NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8487
SPONSOR: Raga TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
extending the authority of the department of environmental conservation
to manage the American shad
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to extend the authority of the Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) to manage American shad.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) §
13-0339-a(1)(e) to extend, until December 31, 2028, DEC's authority to
fix by regulation measures for the management of American shad (Alosa
sapidissima).
Section 2 of this bill provides that the bill shall take effect imme-
diately.
JUSTIFICATION:
DEC's regulatory authority for American shad is necessaiy in order to
preserve the current regulatory program. Failure to extend the existing
regulatory authority by December 31, 2025 will result in the loss of
regulatory protection for American shad. American shad are managed
pursuant to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Shad and
River Herring adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries CoMmission
(ASMFC). This bill would extend DEC's regulatory authority for American
shad for an additional three years, and ensure that DEC continues to
maintain compliance with the FMP. ECL § 13-0105, which sets forth the
marine fisheries conservation and management policy, provides that one
of the State's objectives shall be the management of the State's trans-
boundaiy and migratory species consistent with any inter jurisdictional
management plans, interstate or state-federal. Moreover, failure to make
necessaiy regulatory changes as may be required by an applicable FMP
could result in the closure of New York's American shad fishery.
In March of 2010, to allow for stock recovery, DEC closed both the
recreational and commercial American shad fisheries in the Marine
District and the Hudson River and tributaries north of the George Wash-
ington Bridge. New York's ability to adopt these regulatory amendments
allowed New York to act quickly in response to the most recent stock
assessment showing the American shad population was at an all-time low.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
DEC's authority was last extended by Chapter 205 of the Laws of 2022.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8487
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 19, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RAGA -- (at request of the Department of Environ-
mental Conservation) -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
extending the authority of the department of environmental conserva-
tion to manage the American shad
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph e of subdivision 1 of section 13-0339-a of the
2 environmental conservation law, as amended by chapter 305 of the laws of
3 2022, is amended to read as follows:
4 e. American shad (Alosa sapidissima) until December thirty-first, two
5 thousand [twenty-five] twenty-eight,
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09950-01-5
