II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1312 

To strengthen and improve monitoring in the fisheries across the United 

States and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 30, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To strengthen and improve monitoring in the fisheries across 

the United States and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asset Forfeiture Re5 sponsibility Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to strengthen and improve 

8 monitoring in the fisheries across the United States. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1312 IS

1 SEC. 3. FISHERIES INVESTMENT FUND. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 general fund of the Treasury a separate account, which 

4 shall be known as the ‘‘Fisheries Investment Fund’’. 

5 (b) SOURCE OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—All sums received by the 

7 United States as fines, penalties, and forfeitures of 

8 property for violations of any provision of the Mag9 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage10 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or any other ma11 rine resource law enforced by the Secretary of Com12 merce shall be deposited into the Fisheries Invest13 ment Fund. 

14 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Fees deposited 

15 in the Fisheries Investment Fund State shall remain 

16 available until expended. 

17 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Fees deposited in the Fisheries 

18 Investment Fund shall be used— 

19 (1) subject to subsection (d), to reimburse rea20 sonable attorneys’ fees to a covered person; and 

21 (2) to conduct— 

22 (A) the audit required by subsection (e); 

23 (B) enforcement activities as described in 

24 section 311(e)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

25 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1312 IS

1 U.S.C. 1861(e)(1)), as amended by section 5; 

2 and 

3 (C) monitoring activities as described in 

4 subsection (l) of section 305 of the Magnuson5 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(l)), as added by section 4. 

7 (d) REIMBURSEMENT OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.— 

8 (1) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE REIMBURSE9 MENT.—During fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the 

10 Secretary of Commerce may reimburse the reason11 able attorneys’ fees of a covered person pursuant to 

12 subsection (c)(1). 

13 (2) APPLICATION.—A covered person seeking 

14 reimbursement under paragraph (1) shall submit to 

15 the Secretary an application for such reimbursement 

16 no more than 60 days after the date the Secretary 

17 directs a fisheries enforcement penalty be remitted 

18 to the covered person. 

19 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (A) COVERED PERSON.—The term ‘‘cov21 ered person’’ means any person— 

22 (i) that the Secretary of Commerce 

23 has directed be remitted a fisheries en24 forcement penalty at the recommendation 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1312 IS

1 of the report of Special Master Swartwood; 

2 or 

3 (ii) that— 

4 (I) submitted a complaint to the 

5 Special Master prior to May 7, 2011, 

6 seeking remittance of a fisheries en7 forcement penalty; and 

8 (II) the Secretary directs to re9 ceive such remittance or a portion of 

10 such remittance. 

11 (B) REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES.— 

12 The term ‘‘reasonable attorneys’ fees’’ means 

13 attorneys’ fees expended by a covered person— 

14 (i) seeking remittance of a fisheries 

15 enforcement penalty that the Secretary of 

16 Commerce directs be remitted to the cov17 ered person; 

18 (ii) that were incurred by the covered 

19 person prior to the date that is 60 days 

20 after such fisheries enforcement penalty 

21 was directed by the Secretary to be remit22 ted to the covered person; and 

23 (iii) that the Secretary determines are 

24 reasonable. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1312 IS

1 (e) AUDIT.—For each of the fiscal years 2012, 2013, 

2 and 2014, the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury shall— 

4 (1) prepare an annual audit plan for the Fish5 eries Investment Fund; 

6 (2) submit each such audit plan to the Inspec7 tor General of the Department of Commerce or the 

8 Inspector General of the Department of the Treas9 ury, as appropriate; 

10 (3) carry out the audit; and 

11 (4) submit the final audit results to the Inspec12 tor General of the Department of Commerce or the 

13 Inspector General of the Department of the Treas14 ury, as appropriate, upon completion. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

17 appropriated to Secretary of Commerce from the 

18 Fisheries Investment Fund for each fiscal year be19 ginning with fiscal year 2012— 

20 (A) for the reimbursement of reasonable 

21 attorneys’ fees pursuant to subsection (d), the 

22 amount necessary to provide such reimburse23 ment; 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1312 IS

1 (B) for an audit required by subsection 

2 (e), the amount necessary to conduct such 

3 audit; 

4 (C) for enforcement activities described in 

5 section 311(e)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

6 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

7 U.S.C. 1861(e)(1)), as amended by section 5, 

8 an amount that is not more than 33 percent of 

9 the total remaining amount in the Fund; and 

10 (D) for monitoring activities described in 

11 subsection (l) of section 305 of the Magnuson12 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

13 Act (16 U.S.C. 1855), as added by section 4, 

14 the total remaining amount in the Fund less 

15 any amount appropriated pursuant to the au16 thorization in subparagraph (C). 

17 (2) TOTAL REMAINING AMOUNT IN THE

18 FUND.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘total remain19 ing amount in the Fund’’ means the following: 

20 (A) For fiscal years 2012, the amount re21 ceived by the United States in fiscal year 2011 

22 as fines, penalties, and forfeitures of property 

23 for violations of any provision of the Magnuson24 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 

25 Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or any other maVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:28 Jul 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1312.IS S1312

jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1312 IS

1 rine resource law enforced by the Secretary of 

2 Commerce less— 

3 (i) the amount necessary to provide 

4 reimbursement pursuant to paragraph 

5 (1)(A) for fiscal year 2012; and 

6 (ii) the amount necessary to conduct 

7 an audit pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) for 

8 fiscal year 2012. 

9 (B) For a fiscal year after 2012, the 

10 amount deposited in the Fisheries Investment 

11 Fund for the prior fiscal year less— 

12 (i) the amount necessary to provide 

13 reimbursement pursuant to paragraph 

14 (1)(A) for the current fiscal year; and 

15 (ii) the amount necessary to conduct 

16 an audit pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) for 

17 the current fiscal year. 

18 SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS FOR MONITORING. 

19 Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con20 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855) is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following new sub22 section: 

23 ‘‘(l) MONITORING ACTIVITIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may pay 

25 from sums appropriated to the Secretary for moniVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:28 Jul 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1312.IS S1312

jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1312 IS

1 toring activities from the Fisheries Investment Fund 

2 established under section 3(a) of the Asset For3 feiture Responsibility Act of 2011 monitoring activi4 ties selected by the Councils, including, in order of 

5 priority— 

6 ‘‘(A) at-sea observers and shoreside moni7 toring; 

8 ‘‘(B) preparing fishery impact statements, 

9 as described in section 303(a)(9); and 

10 ‘‘(C) other priorities established by a 

11 Council as necessary to rebuild or maintain sus12 tainable fisheries, ensure healthy ecosystems, 

13 and maintain fishing communities. 

14 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS AMONG COUN15 CILS.—For each fiscal year, the sums appropriated 

16 to the Secretary for monitoring activities from the 

17 Fisheries Investment Fund established under section 

18 3(a) of the Asset Forfeiture Responsibility Act of 

19 2011 and used to carry out monitoring activities 

20 under paragraph (1) shall be allocated among the 

21 Councils so that the proportion of such sums that a 

22 Council receives is equal to the proportion of the 

23 sums deposited in such Fund from violations occur24 ring in the area over which that Council exercises 

25 fishery management jurisdiction.’’. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1312 IS

1 SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS FOR ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 311(e) of the Magnuson3 Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1861(e)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (A) by amendment the material preceding 

7 subparagraph (A) to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) The Secretary may pay from sums appro9 priated to the Secretary for enforcement activities 

10 from the Fisheries Investment Fund established 

11 under section 3(a) of the Asset Forfeiture Responsi12 bility Act of 2011—’’; and 

13 (B) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), by moving such para15 graph two ems to the left. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 311(f) of 

17 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage18 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1861(f)) is amended by striking 

19 paragraph (4). 

20 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

22 apply with respect to sums received on or after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS