S. 1609 

One Hundred Eleventh Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten 

An Act 

To authorize a single fisheries cooperative for the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands 

longline catcher processor subsector, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Longline Catcher Processor 

Subsector Single Fishery Cooperative Act’’. 

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO APPROVE AND IMPLEMENT A SINGLE FISHERY 

COOPERATIVE FOR THE LONGLINE CATCHER PROCESSOR SUBSECTOR IN THE BSAI. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of eligible members of 

the longline catcher processor subsector holding at least 80 percent 

of the licenses issued for that subsector, the Secretary is authorized 

to approve a single fishery cooperative for the longline catcher 

processor subsector in the BSAI. 

(b) LIMITATION.—A single fishery cooperative approved under 

this section shall include a limitation prohibiting any eligible 

member from harvesting a total of more than 20 percent of the 

Pacific cod available to be harvested in the longline catcher processor subsector, the violation of which is subject to the penalties, 

sanctions, and forfeitures under section 308 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1858), except that such limitation shall not 

apply to harvest amounts from quota assigned explicitly to a CDQ 

group as part of a CDQ allocation to an entity established by 

section 305(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)). 

(c) CONTRACT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW.—The longline catcher 

processor subsector shall submit to the Secretary— 

(1) not later than November 1 of each year, a contract 

to implement a single fishery cooperative approved under this 

section for the following calendar year; and 

(2) not later than 60 days prior to the commencement 

of fishing under the single fishery cooperative, any interim 

modifications to the contract submitted under paragraph (1). 

(d) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REVIEW.—Not later than November 

1 before the first year of fishing under a single fishery cooperative 

approved under this section, the longline catcher processor sector 

shall submit to the Secretary a copy of a letter from a party 

to the contract under subsection (c)(1) requesting a business review 

letter from the Attorney General and any response to such request. 

(e) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall implement a single 

fishery cooperative approved under this section not later than 2 

years after receiving a request under subsection (a). 
S. 1609—2 

(f) STATUS QUO FISHERY.—If the longline catcher processor 

subsector does not submit a contract to the Secretary under subsection (c) then the longline catcher processor subsector in the 

BSAI shall operate as a limited access fishery for the following 

year subject to the license limitation program in effect for the 

longline catcher processor subsector on the date of enactment of 

this Act or any subsequent modifications to the license limitation 

program recommended by the Council and approved by the Secretary. 

SEC. 3. HARVEST AND PROHIBITED SPECIES ALLOCATIONS TO A 

SINGLE FISHERY COOPERATIVE FOR THE LONGLINE 

CATCHER PROCESSOR SUBSECTOR IN THE BSAI. 

A single fishery cooperative approved under section 2 may, 

on an annual basis, collectively— 

(1) harvest the total amount of BSAI Pacific cod total 

allowable catch, less any amount allocated to the longline 

catcher processor subsector non-cooperative limited access 

fishery; 

(2) utilize the total amount of BSAI Pacific cod prohibited 

species catch allocation, less any amount allocated to a longline 

catcher processor subsector non-cooperative limited access 

fishery; and 

(3) harvest any reallocation of Pacific cod to the longline 

catcher processor subsector during a fishing year by the Secretary. 

SEC. 4. LONGLINE CATCHER PROCESSOR SUBSECTOR NON-COOPERATIVE LIMITED ACCESS FISHERY. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible member that elects not to participate in a single fishery cooperative approved under section 2 shall 

operate in a non-cooperative limited access fishery subject to the 

license limitation program in effect for the longline catcher processor 

subsector on the date of enactment of this Act or any subsequent 

modifications to the license limitation program recommended by 

the Council and approved by the Secretary. 

(b) HARVEST AND PROHIBITED SPECIES ALLOCATIONS.—Eligible 

members operating in a non-cooperative limited access fishery under 

this section may collectively— 

(1) harvest the percentage of BSAI Pacific cod total allowable catch equal to the combined average percentage of the 

BSAI Pacific cod harvest allocated to the longline catcher processor sector and retained by the vessel or vessels designated 

on the eligible members license limitation program license or 

licenses for 2006, 2007, and 2008, according to the catch 

accounting system data used to establish total catch; and 

(2) utilize the percentage of BSAI Pacific cod prohibited 

species catch allocation equal to the percentage calculated 

under paragraph (1). 

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF THE NORTH PACIFIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT 

COUNCIL. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall supersede the 

authority of the Council to recommend for approval by the Secretary 

such conservation and management measures, in accordance with 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) as it considers 

necessary to ensure that this Act does not diminish the effectiveness 
S. 1609—3 

of fishery management in the BSAI or the Gulf of Alaska Pacific 

cod fishery. 

(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

(1) Notwithstanding the authority provided to the Council 

under this section, the Council is prohibited from altering or 

otherwise modifying— 

(A) the methodology established under section 3 for 

allocating the BSAI Pacific cod total allowable catch and 

BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation to a 

single fishery cooperative approved under this Act; or 

(B) the methodology established under section 4 of 

this Act for allocating the BSAI Pacific cod total allowable 

catch and BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation to the non-cooperative limited access fishery. 

(2) No sooner than 7 years after approval of a single fisheries cooperative under section 2 of this Act, the Council may 

modify the harvest limitation established under section 2(b) 

if such modification does not negatively impact any eligible 

member of the longline catcher processor subsector. 

(c) PROTECTIONS FOR THE GULF OF ALASKA PACIFIC COD

FISHERY.—The Council may recommend for approval by the Secretary such harvest limitations of Pacific cod by the longline catcher 

processor subsector in the Western Gulf of Alaska and the Central 

Gulf of Alaska as may be necessary to protect coastal communities 

and other Gulf of Alaska participants from potential competitive 

advantages provided to the longline catcher processor subsector 

by this Act. 

SEC. 6. RELATIONSHIP TO THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with section 301(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)), a single fishery cooperative 

approved under section 2 of this Act is intended to enhance conservation and sustainable fishery management, reduce and minimize bycatch, promote social and economic benefits, and improve 

the vessel safety of the longline catcher processor subsector in 

the BSAI. 

(b) TRANSITION RULE.—A single fishery cooperative approved 

under section 2 of this Act is deemed to meet the requirements 

of section 303A(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a(i)) 

as if it had been approved by the Secretary within 6 months 

after the date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, unless 

the Secretary makes a determination, within 30 days after the 

date of enactment of this Act, that application of section 303A(i) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to the cooperative approved under 

section 2 of this Act would be inconsistent with the purposes for 

which section 303A was added to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

(c) COST RECOVERY.—Consistent with section 304(d)(2) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)), the Secretary is 

authorized to recover reasonable costs to administer a single fishery 

cooperative approved under section 2 of this Act. 

SEC. 7. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM. 

Nothing in this Act shall affect the western Alaska community 

development program established by section 305(i) of the MagnusonStevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)), including the allocation of fishery 

resources in the directed Pacific cod fishery. 
S. 1609—4 

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) BSAI.—The term ‘‘BSAI’’ has the meaning given that 

term in section 219(a)(2) of the Department of Commerce and 

Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108– 

447; 118 Stat. 2886). 

(2) BSAI PACIFIC COD TOTAL ALLOWABLE CATCH.—The term 

‘‘BSAI Pacific cod total allowable catch’’ means the Pacific cod 

total allowable catch for the directed longline catcher processor 

subsector in the BSAI as established on an annual basis by 

the Council and approved by the Secretary. 

(3) BSAI PACIFIC COD PROHIBITED SPECIES CATCH ALLOCATION.—The term ‘‘BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch 

allocation’’ means the prohibited species catch allocation for 

the directed longline catcher processor subsector in the BSAI 

as established on an annual basis by the Council and approved 

by the Secretary. 

(4) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the North Pacific 

Fishery Management Council established under section 

302(a)(1)(G) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 

1852(a)(1)(G)). 

(5) ELIGIBLE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘eligible member’’ means 

a holder of a license limitation program license, or licenses, 

eligible to participate in the longline catcher processor subsector. 

(6) GULF OF ALASKA.—The term ‘‘Gulf of Alaska’’ means 

that portion of the Exclusive Economic Zone contained in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630. 

(7) LONGLINE CATCHER PROCESSOR SUBSECTOR.—The term 

‘‘longline catcher processor subsector’’ has the meaning given 

that term in section 219(a)(6) of the Department of Commerce 

and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 

108–447; 118 Stat. 2886). 

(8) MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT.—The term ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Act’’ means the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 

(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

of Commerce. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.