Protection of Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish Populations

Executive Order 13449 of October 20, 2007

Protection of Striped Bass and Red Drum Fish
Populations

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, to assist in ensuring faithful execution of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
Cooperative Management Act, and the Atlantic Striped
Bass Conservation Act (chapters 38, 71, and 71A of
title 16, United States Code), and to conserve striped
bass and red drum fish, it is hereby ordered as
follows:

Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the United
States to conserve striped bass and red drum for the
recreational, economic, and environmental benefit of
the present and future generations of Americans, based
on sound science and in cooperation with State,
territorial, local, and tribal governments, the private
sector, and others, as appropriate.

Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) To carry out the policy set
forth in section 1, the Secretary of Commerce shall:

(i) encourage, as appropriate, management under
Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local laws
that supports the policy of conserving striped bass and
red drum, including State designation as gamefish where
the State determines appropriate under applicable law;

(ii) revise current regulations, as appropriate, to
include prohibiting the sale of striped bass and red
drum caught within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the
United States off the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of
Mexico;

(iii) periodically review the status of the striped
bass and red drum populations within waters subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States and:

(A) take such actions within the authority of the Secretary of Commerce as
may be appropriate to carry out the policy set forth in section 1 of this
order; and

(B) recommend to the President such actions as the Secretary may deem
appropriate to advance the policy set forth in section 1 that are not
within the authority of the Secretary.

(b) Nothing in this order shall preclude or restrict
the production, possession, or sale of striped bass or
red drum fish that have been produced by aquaculture.

(c) The Secretary of Commerce shall implement
subsections 2(a)(i) and (iii), insofar as they relate
to Atlantic striped bass, jointly with the Secretary of
the Interior, as appropriate.

Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this order:

(a) “Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States”
means the marine area of the United States as defined
in Presidential Proclamation 5030 of March 10, 1983,
with, for purposes of this order, the inner boundary of
that zone being a line coterminous with the seaward
boundary of each of the coastal States;

(b) “red drum” means the species Sciaenops ocellatus;
and

(c) “striped bass” means the species Morone
saxatilis.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be
implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law
(including but not limited to interstate compacts to
which the United States has consented by law, treaties
and other international agreements to which the United
States is a party, treaties to which the United States
and an Indian tribe are parties, and laws of the United
States conferring rights on Indian tribes) and subject
to the availability of appropriations.

(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair
or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget,
administrative, and legislative proposals.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the
United States, its departments, agencies,
instrumentalities, entities, officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    October 20, 2007.