Billfish Conservation Act of 2012
Public Law 112-183 · H.R. 2706 · 112th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Barack Obama (D) on Oct 5, 2012 · Public Lands and Natural Resources
Sponsor: Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL-1)
Cosponsors (25): Rep. Mike Ross, Rep. Heath Shuler,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 - Prohibits any person from offering billfish or billfish products for sale, selling them, or having custody, control, or possession of them for purposes of offering them for sale or selling them.
Treats a violation of this Act as an act prohibited by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Subjects a person to a maximum civil penalty of $100,000 for each violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate offense. Exempts billfish: (1) caught by U.S. fishing vessels and landed in the state of Hawaii or the Pacific Insular Areas (PIAs); or (2) landed by foreign fishing vessels in the PIAs when the foreign caught billfish is exported to non-U.S. markets or retained within Hawaii and the PIAs for local consumption.
Defines "billfish" as any of the following: (1) blue marlin, (2) striped marlin, (3) black marlin, (4) sailfish, (5) shortbill spearfish, (6) white marlin, (7) roundscale spearfish, (8) Mediterranean spearfish, or (9) longbill spearfish. Excludes swordfish from such definition.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Natural Resources Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
3 bills the Library of Congress relates to this one.
S. 1451Identical bill
Billfish Conservation Act of 2011
S. 3422Related bill
Billfish Conservation Act of 2012
S. 3424Related bill
Billfish Conservation Act of 2012
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 21 actions.
- Oct 5, 2012Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 112-183.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Sep 25, 2012FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Sep 24, 2012FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Sep 22, 2012FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Sep 11, 2012CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
- Sep 10, 2012FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2706.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Hastings (WA) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 474.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 112-656.
- Aug 1, 2012CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Discharged.
- Jun 19, 2012CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee Hearings Held.
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee
- Aug 2, 2011CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs.
- Jul 29, 2011CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.