes this loophole by explicitly stating that billfish landed in Hawaii and Pacific Insular Areas must be retained there.
This important amendment to the BCA advances the United States’ position as a leader in billfish conservation and sets an example for other countries.