S759-119

What This Bill Does

The Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with state and local governments, Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and other stakeholders, to develop geospatial data standards within 31 months for fishing restrictions and recreational-vessel access in the exclusive economic zone. Within four years, the Secretary, acting through the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology, must publish GIS data on fishing closures, no-catch zones, method-of-catch limits, recreational boating and diving access, motorized propulsion, horsepower and fuel restrictions, National Marine Sanctuaries, national marine monuments, and other federally protected waters.

Who Benefits and How

Recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, divers, charter operators, marine navigation app developers, geospatial data companies, state natural resource agencies, Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, Regional Ocean Partnerships, and ocean-conservation groups benefit from standardized, findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable GIS data. Users can see where fishing, boating, diving, anchoring, vessel speed, propulsion, and protected-area rules apply rather than decoding scattered notices and maps.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of Commerce, NOAA, the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology, Interior, Agriculture, the Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping, and cooperating state, tribal, and regional entities must standardize data, coordinate databases, update fishing-restriction boundaries in real time, update other access data at least twice each year, create public-comment processes, improve accessibility, and protect confidential or sensitive information.

Key Provisions

• Adds definitions for fishing restrictions, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, nonprofit organizations, recreational vessels, and the exclusive economic zone.
• Requires Commerce to adopt geospatial data standards for fishing restrictions and recreational access within 31 months.
• Requires a public GIS website with EEZ fishing restrictions, recreational boating and diving access, propulsion and horsepower limits, marine protected areas, National Marine Sanctuaries, national marine monuments, navigation information, bathymetry, and depth charts.
• Requires data to be findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable, update-notified, and supported by a public questions and comments process.
• Authorizes partnerships with states, interstate marine fisheries commissions, Regional Ocean Partnerships, data-science experts, private geospatial firms, and nonprofits.
• Protects existing federal, state, and tribal authority over navigable waters and fisheries management.