II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1678 

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

to permit eligible fishermen to approve certain limited access privilege 

programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 11, 2011 

Ms. AYOTTE (for herself and 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 amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act to permit eligible fishermen to approve 

certain limited access privilege programs, 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 ‘‘Saving Fishing Jobs 

5 Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS PRIVI2 LEGE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) ELIGIBILITY TO SIGN PETITION.—Section 

4 303A(c)(6)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con5 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1853a(c)(6)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘For multispecies 

7 permits’’ and all that follows through ‘‘this subpara8 graph.’’. 

9 (b) INITIATION BY ELIGIBLE FISHERMEN UNDER

10 CERTAIN COUNCILS.—Section 303A(c)(6)(D) of the Mag11 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

12 (16 U.S.C. 1853a(c)(6)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(D) NEW ENGLAND, MID-ATLANTIC, 

14 SOUTH ATLANTIC, AND GULF INITIATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

16 fishery under the authority of the New 

17 England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, or 

18 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Coun19 cil, a fishery management plan or an 

20 amendment to a fishery management plan 

21 that would establish a limited access privi22 lege program to harvest fish may not take 

23 effect unless— 

24 ‘‘(I) a petition requesting devel25 opment of such program is submitted 


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1 in accordance with clause (ii) and cer2 tified under clause (iii); 

3 ‘‘(II) the appropriate Council 

4 makes available to eligible fishermen 

5 an estimate of the amount of the fee 

6 that would be collected under section 

7 304(d)(2) if such program were estab8 lished; and 

9 ‘‘(III) not earlier than 90 days 

10 after the estimate required under sub11 clause (II) has been made available, 

12 the proposed plan or amendment is 

13 approved by a vote of two-thirds of el14 igible fishermen in the fishery for 

15 which the program would be estab16 lished. 

17 ‘‘(ii) PETITION.—A group of fisher18 men constituting more than 50 percent of 

19 eligible fishermen in a fishery may submit 

20 a petition to the Secretary requesting the 

21 development of a limited access privilege 

22 program for the fishery. Any such petition 

23 shall clearly state the fishery to which the 

24 limited access privilege program would 

25 apply. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) CERTIFICATION BY SEC2 RETARY.—Upon the receipt of any such 

3 petition, the Secretary shall review all of 

4 the signatures on the petition and, if the 

5 Secretary determines that the signatures 

6 on the petition are those of more than 50 

7 percent of eligible fishermen in the fishery 

8 for which the program would be estab9 lished, the Secretary shall certify the peti10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FISH12 ERMEN.—For purposes of this subpara13 graph, the term ‘eligible fishermen’ means 

14 holders of permits issued under a fishery 

15 management plan.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS PRIVI17 LEGE PROGRAMS. 

18 Section 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con19 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a) is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) PROGRAMS IN EFFECT PRIOR TO 2012.— 

23 For any limited access privilege program for a fish24 ery under the authority of the New England, Mid25 Atlantic, South Atlantic, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery 


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1 Management Council that was in effect on the date 

2 of enactment of the Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 

3 2011, not later than 30 days after such date, the 

4 Secretary shall determine if the number of eligible 

5 fishermen in the fishery on such date is at least 15 

6 percent less than the number of eligible fishermen in 

7 the fishery in the year preceding the year in which 

8 the program was established. 

9 ‘‘(2) OTHER PROGRAMS.—For any limited ac10 cess privilege program for a fishery under the au11 thority of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South At12 lantic, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Coun13 cil established after the date of the enactment of the 

14 Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 2011, 1 year after the 

15 date such program is established, the Secretary shall 

16 determine if the number of eligible fishermen in the 

17 fishery on the date that is 1 year after the date the 

18 program is established is at least 15 percent less 

19 than the number of eligible fishermen in the fishery 

20 in the year preceding the year in which the program 

21 was established. 

22 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION.—If the Secretary deter23 mines under paragraph (1) or (2) that the number 

24 of eligible fishermen in a fishery is at least 15 perVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:55 Oct 12, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1678.IS S1678

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1 cent less than the number of eligible fishermen pre2 viously in the fishery— 

3 ‘‘(A) the appropriate limited access privi4 lege program shall terminate on the date that 

5 is 1 year after the date the Secretary made the 

6 determination; and 

7 ‘‘(B) during the 1-year period referred to 

8 in subparagraph (A), the appropriate Council 

9 shall develop an alternative Fishery Manage10 ment Plan for the fishery that shall be effective 

11 on the date of the termination of the program 

12 under subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FISHERMEN.— 

14 In this subsection, the term ‘eligible fishermen’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in subsection 

16 (c)(6)(D)(iv).’’. 

17 SEC. 4. FEES RECOVERED FOR CERTAIN LIMITED ACCESS 

18 PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS. 

19 Section 304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

20 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

21 1854(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(D) In the case of a fee collected under this 

24 paragraph for a limited access privilege program es25 tablished under section 303A(c)(6)(D) after the date 


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1 of the enactment of the Saving Fishing Jobs Act of 

2 2011— 

3 ‘‘(i) the fee shall be in an amount suffi4 cient to recover all costs of such program, in5 cluding observer costs; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the 3 percent limitation in subpara7 graph (B) shall not apply with respect to such 

8 fee.’’. 

Æ 


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