II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 39

To amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to authorize appropriations, to provide for sustainable fisheries, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. MURKOWSKI) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to authorize appropriations, to provide for sustainable fisheries, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Sustainable Fisheries Act’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
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Sec. 101. Amendment of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management

Act.

Sec. 102. Findings; purposes; policy.

Sec. 103. Definitions.

Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 105. Highly migratory species.

Sec. 106. Foreign fishing.

Sec. 107. Permits for foreign fishing.

Sec. 108. Large-scale driftnet fishing.

Sec. 109. National standards.

Sec. 110. Regional fishery management councils.

Sec. 111. Fishery management plans.

Sec. 112. Plan review and implementation.

Sec. 113. Ecosystem management.

Sec. 114. State jurisdiction.

Sec. 115. Prohibited acts.

Sec. 116. Civil penalties and permit sanctions.

Sec. 117. Enforcement.

Sec. 118. North Pacific fisheries conservation.

Sec. 119. Transition to sustainable fisheries.

TITLE II—FISHERY MONITORING AND RESEARCH

Sec. 201. Change of title.

Sec. 202. Registration and data management.

Sec. 203. Data collection.

Sec. 204. Observers.

Sec. 205. Fisheries research.

Sec. 206. Incidental harvest research.

Sec. 207. Repeal.

Sec. 208. Clerical amendments.

TITLE III—FISHERIES STOCK RECOVERY FINANCING

Sec. 301. Short title.

Sec. 302. Fisheries stock recovery refinancing.

Sec. 303. Federal financing bank relating to fishing vessels and fishery facilities.

Sec. 304. Fees for guaranteeing obligations.

Sec. 305. Sale of acquired collateral.

1 TITLE I—CONSERVATION AND

2 MANAGEMENT

3 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT OF MAGNUSON FISHERY CONSERVA4 TION AND MANAGEMENT ACT.

5 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

6 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

7 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi8 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
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1 section or other provision of the Magnuson Fishery Con2 servation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

3 SEC. 102. FINDINGS; PURPOSES; POLICY.

4 Section 2 (16 U.S.C. 1801) is amended—

5 (1) by striking subsection (a)(2) and inserting the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(2) Certain stocks of fish have declined to the

8 point where their survival is threatened, and other

9 stocks of fish have been so substantially reduced in

10 number that they could become similarly threatened

11 as a consequence of (A) increased fishing pressure,

12 (B) the inadequacy of fishery resource conservation

13 and management practices and controls, or (C) di14 rect and indirect habitat losses which have resulted

15 in a diminished capacity to support existing fishing

16 levels.’’;

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘to facilitate long-term protec18 tion of essential fish habitats,’’ in subsection (a)(6)

19 after ‘‘conservation,’’;

20 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the

21 following:

22 ‘‘(9) One of the greatest long-term threats to

23 the viability of commercial and recreational fisheries

24 is the continuing loss of marine, estuarine, and other

25 aquatic habitats on a national level. Habitat consid-
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1 erations should receive increased attention for the

2 conservation and management of fishery resources of

3 the United States.’’;

4 (4) by inserting ‘‘in a non-wasteful manner’’ in

5 subsection (b)(6) after ‘‘such development’’; and

6 (5) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the

7 following:

8 ‘‘(7) to promote the protection of essential fish

9 habitat in the review of projects conducted under

10 Federal permits, licenses, or other authorities that

11 affect or have the potential to affect such habitat.’’.

12 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.

13 Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through

15 (32) as paragraphs (3) through (33) respectively,

16 and inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘bycatch’ means fish which are

18 harvested by a fishing vessel, but which are not sold

19 or kept for personal use, including, but not limited

20 to, economic and regulatory discards.’’;

21 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through

22 (33) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (9) through

23 (35), respectively, and inserting after paragraph (6)

24 (as redesignated) the following:
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1 ‘‘(7) The term ‘economic discards’ means fish

2 which are the target of a fishery, but which are not

3 retained by the fishing vessel which harvested them

4 because they are of an undesirable size, sex or qual5 ity, or for other economic reasons.

6 ‘‘(8) The term ‘essential fish habitat’ means

7 any area essential to the life cycle of a stock of fish,

8 or to the production of maximum sustainable yield

9 of one or more fisheries managed under this Act.’’;

10 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (12) through

11 (35) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (13) through

12 (36), respectively, and inserting after paragraph

13 (11) (as redesignated) the following:

14 ‘‘(12) The term ‘fishery dependent community’

15 means a community which is substantially dependent

16 on the harvest of fishery resources to meet social

17 and economic needs.’’;

18 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (19) through

19 (36) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (20) through

20 (37), respectively, and inserting after paragraph

21 (18) (as redesignated) the following:

22 ‘‘(19) The term ‘individual transferable quota’

23 means a revocable Federal authorization to harvest

24 or process a quantity of fish under a unit or quota

25 share that represents a percentage of the total allow-
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1 able catch of a stock of fish, that may be received

2 or held by a specific person or persons for their ex3 clusive use, and that may be transferred in whole or

4 in part by the holder to another person or persons

5 for their exclusive use.’’;

6 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (22) through

7 (37) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (23) through

8 (38), respectively, and inserting after paragraph

9 (21) (as redesignated) the following:

10 ‘‘(22) The term ‘limited access system’ means

11 any system for controlling fishing effort which in12 cludes such measures as license limitations, individ13 ual transferable quotas, and non-transferable

14 quotas.’’;

15 (6) by striking ‘‘Pacific Marine Fisheries Com16 mission’’ in paragraph (23), as redesignated, and in17 serting ‘‘Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commis18 sion’’;

19 (7) by striking paragraph (27), as redesignated,

20 and inserting the following:

21 ‘‘(27) The term ‘optimum’, with respect to the

22 yield from a fishery, means the amount of fish

23 which—

24 ‘‘(A) will provide the greatest overall bene25 fit to the Nation, with particular reference to
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1 food production and recreational opportunities,

2 and taking into account the protection of ma3 rine ecosystems;

4 ‘‘(B) is prescribed on the basis of the max5 imum sustainable yield from a fishery, as modi6 fied by any relevant social, economic, or ecologi7 cal factor; and

8 ‘‘(C) provides for the rebuilding of an

9 overfished fishery to a level consistent with pro10 ducing the maximum sustainable yield.’’;

11 (8) by redesignating paragraphs (28) through

12 (38) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (29) through

13 (39), respectively, and inserting after paragraph

14 (27) (as redesignated) the following:

15 ‘‘(28) The terms ‘overfishing’ and ‘overfished’

16 mean a level or rate of fishing mortality that jeop17 ardizes the capacity of a fishery to produce the max18 imum sustainable yield on a continuing basis.’’;

19 (9) by redesignating paragraphs (30) through

20 (39) (as redesignated) as paragraphs (31) through

21 (40), respectively, and inserting after paragraph

22 (29) (as redesignated) the following:

23 ‘‘(30) The term ‘regulatory discards’ means fish

24 caught in a fishery which fishermen are required by
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1 regulation to discard whenever caught, or are re2 quired by regulation to retain but not sell.’’;

3 (10) by striking ‘‘for which a fishery manage4 ment plan prepared under title III or a preliminary

5 fishery management plan prepared under section

6 201(h) has been implemented’’ in paragraph (38), as

7 redesignated, and inserting ‘‘regulated under this

8 Act’’; and

9 (11) by redesignating paragraph (40), as redes10 ignated, as (41), and inserting after paragraph (39)

11 the following:

12 ‘‘(40) The term ‘vessel subject to the jurisdic13 tion of the United States’ has the same meaning as

14 in section 3(c) of the Maritime Drug Law Enforce15 ment Act (46 U.S.C. App. 1903(c)).’’.

16 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 The Act is amended by inserting after section 3 the

18 following:

19 ‘‘SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec21 retary for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of

22 this Act, not to exceed the following sums (of which 15

23 percent in each fiscal year shall be used for enforcement

24 activities):

25 ‘‘(1) $102,000,000 for fiscal year 1993;
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1 ‘‘(2) $106,000,000 for fiscal year 1994;

2 ‘‘(3) $143,000,000 for fiscal year 1995;

3 ‘‘(4) $147,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;

4 ‘‘(5) $151,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

5 ‘‘(6) $155,000,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

6 ‘‘(7) $159,000,000 for fiscal year 1999.’’.

7 SEC. 105. HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES.

8 Section 102 (16 U.S.C. 1812) is amended by striking

9 ‘‘promoting the objective of optimum utilization’’ and in10 serting ‘‘shall promote the achievement of optimum yield’’.

11 SEC. 106. FOREIGN FISHING.

12 Section 201 (16 U.S.C. 1821) is amended—

13 (1) by inserting a comma and ‘‘or is approved

14 under section 204(b)(6)(A)(ii)’’ before the semicolon

15 in subsection (a)(1);

16 (2) by striking ‘‘(g)’’ in subsection (a)(2) and

17 inserting ‘‘(f)’’;

18 (3) by striking ‘‘(i)’’ in subsection (c)(2)(D)

19 and inserting ‘‘(h)’’;

20 (4) by striking ‘‘, including any regulations pro21 mulgated to implement any applicable fishery man22 agement plan or any preliminary fishery manage23 ment plan’’ in subsection (c); and
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1 (5) by striking subsection (f) and redesignating

2 subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j) as (f), (g), (h), and

3 (i), respectively.

4 SEC. 107. PERMITS FOR FOREIGN FISHING.

5 (a) So much of section 204(b) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b))

6 as precedes paragraph (2) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS AND PERMITS.—

8 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—

9 ‘‘(A) Each foreign nation with which the

10 United States has entered into a governing

11 international fishery agreement shall submit an

12 application to the Secretary of State each year

13 for a permit for each of its fishing vessels that

14 wishes to engage in fishing described in sub15 section (a).

16 ‘‘(B) An owner of a vessel, other than a

17 vessel of the United States, who wishes to en18 gage in the transshipment at sea of fish prod19 ucts in the exclusive economic zone or within

20 the boundary of any State, may submit an ap21 plication to the Secretary each year for a per22 mit for a vessel belonging to that owner, wheth23 er or not such vessel is subject to an inter24 national fishery agreement described in section

25 201(b) or (c).
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1 ‘‘(C) No permit issued under this section

2 may be valid for longer than a year. Section

3 558(c) of title 5, United States Code, does not

4 apply to the renewal of any such permit.’’.

5 (b) Section 204(b)(4) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(4)) is

6 amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the caption;

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘submitted under paragraph

9 (1)(A)’’ after ‘‘any application’’;

10 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B),

11 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;

12 and

13 (4) by inserting at the end thereof the follow14 ing:

15 ‘‘(B) Upon receipt of any application sub16 mitted under paragraph (1)(B) which complies

17 with the requirements of paragraph (3), the

18 Secretary shall promptly transmit copies of the

19 application or summary as indicated under sub20 paragraphs (A)(ii) and (iii), and shall also

21 promptly transmit such application or summary

22 to States bordering the exclusive economic zone

23 where such transshipment is proposed to

24 occur.’’.
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1 (c) Section 204(b)(5) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(5)) is

2 amended by striking ‘‘under paragraph (4)(C)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘submitted under paragraph (1)’’.

4 (d) Section 204(b)(6) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(6)) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘transmitted under paragraph

7 (4)(A)’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘submit8 ted under paragraph (1)(A)’’;

9 (2) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘After’’ in sub10 paragraph (A); and

11 (3) by inserting before subparagraph (B) the

12 following:

13 ‘‘(ii) In the case of any application

14 submitted under paragraph (1)(B), the

15 Secretary, after taking into consideration

16 any comments submitted by the Council

17 under paragraph (5) or any affected State,

18 may approve the application upon deter19 mining that the activity described in the

20 application will be in the interest of the

21 United States and will meet the applicable

22 requirements of this Act, and that the

23 owners or operators have agreed to comply

24 with requirements set forth in section

25 201(c)(2) and have established any bonds
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1 or financial assurances that may be re2 quired by the Secretary; or the Secretary

3 may disapprove all or any portion of the

4 application.’’.

5 (e) Section 204(b)(8) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(8)) is

6 amended—

7 (1) by inserting a comma and ‘‘or the agent for

8 the foreign vessel owner for any application submit9 ted under paragraph (1)(B)’’ before the semicolon at

10 the end of subparagraph (A); and

11 (2) by inserting ‘‘and any affected State’’ be12 fore the period at the end of subparagraph (C).

13 (f) Section 204(b)(9) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(9)) is

14 amended—

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(A) of’’ after

16 ‘‘by a foreign nation under’’;

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the heading in

18 paragraph (9); and

19 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following:

20 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary does not approve any

21 application submitted by a foreign vessel owner

22 under paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection, the

23 Secretary shall promptly inform the vessel

24 owner of the disapproval and the reasons there25 fore. The owner, after taking into consideration
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1 the reasons for disapproval, may submit a re2 vised application under this subsection.’’.

3 (g) Section 204(b)(11) (16 U.S.C. 1824(b)(11)) is

4 amended—

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph

6 heading,

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘submitting an application

8 under paragraph (1)(A)’’ after ‘‘If a foreign nation’’;

9 and

10 (3) adding at the end thereof the following:

11 ‘‘(B) If the vessel owner submitting an ap12 plication under paragraph (1)(B) notifies the

13 Secretary of acceptance of the conditions and

14 restrictions established by the Secretary under

15 paragraph (7), and upon payment of the appli16 cable fees established pursuant to paragraph

17 (10) and confirmation of any bonds or financial

18 assurances that may be required for such trans19 shipment of fish, the Secretary shall thereupon

20 issue a permit for the vessel.’’.

21 (h) Section 204 (16 U.S.C. 1824) is amended by add22 ing at the end thereof the following:

23 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON PERMIT ISSUANCE.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of this Act, the Secretary is

25 prohibited from issuing, before December 1, 1999, any
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1 permit to authorize the catching, taking, or harvesting of

2 Atlantic mackerel or Atlantic herring by foreign fishing

3 vessels within the exclusive economic zone. This subsection

4 shall not apply to permits to authorize foreign fish proc5 essing vessels to process Atlantic mackerel or Atlantic her6 ring harvested by fishing vessels of the United States.’’.

7 SEC. 108. LARGE-SCALE DRIFTNET FISHING.

8 (a) Section 206(e) (16 U.S.C. 1826(e)) is amended

9 by striking paragraphs (3) and (4), and redesignating

10 paragraphs (5) and (6) as (3) and (4), respectively.

11 (b) Section 206(f) (16 U.S.C. 1826(f)) is amended

12 by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4)’’.

13 SEC. 109. NATIONAL STANDARDS.

14 (a) Paragraph (1) of section 301(a) (16 U.S.C.

15 1851(a)) is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(1) Conservation and management measures

17 shall prevent overfishing and rebuild overfished fish18 ery resources while achieving, on a continuing basis,

19 the optimum yield from each fishery.’’.

20 (b) Section 301(a)(5) (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)(5)) is

21 amended by striking ‘‘promote’’ and inserting ‘‘consider’’.

22 (c) Section 301(a) (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)) is amended

23 by adding at the end thereof the following:

24 ‘‘(8) Conservation and management measures

25 shall take into account the importance of the harvest
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1 of fishery resources to fishery dependent commu2 nities.’’.

3 SEC. 110. REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS.

4 (a) Section 302(a) (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)) is amended—

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection

6 heading;

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through

8 (7) as subparagraphs (A) through (H);

9 (3) by striking ‘‘section 304(f)(3)’’ wherever it

10 appears and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘paragraph

11 (3)’’;

12 (4) by striking paragraph (1)(F), as redesig13 nated, and inserting the following:

14 ‘‘(F) PACIFIC COUNCIL.—The Pacific Fish15 ery Management Council shall consist of the

16 States of California, Oregon, Washington, and

17 Idaho and shall have authority over the fish18 eries in the Pacific Ocean seaward of such

19 States. The Pacific Council shall have 13 voting

20 members, including 7 appointed by the Sec21 retary in accordance with subsection (b)(2) (at

22 least one of whom shall be appointed from each

23 such State), and including one appointed from

24 an Indian tribe with Federally recognized fish-
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1 ing rights from California, Oregon, Washington,

2 or Idaho in accordance with subsection (b)(5).’’;

3 (5) by indenting the sentence at the end thereof

4 and inserting ‘‘(2)’’ in front of ‘‘Each Council’’, and

5 by inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall establish the

6 boundaries between the geographical areas of au7 thority of adjacent Councils.’’ after ‘‘authority.’’;

8 and

9 (6) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall have authority over

11 any highly migratory species fishery that is within

12 the geographical area of authority of more than one

13 of the following Councils: New England Council,

14 Mid-Atlantic Council, South Atlantic Council, Gulf

15 Council, and Caribbean Council.’’.

16 (b) Section 302(b) (16 U.S.C. 1852(b)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking subparagraph (C) of subsection

18 (b)(1) and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(C) The members required to be ap20 pointed by the Secretary in accordance with

21 subsections (b)(2) and (5).’’;

22 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para23 graph (6), and inserting after paragraph (4) the

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(5)(A) The Secretary shall appoint to the Pa2 cific Fishery Management Council one representative

3 of an Indian tribe with Federally recognized fishing

4 rights from California, Oregon, Washington, or

5 Idaho, from a list of not less than 3 individuals sub6 mitted by the tribal governments. The representative

7 shall serve for a term of 3 years and may not serve

8 more than 3 consecutive terms. The Secretary, in

9 consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and

10 tribal governments, shall establish by regulation the

11 procedure for submitting lists under this subpara12 graph.

13 ‘‘(B) Representation shall be rotated among the

14 tribes taking into consideration—

15 ‘‘(i) the qualifications of the individuals on

16 the list referred to in subparagraph (A),

17 ‘‘(ii) the various treaty rights of the Indian

18 tribes involved and judicial cases that set forth

19 how those rights are to be exercised, and

20 ‘‘(iii) the geographic area in which the

21 tribe of the representative is located.

22 ‘‘(C) A vacancy occurring prior to the expira23 tion of any term shall be filled in the same manner

24 set out in subparagraphs (A) and (B), except that
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1 the Secretary may use the list from which the

2 vacating representative was chosen.’’; and,

3 (3) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’ in para4 graph (6), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘sub5 sections (b)(2) and (5)’’.

6 (c) Section 302(e) (16 U.S.C. 1852(e)) is amended

7 by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(5) At the request of any voting member of a

9 Council, the Council shall hold a roll call vote on any

10 matter before the Council. The official minutes and

11 other appropriate records of any Council meeting

12 shall identify all roll call votes held, the name of

13 each voting member present during each roll call

14 vote, and how each member voted on each roll call

15 vote.’’.

16 (d) Section 302(g) (16 U.S.C. 1852(g)) is amended

17 by redesignating paragraph (4) as (5), and by inserting

18 after paragraph (3) the following:

19 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall establish advisory pan20 els to assist in—

21 ‘‘(A) the collection and evaluation of infor22 mation relevant to the development of or

23 amendment to any fishery management plan

24 under section 303(e)(2); and
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1 ‘‘(B) carrying out the purposes of section

2 303(f).’’.

3 (e) Section 302(h) (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘section 304(f)(3)’’ in para5 graphs (1) and (5) and inserting ‘‘subsection

6 (a)(3)’’; and

7 (2) by striking ‘‘204(b)(4)(C)’’ in paragraph (2)

8 and inserting ‘‘204(b)(4)(A)(iii)’’.

9 (f) Section 302(i) (16 U.S.C. 1852(i)) is amended to

10 read as follows:

11 ‘‘(i) NEGOTIATED CONSERVATION AND MANAGE12 MENT MEASURES.—

13 ‘‘(1) A Council may, in consultation with the

14 Secretary, establish a negotiation panel to assist in

15 the development of specific conservation and man16 agement measures for a fishery under authority of

17 such Council. In making the decision to establish

18 such panel, the Council shall consider whether—

19 ‘‘(A) there are a finite number of identifi20 able interests that will be significantly affected

21 by the development of such measures;

22 ‘‘(B) there is a reasonable likelihood that

23 a negotiation panel can be convened with a bal24 anced representation of persons who—
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1 ‘‘(i) can adequately represent the in2 terests identified under subparagraph (A);

3 and

4 ‘‘(ii) are willing to act in good faith to

5 reach a consensus on the development of

6 such measures;

7 ‘‘(C) there is reasonable likelihood that a

8 negotiation panel will contribute to the develop9 ment of such measures within a fixed period of

10 time; and

11 ‘‘(D) the process under this subsection will

12 not unreasonably delay the development of any

13 conservation and management measure or its

14 submission to the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(2) If the Council decides to establish a nego16 tiation panel it shall notify all identifiable interests

17 of its intention to convene such panel at least 30 cal18 endar days prior to the appointment of members.

19 Such notification shall be published in accordance

20 with subsection (j)(2)(C) of this section and shall

21 include—

22 ‘‘(A) a description of the subject and scope

23 of the measures to be developed and the issues

24 to be considered;
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1 ‘‘(B) a list of interests likely to be signifi2 cantly affected by the measures to be developed;

3 ‘‘(C) a list of the persons proposed to rep4 resent such interests, the person or persons

5 proposed to represent the Council, and the per6 son or persons proposed to be nominated as

7 facilitator;

8 ‘‘(D) an explanation of how a person may

9 apply or nominate another person for member10 ship on the negotiation panel; and

11 ‘‘(E) a proposed agenda and schedule for

12 completing the work of the negotiation panel.

13 ‘‘(3) No more than 45 calendar days after pro14 viding this notification the Council shall make ap15 pointments to the negotiation panel in such a man16 ner as to achieve balanced representation of all sig17 nificant interests to the conservation and manage18 ment measures. Such interests shall include, where

19 appropriate, representatives from the fishing indus20 try, consumer groups, the scientific community, trib21 al organizations, conservation organizations and

22 other public interest organizations, and Federal and

23 State fishery managers.

24 ‘‘(4) Each negotiation panel established under

25 this section shall attempt to reach a consensus con-
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1 cerning specific conservation and management meas2 ures and any other issue such panel determines is

3 relevant to such measures. The Council, to the maxi4 mum extent possible consistent with its legal obliga5 tions and the best scientific information available,

6 will use the consensus of the negotiation panel, with

7 respect to such measures, as the basis for the devel8 opment of the conservation and management meas9 ures to be adopted by the Council for submission by

10 the Council to the Secretary in accordance with this

11 Act.

12 ‘‘(5) The person or persons representing the

13 Council on a negotiation panel shall participate in

14 the deliberations and activities of such panel with

15 the same rights and responsibilities as other panel

16 members.

17 ‘‘(6) Any facilitator nominated by the Council

18 to a negotiation panel must be approved by the

19 panel by consensus. If the panel does not approve a

20 facilitator nominated by the Council the panel shall

21 select by consensus another person to serve as

22 facilitator. No person appointed by the Council to

23 the negotiation panel to represent any interest on

24 the Council may serve as facilitator or otherwise

25 chair such panel.
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1 ‘‘(7) A facilitator approved or selected by a ne2 gotiation panel shall—

3 ‘‘(A) chair the meetings of such panel in

4 an impartial manner;

5 ‘‘(B) impartially assist the panel members

6 in conducting discussions and negotiations; and

7 ‘‘(C) manage the keeping of any minutes

8 or records, (except that any personal notes and

9 materials of the facilitator or the panel mem10 bers shall not be subject to disclosure, except

11 upon order of a court).

12 ‘‘(8) A negotiation panel may adopt any addi13 tional procedures for the operation of the negotiation

14 panel not in conflict with those specified in this sec15 tion.

16 ‘‘(9) At the conclusion of the negotiation proc17 ess, if the negotiation panel reaches a consensus on

18 proposed conservation and management measures,

19 such panel shall transmit to the Council, and

20 present to the Council at the next scheduled meeting

21 of the Council, a report containing the proposed con22 servation and management measures. If the negotia23 tion panel does not reach consensus on proposed

24 conservation and management measures, such panel

25 shall transmit to the Council, and present to the
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1 Council at the next scheduled meeting of the Coun2 cil, a report specifying its recommendations and de3 scribing the areas in which the negotiation panel

4 reached consensus and the areas in which consensus

5 was not achieved. The negotiation panel may include

6 in a report any other information or materials that

7 such panel considers appropriate. Any panel member

8 may include, as an addendum to the report, addi9 tional information or materials.

10 ‘‘(10) A negotiation panel shall terminate upon

11 transmittal and presentation to the Council of the

12 report required under paragraph (9) unless the

13 Council in consultation with the panel specifies an

14 alternative termination date.

15 ‘‘(11) For the purposes of this subsection—

16 ‘‘(A) The term ‘negotiation panel’ means

17 an advisory panel established by a Council

18 under section (g)(2) to assist in the develop19 ment of specific conservation and management

20 measures through the process established under

21 this subsection.

22 ‘‘(B) The term ‘consensus’ means general

23 but not unanimous concurrence among the in24 terests represented unless such panel—
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1 ‘‘(i) agrees by consensus to define

2 such term to mean a unanimous concur3 rence; or

4 ‘‘(ii) agrees by consensus upon an5 other specified definition.

6 ‘‘(C) The term ‘facilitator’ means a person

7 experienced or trained in group mediation and

8 negotiation who impartially aids in the discus9 sions and negotiations among the members of a

10 negotiation panel.

11 ‘‘(D) The term ‘interest’ means, with re12 spect to this subsection, multiple persons or

13 parties who have a similar point of view or

14 which are likely to be affected in a similar man15 ner.’’.

16 (g) Section 302(j) (16 U.S.C. 1852(j)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘of the Councils’’ in paragraph

18 (1) and inserting ‘‘established under subsection (g)’’;

19 and

20 (2) by striking ‘‘of a Council:’’ in paragraph (2)

21 and inserting ‘‘established under subsection (g):’’.

22 (3) by adding the following at the end of para23 graph (2)(C): ‘‘Interested persons may propose to

24 modify the published agenda of a meeting by sub25 mitting to a Council, panel or committee within 14
27

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1 calendar days of the published date of the meeting

2 a notice containing a written description of the pro3 posed modification signed by not less than two

4 Council members.’’;

5 (4) by adding the following at the end of para6 graph (2)(D): ‘‘All written data submitted to a

7 Council by an interested person shall include a state8 ment of the source and date of such information.

9 Any oral or written statement shall include a brief

10 description of the qualifications and interests of the

11 person in the subject of the oral or written state12 ment.’’;

13 (5) by amending paragraph (2)(E) to read as

14 follows:

15 ‘‘(E) Detailed minutes of each meeting of

16 the Council shall be kept and shall contain a

17 record of the persons present, a complete and

18 accurate description of matters discussed and

19 conclusions reached, and copies of all state20 ments filed, issued, or approved by the Council.

21 The Chairman shall certify the accuracy of the

22 minutes of each meeting and submit a copy

23 thereof to the Secretary. The minutes shall be

24 made available to any court of competent juris25 diction.’’; and
28

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1 (6) by striking ‘‘303(d)’’ in paragraph (2)(F)

2 and inserting ‘‘402(b)’’.

3 (g) Section 302(k) (16 U.S.C. 1852(k)) is amended—

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘and recusal’’ in the subsection

5 heading;

6 (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the

7 following:

8 ‘‘(1) For the purposes of this subsection—

9 ‘‘(A) the term ‘affected individual’ means

10 an individual who—

11 ‘‘(i) is nominated by the Governor of

12 a State for appointment as a voting mem13 ber of a Council in accordance with sub14 section (b)(2); or

15 ‘‘(ii) is a voting member of a Council

16 appointed under subsection (b)(2); and

17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘designated official’ means a

18 person with expertise in Federal conflict-of-in19 terest requirements who is designated by the

20 Secretary, with the concurrence of a majority of

21 the voting members of the Council, to attend

22 Council meetings and make determinations

23 under paragraph (7)(B).’’;

24 (3) by striking ‘‘(1)(A)’’ in paragraph (3)(A)

25 and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)(i)’’;
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1 (4) by striking ‘‘(1)(B) or (C)’’ in paragraph

2 (3)(B) and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)(ii)’’;

3 (5) by striking ‘‘(1)(B) or (C)’’ in paragraph

4 (4) and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)(ii)’’;

5 (6)(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (5)(A);

7 (B) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (5)(B) and inserting a semicolon and the

9 word ‘‘and’’; and

10 (C) by adding at the end of paragraph (5) the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(C) be kept on file by the Secretary for

13 use in reviewing determinations under para14 graph (7)(B) and made available for public in15 spection at reasonable hours.’’;

16 (7) by striking ‘‘(1)(B) or (C)’’ in paragraph

17 (6) and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)(ii)’’;

18 (8) by redesignating paragraph (7) as (8) and

19 inserting after paragraph (6) the following:

20 ‘‘(7)(A) An affected individual required to dis21 close a financial interest under paragraph (2) shall

22 not vote on a Council decision which would have a

23 significant and predictable effect on such financial

24 interest. A Council decision shall be considered to

25 have a significant and predictable effect on a finan-
30

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1 cial interest if there is a close causal link between

2 the Council decision and an expected and dispropor3 tionate benefit, shared only by a minority of persons

4 within the same industry sector or gear group, to

5 the financial interest. An affected individual who

6 may not vote may participate in Council delibera7 tions relating to the decision after notifying the

8 Council of the voting recusal and identifying the fi9 nancial interest that would be affected.

10 ‘‘(B) At the request of an affected individual, or

11 at the initiative of the appropriate designated offi12 cial, the designated official shall make a determina13 tion for the record whether a Council decision would

14 have a significant and predictable effect on a finan15 cial interest.

16 ‘‘(C) Any Council member may submit a writ17 ten request to the Secretary to review any deter18 mination by the designated official under subpara19 graph (B) within 10 days of such determination.

20 Such review shall be completed within 30 days of re21 ceipt of the request.

22 ‘‘(D) Any affected individual who does not par23 ticipate in a Council decision in accordance with this

24 subsection shall state for the record how he or she
31

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1 would have voted on such decision if he or she had

2 voted.

3 ‘‘(E) If the Council makes a decision before the

4 Secretary has reviewed a determination under sub5 paragraph (C), the eventual ruling may not be treat6 ed as cause for the invalidation or reconsideration by

7 the Secretary of such decision.

8 ‘‘(F) No later than December 1, 1995, the Sec9 retary, in consultation with the Councils, shall issue

10 guidelines with respect to voting recusals under sub11 paragraph (A) and the making of determinations

12 under subparagraph (B).’’; and

13 (9) by striking ‘‘(1)(B) or (C)’’ in paragraph

14 (8), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)(ii)’’.

15 SEC. 111. FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS.

16 (a) Section 303(a) (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the

18 following:

19 ‘‘(6) consider and provide for, after consultation

20 with the Coast Guard and persons participating in

21 the fishery and to the extent practicable without ad22 versely affecting conservation efforts in other fish23 eries or discriminating among participants in the af24 fected fishery—

25 ‘‘(A) safety of life and property at sea;
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1 ‘‘(B) temporary adjustments regarding ac2 cess to the fishery for vessels otherwise pre3 vented from harvesting because of weather or

4 other ocean conditions affecting the safe con5 duct of the fishery; and

6 ‘‘(C) effective enforcement measures (in7 cluding an estimate of the resources necessary

8 for such measures).’’;

9 (2) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(7) facilitate the protection of essential fish

12 habitat by—

13 ‘‘(A) summarizing available information on

14 the significance of such habitat to the fishery

15 and the effects of changes to such habitat on

16 the fishery; and

17 ‘‘(B) identifying Federal actions that

18 should be considered to promote the long-term

19 protection of essential fish habitats.’’;

20 (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

21 (8);

22 (4) by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (9) and inserting a semicolon; and

24 (5) by adding at the end the following:
33

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1 ‘‘(10) specify objective and measurable criteria

2 for classifying when the fishery to which the plan

3 applies would be or is overfished, with an analysis of

4 how the criteria were determined and the relation5 ship of the criteria to the reproductive potential of

6 stocks of fish in that fishery;

7 ‘‘(11) assess the level of bycatch occurring in

8 the fishery, and to the extent practicable, assess and

9 specify the effect of the fishery on stocks of fish to

10 which the plan does not apply, but which are associ11 ated with the ecosystem of the fishery; and

12 ‘‘(12) to the extent practicable, minimize mor13 tality caused by economic and regulatory discards in

14 the fishery.’’.

15 (b) Section 303(b) (16 U.S.C. 1853(b)) is amended—

16 (1) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(6) establish a limited access system for the

19 fishery in order to achieve optimum yield if—

20 ‘‘(A) in developing such system, the Coun21 cil and the Secretary take into account present

22 participation in the fishery, historical fishing

23 practices in and dependence on the fishery, the

24 economics of the fishery, the capability of fish25 ing vessels used in the fishery to engage in
34

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1 other fisheries, the cultural and social frame2 work relevant to the fishery and fishery depend3 ent communities, and any other relevant consid4 erations; and

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of any system that pro6 vides for individual transferable quotas, such

7 system also complies with the guidelines and fee

8 requirements established under section 303(f);’’;

9 and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

11 (9);

12 (3) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (10) and inserting a semicolon and ‘‘and’’;

14 and

15 (4) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(11) include, consistent with the other provi17 sions of this Act, conservation and management

18 measures that provide a harvest preference or other

19 incentives for fishing vessels within each gear group

20 that employ fishing practices resulting in lower levels

21 of bycatch.’’.

22 (c) Section 303 (16 U.S.C. 1853) is amended by

23 striking subsection (c) and all thereafter and inserting the

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT A FISHERY MAN2 AGEMENT PLAN.—Proposed regulations which the Council

3 deems necessary or appropriate for the purposes of imple4 menting a fishery management plan or amendment to a

5 plan may be submitted to the Secretary for action under

6 section 304—

7 ‘‘(1) simultaneously with submission of the plan

8 or amendment to the Secretary for action under sec9 tion 304; or

10 ‘‘(2) at any time after the plan or amendment

11 is approved.

12 ‘‘(d) FISHERIES UNDER AUTHORITY OF MORE THAN

13 ONE COUNCIL.—

14 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in section 302(a)(3), if

15 any fishery extends beyond the geographical area of

16 authority of any one Council, the Secretary may—

17 ‘‘(A) designate which Council shall prepare

18 the fishery management plan for such fishery

19 and any amendment to such plan, as well as

20 any proposed regulations for such fishery; or

21 ‘‘(B) require that the plan, amendment,

22 and proposed regulations be prepared jointly by

23 the Councils concerned.

24 ‘‘(2) No jointly prepared fishery management

25 plan, amendment, or proposed regulations may be
36

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1 submitted to the Secretary unless approved by a ma2 jority of the voting members, present and voting, of

3 each Council concerned.

4 ‘‘(e) PREPARATION BY THE SECRETARY.—

5 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall prepare a fishery man6 agement plan with respect to any fishery (other than

7 a fishery to which section 302(a)(3) applies), or any

8 amendment to any such plan, in accordance with the

9 national standards, the other provisions of this Act,

10 and any other applicable law, if—

11 ‘‘(A) the appropriate Council fails to de12 velop and submit to the Secretary, after a rea13 sonable period of time, a fishery management

14 plan for such fishery, or any necessary amend15 ment to such plan, if such fishery requires con16 servation and management and the Secretary

17 provides written notice to the Council of the

18 need for such conservation and management;

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary disapproves or partially

20 disapproves any such plan or amendment, or

21 disapproves a revised plan or amendment, and

22 the Council involved fails, after a reasonable pe23 riod of time, to take final action on a revised

24 or further revised plan or amendment, as the

25 case may be; or
37

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1 ‘‘(C) the Secretary determines that the ap2 propriate Council has failed to take sufficient

3 action on a fishery management plan, a plan

4 amendment or proposed regulations to rebuild

5 an overfished fishery pursuant to section 305(b)

6 within 1 year after determining that such fish7 ery is overfished.

8 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall prepare a fishery man9 agement plan with respect to any highly migratory

10 species fishery to which section 302(a)(3) applies

11 that requires conservation and management, or any

12 amendment to any such plan, in accordance with the

13 national standards, the other provisions of this Act,

14 and any other applicable law. In preparing and im15 plementing any such plan or amendment, the Sec16 retary shall—

17 ‘‘(A) conduct public hearings, at appro18 priate times and in appropriate locations in the

19 geographical areas concerned, so as to allow in20 terested persons an opportunity to be heard in

21 the preparation and amendment of the plan and

22 any regulations implementing the plan;

23 ‘‘(B) consult with and consider the com24 ments and views of affected Councils, as well as

25 commissioners and advisory groups appointed
38

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1 under Acts implementing relevant international

2 fishery agreements pertaining to highly migra3 tory species;

4 ‘‘(C) establish an advisory panel under sec5 tion 302(g) for each fishery management plan

6 to be prepared under this paragraph, which

7 shall consist of a balanced number of represent8 atives (but not less than 7) who are knowledge9 able and experienced with respect to the fishery

10 concerned selected from among members of ad11 visory groups appointed under Acts implement12 ing relevant international fishery agreements

13 pertaining to highly migratory species and other

14 interested parties;

15 ‘‘(D) evaluate the likely effects, if any, of

16 conservation and management measures on par17 ticipants in the affected fisheries and minimize,

18 to the extent practicable, any disadvantage to

19 United States fishermen in relation to foreign

20 competitors;

21 ‘‘(E) with respect to a highly migratory

22 species for which the United States is author23 ized to harvest an allocation or quota or fishing

24 mortality level under a relevant international

25 fishery agreement, provide fishing vessels of the
39

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1 United States with a reasonable opportunity to

2 harvest such allocation, quota, or fishing mor3 tality level;

4 ‘‘(F) review, on a continuing basis (and

5 promptly whenever a recommendation pertain6 ing to fishing for highly migratory species has

7 been made under a relevant international fish8 ery agreement), and revise as appropriate, the

9 conservation and management measures in10 cluded in the plan;

11 ‘‘(G) diligently pursue, through inter12 national entities (such as the International

13 Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic

14 Tunas), comparable international fishery man15 agement measures with respect to fishing for

16 highly migratory species; and

17 ‘‘(H) ensure that conservation and man18 agement measures adopted under this para19 graph—

20 ‘‘(i) promote international conserva21 tion of the affected fishery;

22 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration tradi23 tional fishing patterns of fishing vessels of

24 the United States and the operating re25 quirements of the fisheries; and
40

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1 ‘‘(iii) are fair and equitable in allocat2 ing fishing privileges among United States

3 fishermen and not have economic allocation

4 as the sole purpose.

5 ‘‘(3) In preparing any plan or amendment

6 under this subsection, the Secretary shall consult

7 with the Secretary of State with respect to foreign

8 fishing and with the Secretary of the department in

9 which the Coast Guard is operating with respect to

10 enforcement at sea.

11 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may not include in any fish12 ery management plan, or any amendment to any

13 such plan, prepared by the Secretary under para14 graph (1), a provision establishing a limited access

15 system, unless such system is first approved by a

16 majority of the voting members of each appropriate

17 Council.

18 ‘‘(f) INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTAS.—

19 ‘‘(1) The Secretary may not approve a fishery

20 management plan that includes individual transfer21 able quotas until the Secretary has promulgated

22 guidelines under paragraph (2). Thereafter, the Sec23 retary may approve a fishery management plan or

24 amendment that includes individual transferable

25 quotas only if the plan or amendment is consistent
41

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1 with the guidelines promulgated under paragraph

2 (2).

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall promulgate, after con4 sultation with the Councils and public notice and

5 comment, mandatory guidelines for the establish6 ment of any individual transferable quota system.

7 The guidelines shall—

8 ‘‘(A) ensure that any individual transfer9 able quota system—

10 ‘‘(i) is consistent with the require11 ments for limited access systems under

12 section 303(b)(6),

13 ‘‘(ii) promotes conservation,

14 ‘‘(iii) requires collection of fees from

15 holders of individual transferable quotas

16 under section 304(f)(2),

17 ‘‘(iv) provides for the fair and equi18 table allocation of fishing privileges, and

19 minimizes negative social and economic im20 pacts on fishery dependent communities;

21 ‘‘(v) establishes a national lien reg22 istry system for the identification, perfec23 tion, determination of lien priorities, and

24 nonjudicial foreclosure of encumbrances or

25 individual transferable quotas; and
42

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1 ‘‘(vi) facilitates a reduction in exces2 sive fishing capacity in the fishery;

3 ‘‘(B) address the characteristics of fish4 eries that are relevant to the design of suitable

5 individual transferable quota systems, the na6 ture and extent of the privilege established

7 under an individual transferable quota system,

8 factors in making initial allocations and deter9 mining eligibility for ownership of individual

10 transferable quotas, limitations on the consoli11 dation of individual transferable quotas, and

12 methods of providing for new entrants, includ13 ing, in fisheries where appropriate, mechanisms

14 to provide a portion of the annual harvest for

15 entry-level fishermen or small vessel owners who

16 do not hold individual transferable quotas;

17 ‘‘(C) provide for effective monitoring and

18 enforcement of individual transferable quota

19 systems, including providing for the inspection

20 of fish harvested under such systems before the

21 fish is transported beyond the geographic area

22 under a Council’s jurisdiction or the jurisdiction

23 of the United States;

24 ‘‘(D) provide for appropriate penalties for

25 violations of individual transferable quota sys-
43

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1 tems, including the revocation of individual

2 transferable quotas for such violations; and

3 ‘‘(E) include recommendations for poten4 tial management options related to individual

5 transferable quotas, including the authorization

6 of individual units or quotas that may not be

7 transferred by the holder, and the use of leases

8 or auctions by the Federal government in the

9 establishment or allocation of individual trans10 ferable or nontransferable units or quotas.

11 ‘‘(3) Any fishery management plan which in12 cludes individual transferable quotas that the Sec13 retary approved on or before the date of enactment

14 of the Sustainable Fisheries Act shall be amended

15 within 3 years after that date to be consistent with

16 this subsection and any other applicable provisions

17 of this Act.

18 ‘‘(4) No later than 60 days after the date of en19 actment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, the Sec20 retary shall establish an advisory panel on individual

21 transferable quotas under section 302(g)(3) which

22 shall be comprised of fishery scientists and rep23 resentatives of the Councils, representatives of af24 fected States and fishery dependent communities,

25 fishery participants and conservation organizations.
44

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1 Such advisory panel shall provide recommendations

2 on the guidelines required under paragraph (2), a

3 list of all United States fisheries that may be suited

4 for the development of limited access systems that

5 include individual transferable quotas, and other in6 formation as the Secretary or the advisory panel

7 deem appropriate.

8 ‘‘(5) An individual transferable quota does not

9 constitute a property right. Nothing in this section

10 or in any other provision of law shall be construed

11 to limit the authority of the Secretary to terminate

12 or limit such individual transferable quota at any

13 time and without compensation to the holder of such

14 quota. The term ‘holder of an individual transferable

15 quota’ includes (A) fishing vessel owners, fishermen,

16 crew members or other citizens of the United States,

17 and (B) United States fish processors.’’.

18 SEC. 112. PLAN REVIEW AND IMPLEMENTATION.

19 Section 304 (16 U.S.C. 1854) is amended to read as

20 follows:

21 ‘‘SEC. 304. PLAN REVIEW AND IMPLEMENTATION.

22 ‘‘(a) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY AFTER RECEIPT

23 OF PLAN.—
45

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1 ‘‘(1) Upon transmittal by the Council to the

2 Secretary of a fishery management plan, or amend3 ment to such plan, the Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(A) immediately commence a review of

5 the management plan or amendment to deter6 mine whether it is consistent with the national

7 standards, the other provisions of this Act, and

8 any other applicable law; and

9 ‘‘(B) immediately publish in the Federal

10 Register a notice stating that the plan or

11 amendment is available and that written data,

12 views, or comments of interested persons on the

13 document or amendment may be submitted to

14 the Secretary during the 60-day period begin15 ning on the date the notice is published.

16 ‘‘(2) In undertaking the review required under

17 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

18 ‘‘(A) take into account the data, views, and

19 comments received from interested persons;

20 ‘‘(B) consult with the Secretary of State

21 with respect to foreign fishing; and

22 ‘‘(C) consult with the Secretary of the de23 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating

24 with respect to enforcement at sea and to fish-
46

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1 ery access adjustments referred to in section

2 303(a)(6).

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall approve, disapprove,

4 or partially approve a plan or amendment within 30

5 days of the end of the comment period under para6 graph (1) by written notice to the Council. A notice

7 of disapproval or partial approval shall specify—

8 ‘‘(A) the applicable law with which the

9 plan or amendment is inconsistent;

10 ‘‘(B) the nature of such inconsistencies;

11 and

12 ‘‘(C) recommendations concerning the ac13 tions that could be taken by the Council to con14 form such plan or amendment to the require15 ments of applicable law.

16 ‘‘(4) If the Secretary disapproves or partially

17 approves a plan or amendment, the Council may

18 submit a revised plan or amendment to the Sec19 retary for review under this subsection.

20 ‘‘(b) ACTION ON REGULATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(1) Upon transmittal by the Council to the

22 Secretary of proposed regulations prepared under

23 section 303(c), the Secretary shall immediately initi24 ate an evaluation of the proposed regulations to de25 termine whether they are consistent with the fishery
47

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1 management plan, this Act and other applicable law.

2 Within 15 days of initiating such evaluation the Sec3 retary shall make a determination and—

4 ‘‘(A) if that determination is affirmative,

5 the Secretary shall publish such regulations,

6 with such technical changes as may be nec7 essary for clarity and an explanation of those

8 changes, in the Federal Register for a public

9 comment period of 15 to 60 days; or

10 ‘‘(B) if that determination is negative, the

11 Secretary shall notify the Council in writing of

12 the inconsistencies and provide recommenda13 tions on revisions that would make the proposed

14 regulations consistent with the fishery manage15 ment plan, this Act, and other applicable law.

16 ‘‘(2) Upon receiving a notification under para17 graph (1)(B), the Council may revise the proposed

18 regulations and submit them to the Secretary for re19 evaluation under paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall promulgate final regu21 lations within 30 days after the end of the comment

22 period under paragraph (1)(A). The Secretary shall

23 consult with the Council before making any revisions

24 to the proposed regulations, and must publish in the
48

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1 Federal Register an explanation of any differences

2 between the proposed and final regulations.

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.— For purposes of subsections (a)

4 and (b), the term ‘immediately’ means on or before the

5 5th day after the day on which a Council transmits to

6 the Secretary a plan, amendment, or proposed regulation

7 that the Council characterizes as final.

8 ‘‘(d) SECRETARIAL PLAN REVIEW.—

9 ‘‘(1)(A) Whenever, under section 303(e), the

10 Secretary prepares a fishery management plan or

11 amendment, the Secretary shall immediately—

12 ‘‘(i) for a plan or amendment prepared

13 under section 303(e)(1), submit such plan or

14 amendment to the appropriate Council for con15 sideration and comment; and

16 ‘‘(ii) publish in the Federal Register a no17 tice stating that the plan or amendment is

18 available and that written data, views, or com19 ments of interested persons on the plan or

20 amendment may be submitted to the Secretary

21 during the 60-day period beginning on the date

22 the notice is published.

23 ‘‘(B) Whenever a plan or amendment is submit24 ted under subsection (1)(A)(i), the appropriate

25 Council must submit its comments and recommenda-
49

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1 tions, if any, regarding the plan or amendment to

2 the Secretary before the close of the 60-day period

3 referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii). After the close

4 of such 60-day period, the Secretary, after taking

5 into account any such comments and recommenda6 tions, as well as any views, data, or comments sub7 mitted under subparagraph (A)(ii), may adopt such

8 plan or amendment.

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may propose regulations in

10 the Federal Register to implement any plan or

11 amendment prepared by the Secretary. The com12 ment period on proposed regulations shall be 60

13 days, except that the Secretary may shorten the

14 comment period on minor revisions to existing regu15 lations.

16 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall promulgate final regu17 lations within 30 days after the end of the comment

18 period under paragraph (3). The Secretary must

19 publish in the Federal Register an explanation of

20 any substantive differences between the proposed

21 and final rules. All final regulations must be consist22 ent with the plan, with the national standards and

23 other provisions of this Act, and with any other ap24 plicable law.

25 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Regulations promulgated by the Secretary

2 under this Act and actions described in paragraph

3 (2) shall be subject to judicial review to the extent

4 authorized by, and in accordance with, chapter 7 of

5 title 5, United States Code, if a complaint for such

6 review is filed within 30 days after the date on

7 which the regulations are promulgated or the action

8 is published in the Federal Register, as applicable;

9 except that—

10 ‘‘(A) section 705 of such title is not appli11 cable, and

12 ‘‘(B) the appropriate court shall only set

13 aside any such regulation or action on a ground

14 specified in section 706(2)(A), (B), (C), or (D)

15 of such title.

16 ‘‘(2) The actions referred to in paragraph (1)

17 are actions that are taken by the Secretary under

18 regulations which implement a fishery management

19 plan, including but not limited to actions that estab20 lish the date of closure of a fishery to commercial or

21 recreational fishing.

22 ‘‘(3) (A) Notwithstanding any other provision

23 of law, the Secretary shall file a response to any

24 complaint filed in accordance with paragraph (1) not

25 later than 45 days after the date the Secretary is
51

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1 served with that complaint, except that the appro2 priate court may extend the period for filing such a

3 response upon a showing by the Secretary of good

4 cause for that extension.

5 ‘‘(B) A response of the Secretary under this

6 paragraph shall include a copy of the administrative

7 record for the regulations that are the subject of the

8 petition.

9 ‘‘(4) Upon a motion by the person who files a

10 complaint under this subsection, the appropriate

11 court shall assign the matter for hearing at the ear12 liest possible date and shall expedite the matter in

13 every possible way.

14 ‘‘(f) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEES.—

15 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall by regulation establish

16 the level of any fees that are authorized to be

17 charged pursuant to section 303(b)(1). The Sec18 retary may enter into a cooperative agreement with

19 the States concerned under which the States admin20 ister the permit system and the agreement may pro21 vide that all or part of the fees collected under the

22 system shall accrue to the States. The level of fees

23 charged under this paragraph shall not exceed the

24 administrative costs incurred in issuing the permits.
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the

2 Secretary shall collect a fee from each person hold3 ing an individual transferable quota pursuant to a

4 limited access system established under section

5 303(b)(6). Fees assessed under this paragraph shall

6 be sufficient to recover the cost of managing the

7 fishery to which the quota applies, including reason8 able costs for salaries, training, data analysis and

9 other costs directly related to fishery management

10 and enforcement, up to—

11 ‘‘(i) four percent annually of the value of

12 fish harvested or processed in that year under

13 the individual transferable quota; and

14 ‘‘(ii) an additional 1 percent of the value

15 of fish authorized to be harvested or processed

16 for that year under the individual transferable

17 quota to be assessed on a person receiving an

18 initial quota or transferring a quota.

19 ‘‘(B) The Secretary, in consultation with the

20 Councils, shall promulgate regulations, prescribing

21 the method of determining the value of fish author22 ized to be taken, the amount of each fee, and the

23 method of collecting fees. Fees collected under this

24 paragraph shall meet the requirements of section

25 9701(b) of title 31, United States Code. Fees col-
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1 lected under this paragraph shall be an offsetting

2 collection and shall be available only to the Secretary

3 for the purposes of administering and implementing

4 this Act in the region in which the fees were col5 lected.

6 ‘‘(C) Persons holding individual transferable

7 quota pursuant to limited access systems established

8 in the surf clam and ocean quahog fishery or in the

9 wreckfish fishery are exempt from the collection of

10 fees under this paragraph for a period ending 5

11 years after the date of enactment of the Sustainable

12 Fisheries Act.

13 ‘‘(g) EFFECT OF CERTAIN LAWS ON CERTAIN TIME

14 REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall comply with any

15 applicable provisions of chapter 35 of title 44, United

16 States Code, chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, and

17 Executive Order Numbered 12866, dated September 30,

18 1993, within the time limitations specified in subsections

19 (a) and (b).

20 ‘‘(h) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECRETARY.—The

21 Secretary shall have general responsibility to carry out the

22 provisions of this Act. The Secretary may promulgate such

23 regulations, in accordance with section 553 of title 5,

24 United States Code, as may be necessary to discharge

25 such responsibility.’’.
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1 SEC. 113. ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.

2 Section 305 (16 U.S.C. 1855) is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 305. ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT.

5 ‘‘(a) REPORT ON STATUS OF FISHERIES.—The Sec6 retary shall report annually to the Congress and the Coun7 cils on the status of fisheries within each Council’s geo8 graphical area of authority and identify those fisheries

9 that are approaching a condition of being overfished or

10 are overfished. For those fisheries managed under a fish11 ery management plan, the status shall be assessed using

12 the criteria for overfishing specified by the appropriate

13 Council under section 303(a)(10). A fishery shall be classi14 fied as approaching a condition of being overfished if,

15 based on trends in fishing effort, fishery resource size, and

16 other appropriate factors, the Secretary estimates that the

17 fishery will become overfished within 2 years. Any fishery

18 determined to be a commercial fishery failure under sec19 tion 316, shall be deemed to be overfished for the purposes

20 of subsections (a) and (b).

21 ‘‘(b) FISHERY RECOVERY EFFORT.—

22 ‘‘(1) The Council shall take immediate action to

23 prepare a fishery management plan, a plan amend24 ment, or proposed regulations for fisheries under

25 such Council’s authority—
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1 ‘‘(A) to prevent overfishing of a fishery

2 from occurring whenever such fishery is classi3 fied under subsection (a) as approaching an

4 overfished condition, or

5 ‘‘(B) to stop overfishing of a fishery when6 ever such fishery is classified under subsection

7 (a) as overfished, and to rebuild affected stocks

8 of fish.

9 ‘‘(2) The Council shall submit a fishery man10 agement plan, amendment or proposed regulations

11 required under paragraph (1) to the Secretary with12 in 1 year from the date of transmittal of the report

13 on the status of stocks under subsection (a). For a

14 fishery that is overfished, such fishery management

15 plan, amendment or proposed regulations shall speci16 fy a time period for stopping overfishing and re17 building the fishery. The time period shall be as

18 short as possible, taking into account the status and

19 biology of the overfished stock of fish, the needs of

20 fishery-dependent communities, and the interaction

21 of the overfished stock of fish within the marine eco22 system. The time period may not be more than 10

23 years, except under extraordinary circumstances.

24 ‘‘(3) During the development of a fishery man25 agement plan, a plan amendment, or proposed regu-
56

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1 lations under this subsection, the Council may re2 quest that the Secretary promulgate emergency reg3 ulations under subsection (e)(2) to reduce

4 overfishing. Any request by the Council under this

5 paragraph shall be deemed an emergency.

6 ‘‘(c) FISH HABITAT.—

7 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, in cooperation with the

8 Councils and the Secretary of the Interior, after no9 tice and public comment, shall identify the essential

10 fish habitat for each fishery for which a fishery

11 management plan is in effect. The identification

12 shall be based on the description of essential fish

13 habitat contained in the plan.

14 ‘‘(2) Each Council—

15 ‘‘(A) may comment on and make rec16 ommendations concerning any activity under17 taken, or proposed to be undertaken, by any

18 Federal or State agency that, in the view of the

19 Council, may have an adverse effect on essential

20 fish habitat of a fishery under its authority;

21 and

22 ‘‘(B) shall comment on and make rec23 ommendations to any Federal or State depart24 ment or agency concerning any such activity

25 that, in the view of the Council is likely to sub-
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1 stantially affect the habitat of an anadromous

2 fishery resource under its jurisdiction.

3 ‘‘(3) If the Secretary receives information from

4 a Council or determines from other sources that an

5 action authorized, funded, carried out, or proposed

6 to be carried out by any Federal agency may result

7 in the destruction or adverse modification of any es8 sential fish habitat identified under paragraph (1),

9 the Secretary shall comment on and make rec10 ommendations to the Federal agency concerning that

11 action.

12 ‘‘(4) Within 45 days after receiving a comment

13 or recommendation under paragraphs (2) or (3)

14 from a Council or the Secretary, a Federal agency

15 shall provide a detailed response, in writing, to the

16 commenting Council and the Secretary regarding the

17 matter. The response shall include a description of

18 measures being considered by the agency for avoid19 ing, mitigating, or offsetting the impact of the activ20 ity on such habitat. In the case of a response that

21 is inconsistent with a recommendation from any

22 Council or the Secretary, the Federal agency shall

23 explain its reasons for not following the rec24 ommendations.
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1 ‘‘(d) GEAR EVALUATION AND NOTIFICATION OF

2 ENTRY.—

3 ‘‘(1) Each Council shall submit to the Secretary

4 by June 1, 1996, information describing (A) all fish5 ing technologies employed under such Council’s au6 thority; and (B) all fisheries under the authority of

7 such Council. The Secretary shall compile such in8 formation, along with information to comply with

9 both (A) and (B) for fisheries to which section

10 302(a)(3) applies.

11 ‘‘(2) By July 15, 1996, the Secretary shall pub12 lish a proposed list of all technologies and fisheries,

13 for each Council and for fisheries to which section

14 302(a)(3) applies, in the Federal Register for a pub15 lic comment period of not less than 60 days. The

16 Secretary shall include with such list specific guide17 lines for determining when a technology or fishery is

18 sufficiently different from those listed as to require

19 notification under paragraph (3). Within 30 days

20 after the close of the public comment period the Sec21 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a final

22 list (including the guidelines), after taking into ac23 count any public comment received.

24 ‘‘(3) Beginning on the date that is 180 days

25 after the date of the publication of the final list re-
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1 quired under paragraph (2), no person or vessel

2 shall employ a fishing technology or engage in a

3 fishery that is not included on the final list for the

4 appropriate Council or for fisheries to which section

5 302(a)(3) applies without first giving 90 days ad6 vance written notice of the intent to employ such un7 listed technology or engage in such unlisted fishery

8 to the appropriate Council, or the Secretary with re9 spect to a fishery to which section 302(a)(3) applies.

10 Such notice shall be by first class mail, return re11 ceipt requested, and shall include information on the

12 use of the unlisted technology in other fisheries, if

13 any, and a detailed description, including drawings,

14 maps or diagrams if appropriate, of the unlisted

15 technology or unlisted fishery which such person or

16 vessel seeks to employ or engage in.

17 ‘‘(4) A Council may submit to the Secretary

18 amendments to the final list published under para19 graph (2) to reflect any substantial changes in the

20 fishing technologies employed or fisheries engaged in

21 under the authority of such Council. The Secretary

22 may submit any amendments for fisheries to which

23 section 302(a)(3) applies. The Secretary shall pub24 lish any such amendments in the Federal Register

25 as proposed amendments (along with any proposed
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1 revisions to the guidelines) to the final list for a

2 public comment period of not less than 60 days.

3 Within 45 days of the close of the comment period,

4 the Secretary shall publish a revised final list incor5 porating such proposed amendments, after taking

6 into account any public comments received.

7 ‘‘(5) A Council may request the Secretary to

8 promulgate emergency regulations under subsection

9 (e) prohibiting any persons or vessels from employ10 ing an unlisted technology or engaging in an un11 listed fishery if the appropriate Council, or the Sec12 retary for fisheries to which section 302(a)(3) ap13 plies, determines that use of such technology or

14 entry into such fishery would compromise the effec15 tiveness of conservation and management efforts

16 under this Act.

17 ‘‘(6) If, after providing the notice required

18 under paragraph (3), no emergency regulations are

19 implemented under paragraph (5), the person or ves20 sel submitting notice under paragraph (3) may, after

21 the required 90 day period has lapsed, employ the

22 unlisted technology or enter the unlisted fishery to

23 which such notice applies. The signed return receipt

24 shall constitute adequate evidence of the submittal
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1 of such notice and the date upon which the 90-day

2 period begins.

3 ‘‘(7) A violation of this subsection shall be con4 sidered a violation of section 307, punishable under

5 section 308.

6 ‘‘(e) EMERGENCY ACTIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) If the Secretary finds that an emergency

8 exists involving any fishery, he may promulgate

9 emergency regulations necessary to address the

10 emergency, without regard to whether a fishery

11 management plan exists for such fishery.

12 ‘‘(2) If a Council finds that an emergency exists

13 involving any fishery within its jurisdiction, whether

14 or not a fishery management plan exists for such

15 fishery—

16 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall promulgate emer17 gency regulations under paragraph (1) to ad18 dress the emergency if the Council, by unani19 mous vote of the voting members of the Coun20 cil, requests the taking of such action; and

21 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may promulgate emer22 gency regulations under paragraph (1) to ad23 dress the emergency if the Council, by less than

24 a unanimous vote, requests the taking of such

25 action.
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1 ‘‘(3) Any emergency regulation which changes

2 an existing fishery management plan shall be treated

3 as an amendment to such plan for the period in

4 which such regulation is in effect. Any emergency

5 regulation promulgated under this subsection—

6 ‘‘(A) shall be published in the Federal

7 Register together with the reasons therefor;

8 ‘‘(B) shall, except as provided in subpara9 graph (C), remain in effect for not more than

10 180 days after the date of publication, and may

11 be extended by publication in the Federal Reg12 ister for an additional period of not more than

13 180 days, provided the public has had an op14 portunity to comment on the emergency regula15 tion, and, in the case of a Council recommenda16 tion for emergency regulations, the Council is

17 actively preparing a fishery management plan,

18 amendment, or proposed regulations to address

19 the emergency on a permanent basis;

20 ‘‘(C) that responds to a public health

21 emergency may remain in effect until the cir22 cumstances that created the emergency no

23 longer exist, provided that the Secretary of

24 Health and Human Services concurs with the

25 Secretary’s action and the public has an oppor-
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1 tunity to comment after the regulation is pub2 lished;

3 ‘‘(D) that reduces overfishing may be ap4 proved without regard to the requirements of

5 section 301(a)(1); and

6 ‘‘(E) may be terminated by the Secretary

7 at an earlier date by publication in the Federal

8 Register of a notice of termination, except for

9 emergency regulations promulgated under para10 graph (2) in which case such early termination

11 may be made only upon the agreement of the

12 Secretary and the Council concerned.

13 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may, pursuant to guidelines

14 established by a Council in a fishery management

15 plan, close or restrict a particular fishery covered by

16 such fishery management plan in order to prevent

17 overfishing or reduce bycatch. Any such guidelines

18 shall specify appropriate means for providing timely

19 notice to fishermen of any closure or restriction. In

20 exercising the authority granted under this para21 graph, the Secretary shall not be required to provide

22 an opportunity for notice and comment if such clo23 sure or restriction is done in accordance with the

24 fishery management plan guidelines and does not ex25 tend beyond the end of the current fishing period es-
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1 tablished for that fishery by the fishery management

2 plan.’’.

3 SEC. 114. STATE JURISDICTION.

4 (a) Section 306(b) (16 U.S.C. 1856(b)) is amended

5 by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(3) If the State involved requests that a hear7 ing be held pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary

8 shall conduct such hearing prior to taking any action

9 under paragraph (1).’’.

10 (b) Section 306(c)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1856(c)(1)) is

11 amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ in subparagraph (A);

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub14 paragraph (B) and inserting a semicolon and the

15 word ‘‘and’’; and

16 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘(C) the owner or operator of the vessel

19 submits reports on the tonnage of fish received

20 from U.S. vessels and the locations from which

21 such fish were harvested, in accordance with

22 such procedures as the Secretary by regulation

23 shall prescribe.’’.
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1 SEC. 115. PROHIBITED ACTS.

2 (a) Section 307(1)(J)(i) (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)(J)(i)) is

3 amended by striking ‘‘American Lobster Fishery Manage4 ment Plan, as implemented by’’ and ‘‘, or any successor

5 to that plan, implemented under this title’’.

6 (b) Section 307(1)(L) (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)(L)) is

7 amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(L) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, im9 pede, intimidate, sexually harass, or interfere

10 with any observer on a vessel under this Act, or

11 any data collector employed by or under con12 tract to the National Marine Fisheries Serv13 ice;’’.

14 (c) Section 307(1)(M) (16 U.S.C. 1857(1)(M)) is

15 amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(M) to engage in large-scale driftnet fish17 ing on a vessel of the United States or a vessel

18 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States

19 upon the high seas beyond the exclusive eco20 nomic zone of any nation or within the exclusive

21 economic zone of the United States, (and any

22 vessel that is shoreward of the outer boundary

23 of the exclusive economic zone of the United

24 States or beyond the exclusive economic zone of

25 any nation, and that has onboard gear that is

26 capable of use for large-scale driftnet fishing,
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1 shall be presumed to be engaged in such fish2 ing, but that presumption may be rebutted);

3 or’’.

4 (d) Section 307(2)(A) (16 U.S.C. 1857(2)(A)) is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(A) in fishing within the boundaries of

7 any State, except—

8 ‘‘(i) recreational fishing permitted

9 under section 201(i),

10 ‘‘(ii) fish processing permitted under

11 section 306(c), or

12 ‘‘(iii) transshipment at sea of fish

13 products within the boundaries of any

14 State in accordance with a permit ap15 proved under section 204(b)(6)(A)(ii);’’.

16 (e) Section 307(2)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1857(2)(B)) is

17 amended by striking ‘‘201(j)’’ and inserting ‘‘201(i)’’.

18 (f) Section 307(3) (16 U.S.C. 1857(3)) is amended

19 to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(3) for any vessel of the United States, and

21 for the owner or operator of any vessel of the United

22 States, to transfer at sea directly or indirectly, or at23 tempt to so transfer at sea, any United States har24 vested fish to any foreign fishing vessel, while such

25 foreign vessel is within the exclusive economic zone
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1 or within the boundaries of any State except to the

2 extent that the foreign fishing vessel has been per3 mitted under section 204(b)(6)(B) or section 306(c)

4 to receive such fish;’’.

5 (g) Section 307(4) (16 U.S.C. 1857(4)) is amended

6 by inserting ‘‘or within the boundaries of any State’’ after

7 ‘‘zone’’.

8 SEC. 116. CIVIL PENALTIES AND PERMIT SANCTIONS.

9 (a) The first sentence of section 308(b) (16 U.S.C.

10 1858(b)) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘Any person

11 against whom a civil penalty is assessed under subsection

12 (a), or against whom a permit sanction is imposed under

13 subsection (g) (other than a permit suspension for

14 nonpayment of penalty or fine), may obtain review thereof

15 in the United States district court for the appropriate dis16 trict by filing a complaint against the Secretary in such

17 court within 30 days from the date of such order.’’.

18 (b) Section 308(g)(1)(C) (16 U.S.C. 1858(g)(1)(C))

19 is amended by striking the matter from ‘‘(C) any’’ through

20 ‘‘overdue,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘(C) any amount

21 in settlement of a civil forfeiture imposed on a vessel or

22 other property, or any civil penalty or criminal fine im23 posed on a vessel or owner or operator of a vessel or any

24 other person who has been issued or has applied for a per-
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1 mit under any marine resource law enforced by the Sec2 retary, has not been paid and is overdue,’’.

3 (c) Section 308(16 U.S.C. 1858) is amended by in4 serting at the end thereof the following:

5 ‘‘(h) After deduction for any administrative or en6 forcement costs incurred or other expenditures authorized

7 under this Act, all funds collected under this section shall

8 be deposited in a separate account of the Ocean Conserva9 tion Trust Fund established under section 315.’’.

10 SEC. 117. ENFORCEMENT.

11 (a) Section 311(e)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1861(e)(1)) is

12 amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘fishery’’ each place it appears

14 and inserting ‘‘marine’’;

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘of not less than 20 percent of

16 the penalty collected’’ after ‘‘reward’’ in subpara17 graph (B), and

18 (3) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting

19 the following:

20 ‘‘(E) claims of parties in interest to prop21 erty disposed of under section 612(b) of the

22 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1612(b)), as

23 made applicable by section 310(c) of this Act or

24 by any other marine resource law enforced by

25 the Secretary, to seizures made by the Sec-
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1 retary, in amounts determined by the Secretary

2 to be applicable to such claims at the time of

3 seizure; and’’.

4 (b) Section 311(e)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1861(e)(2)) is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(2) Any person found in an administrative or

7 judicial proceeding to have violated this Act or any

8 other marine resource law enforced by the Secretary

9 shall be liable for the cost incurred in the sale, stor10 age, care, and maintenance of any fish or other

11 property lawfully seized in connection with the viola12 tion.’’.

13 (c) Section 311 (16 U.S.C. 1861) is amended by re14 designating subsection (f) as subsection (h), and by insert15 ing the following after subsection (e):

16 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT ON ENFORCEMENT.—Each

17 year at the time the President’s budget is submitted to

18 the Congress, the Secretary and the Secretary of the De19 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating shall,

20 after consultation with the Councils, submit a report on

21 the effectiveness of the enforcement of fishery manage22 ment plans and regulations to implement such plans under

23 the jurisdiction of each Council, including—

24 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the adequacy of federal per25 sonnel and funding resources related to the enforce-
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1 ment of fishery management plans and regulations

2 to implement such plans; and

3 ‘‘(2) recommendations to improve enforcement

4 that should be considered in developing amendments

5 to plans or to regulations implementing such plans.

6 ‘‘(g) FISHERMEN’S INFORMATION NETWORKS.—The

7 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the de8 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating, shall con9 duct a program to encourage the formation of volunteer

10 networks, to be designated as Fishermen’s Information

11 Networks, to advise on and assist in the monitoring, re12 porting, and prevention of violations of this Act.’’.

13 SEC. 118. NORTH PACIFIC FISHERIES CONSERVATION.

14 Section 313 (16 U.S.C. 1862) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘research plan’’ in the section

16 heading and inserting ‘‘conservation’’; and

17 (b) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(f) REDUCTION OF WASTE.—

19 ‘‘(1) No later than June 1, 1996, the North Pa20 cific Fishery Management Council shall include in

21 each fishery management plan under its jurisdiction

22 conservation and management measures, including

23 fees or other incentives, to reduce bycatch in each

24 fishery. Notwithstanding section 304(d), in imple25 menting this subsection the Council may rec-
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1 ommend, and the Secretary may approve and imple2 ment any such recommendation, consistent with the

3 other provisions of this Act, a system of fees to pro4 vide an incentive to reduce bycatch, and, in particu5 lar, economic and regulatory discards. Any such sys6 tem of fees or incentives shall be fair and equitable

7 to all fishermen and United States fish processors,

8 and shall not have economic allocation as its sole

9 purpose.

10 ‘‘(2) Not later than January 1, 1997, the North

11 Pacific Fishery Management Council shall rec12 ommend, and the Secretary may approve and imple13 ment any such recommendation, consistent with the

14 other provisions of this Act, conservation and man15 agement measures to ensure total catch measure16 ment in each fishery under the Council’s jurisdic17 tion. Such conservation and management measures

18 shall ensure the accurate enumeration of target spe19 cies, economic discards, and regulatory discards.

20 ‘‘(3) Beginning on January 1, 1998, such con21 servation and management measures shall include a

22 harvest preference or other incentives to fishing and

23 processing practices within each gear group that re24 sult in the lowest levels of economic discards, proc25 essing waste, regulatory discards, and other bycatch.
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1 In determining which practices shall be given prior2 ity, the reduction of economic discards shall be given

3 the greatest weight, followed by processing waste

4 (where applicable), regulatory discards and other

5 bycatch, in that order.

6 ‘‘(4) In determining the level of target species

7 catch, economic discards, regulatory discards, other

8 bycatch, and processing waste, the Council and Sec9 retary shall base such determinations on observer

10 data or the best available information.

11 ‘‘(5) In the case of fisheries occurring under an

12 individual transferable quota system under the juris13 diction of the North Pacific Fishery Management

14 Council after January 1, 1998—

15 ‘‘(A) the Council shall designate non-target

16 species, bycatch species, and regulatory discards

17 for each such fishery;

18 ‘‘(B) the Council may not recommend, and

19 the Secretary may not approve, any assignment

20 or allocation of individual transferable quotas

21 for regulatory discards, or non-target species

22 for those fisheries, other than for each individ23 ual fishing season on an annual basis pursuant

24 to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph; and
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1 ‘‘(C) any harvest preference required under

2 paragraph (3) shall be implemented by giving

3 priority in the allocation of quotas for regu4 latory discards and non-target species and to

5 fishing practices that result in the lowest levels

6 of economic discards, regulatory discards, proc7 essing waste, and other bycatch.

8 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed

9 to preclude the North Pacific Fishery Management

10 Council from allocating a portion of any quota for

11 a directed fishery for use as bycatch in another fish12 ery or fisheries, if the Council determines such allo13 cation is necessary to prosecute a fishery, after tak14 ing into account the requirements of this section re15 garding reduction of bycatch and processing waste.

16 ‘‘(g) FULL RETENTION AND FULL UTILIZATION.—

17 ‘‘(1) The North Pacific Fishery Management

18 Council shall, consistent with the other provisions of

19 this Act, submit to the Secretary by January 1,

20 1997, a plan to phase-in by January 1, 2000, to the

21 maximum extent practicable, fishery management

22 plan amendments to require full retention by fishing

23 vessels and full utilization by United States fish

24 processors of all fishery resources, except regulatory

25 discards, caught under the jurisdiction of such
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1 Council if such fishery resources cannot be quickly

2 returned alive to the sea with the expectation of ex3 tended survival.

4 ‘‘(2) The plan shall include conservation and

5 management measures to minimize processing waste

6 and ensure the optimum utilization of target species,

7 including standards setting minimum percentages of

8 target species harvest which must be processed for

9 human consumption.

10 ‘‘(3) In determining the maximum extent prac11 ticable, the North Pacific Fishery Management

12 Council shall consider—

13 ‘‘(A) the state of available technology;

14 ‘‘(B) the extent to which species brought

15 on board can be safely returned alive, with the

16 expectation of extended survival, to the sea;

17 ‘‘(C) the extent to which each species is

18 fully utilized as a target species by United

19 States fishermen;

20 ‘‘(D) the impact of different processing

21 practices on the price paid to fishermen and

22 processors;

23 ‘‘(E) the nature and economic costs of

24 each specific fishery; and
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1 ‘‘(F) the effect of a full retention or full

2 utilization requirement in a given fishery on

3 other fisheries when compared with the bene4 ficial effect of reducing economic discards and

5 processing waste.

6 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding section 304(f), the North

7 Pacific Fishery Management Council may propose,

8 and the Secretary may approve and implement any

9 such recommendation, consistent with the other pro10 visions of this Act, a system of fines or other incen11 tives to implement this section. Any such fines or in12 centive system shall be fair and equitable to all fish13 ing vessels and United States fish processors, and

14 shall not have economic allocation as its sole pur15 pose.

16 ‘‘(h) REGULATORY DISCARDS.—

17 ‘‘(1) Regulatory discards shall not be consid18 ered an economic discard for purposes of this sec19 tion, however, the North Pacific Fishery Manage20 ment Council shall seek to reduce the incidental

21 catch of regulatory discards to the maximum extent

22 practicable while allowing for the prosecution of fish23 eries under its jurisdiction.

24 ‘‘(2) Not later than June 1, 1996, the North

25 Pacific Fishery Management Council shall propose,
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1 and the Secretary may approve and implement any

2 such recommendation, consistent with the other pro3 visions of this Act, for each groundfish fishery under

4 the Council’s jurisdiction, conservation and manage5 ment measures to reduce the incidental harvest of

6 regulatory discards to the minimum level necessary

7 to prosecute directed fisheries for designated target

8 species, and to otherwise meet the requirements of

9 this section. Notwithstanding section 304(f), such

10 conservation and management measures may include

11 a system of fines, caps, or other incentives to reduce

12 the incidental harvest of regulatory discards. Any

13 system of fines or incentives under this section shall

14 be fair and equitable to all fishing vessels and Unit15 ed States fish processors, and shall not have eco16 nomic allocation as its sole purpose.

17 ‘‘(3) The North Pacific Fishery Management

18 Council shall establish for each fishery which inci19 dentally harvests regulatory discards under the

20 Council’s jurisdiction a cap which prevents such reg21 ulatory discards from being overfished or from being

22 placed in risk of being overfished. Upon reaching

23 such cap, the commercial fishery in which such regu24 latory discards are incidentally caught shall be

25 closed for that season.
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1 ‘‘(i) OBSERVER PROGRAM.—

2 ‘‘(1) Beginning June 1, 1996, the North Pacific

3 Fishery Management Council shall require under the

4 authority granted to it by subsection (a)—

5 ‘‘(A) 100 percent observer coverage on all

6 fishing vessels which can safely accommodate

7 an observer or observers, and at all United

8 States fish processors to the extent that fund9 ing for such coverage is available, and

10 ‘‘(B) for vessels which cannot safely ac11 commodate an observer, statistically reliable

12 sampling of a fishing vessel’s effort in each

13 fishery in which that fishing vessel participates,

14 when such vessel or processor is fishing in a fishery

15 under the North Pacific Fishery Management Coun16 cil’s jurisdiction. In implementing subparagraph (A)

17 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall

18 require that more than one observer be stationed on

19 a fishing vessel or at a United States fish processor

20 whenever the Council determines that more than one

21 such observer is necessary to accurately monitor that

22 vessel or processor’s operation.

23 ‘‘(2) Observers stationed on fishing vessels or at

24 United States fish processors under the authority of

25 this section shall be paid by the Secretary using
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1 funds deposited in the North Pacific Fishery Ob2 server Fund. Such payment shall not make an ob3 server an employee of the Federal Government, un4 less such observer is otherwise employed by an agen5 cy of the United States.

6 ‘‘(3) Failure to pay the fee established by the

7 North Pacific Fishery Management Council under

8 subsection (a) shall be a considered a violation of

9 section 307, punishable under section 308. Any fines

10 collected pursuant to the authority granted by this

11 subsection shall be deposited in the North Pacific

12 Fishery Observer Fund account in the United States

13 Treasury, and shall remain available until expended

14 under the terms of that fund.

15 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding sections 304(f) and sub16 section (b), the Secretary is authorized to recover

17 from vessels participating in a fishery under an indi18 vidual fishing quota regime or other limited access

19 program established by the North Pacific Fishery

20 Management Council, the full cost of any observers

21 stationed on such vessel (including all costs for sala22 ries, expenses, equipment, food and lodging, trans23 portation, insurance, and analysis of observer data,

24 plus reasonable costs for training and administrative

25 overhead). Each participant in an individual fishing
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1 quota regime shall only be required to contribute the

2 same proportion of the costs as that participant’s

3 quota shares represent to the total number of quota

4 shares in such regime. To the extent that the costs

5 recovered under this paragraph exceed the fee estab6 lished by the Council under subsection (b), the Sec7 retary shall deduct any payment by a vessel under

8 subsection (b) from the amount owed by such vessel

9 under this paragraph. The Secretary shall deposit

10 any fees collected under this paragraph in the North

11 Pacific Fishery Observer Fund account in the Unit12 ed States Treasury.

13 ‘‘(j) INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE.—

14 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall submit a plan by Jan15 uary 1, 1996, to the Committee on Commerce,

16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the

17 Committee on Resources of the House of Represent18 atives to develop jointly with industry accurate

19 methods of weighing the fish harvested by United

20 States fishing vessels in fisheries under the jurisdic21 tion of the North Pacific Fishery Management

22 Council. Such plan shall include methods for assess23 ing contributions from industry to fund such devel24 opment, as well as recommendations from the Sec-
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1 retary concerning the level of funds needed to suc2 cessfully implement the plan in fiscal year 1997.

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall submit by January 1,

4 1996, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

5 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on

6 Resources of the House of Representatives a plan to

7 develop markets and harvesting and processing tech8 niques for arrowtooth flounder. The Secretary shall

9 include in such plan recommendations concerning

10 the level of funds needed to successfully implement

11 the plan in fiscal year 1997.

12 ‘‘(3) For fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, and

13 1999, $50,000 is authorized to be appropriated for

14 the purposes of implementing paragraph (1), and

15 $250,000 is authorized to be appropriated for pro16 grams to implement paragraph (2).

17 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section,

18 ‘processing waste’ means that portion of a fish which is

19 processed and which could be used for human consump20 tion or other commercial use, but which is not so used.’’.

21 SEC. 119. TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES.

22 (a) The Act is amended by adding at the end of title

23 III the following:

24 ‘‘SEC. 315. TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES.

25 ‘‘(a) SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.—
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1 ‘‘(1) At the discretion of the Secretary or at the

2 request of the Governor of an affected State or a

3 fishery dependent community, the Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Councils and Federal agencies, as

5 appropriate, may work with regional authorities, af6 fected States, fishery dependent communities, the

7 fishing industry, conservation organizations, and

8 other interested parties, to develop a sustainable de9 velopment strategy for any fishery classified as

10 overfished under section 305(a) or determined to be

11 a commercial fishery failure under section 316.

12 ‘‘(2) Such sustainable development strategy

13 shall—

14 ‘‘(A) take into consideration the economic,

15 social, and ecological factors affecting the fish16 ery and provide recommendations for address17 ing such factors in the development of a fishery

18 recovery effort under section 305(b);

19 ‘‘(B) identify Federal and State programs

20 which can be used to provide assistance to fish21 ery dependent communities during development

22 and implementation of a fishery recovery effort;

23 ‘‘(C) develop a balanced and comprehensive

24 long-term plan to guide the transition to a sus25 tainable fishery, identifying alternative eco-
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1 nomic opportunities and establishing long-term

2 objectives for the fishery including vessel types

3 and sizes, harvesting and processing capacity,

4 and optimal fleet size;

5 ‘‘(D) establish procedures to implement

6 such a plan and facilitate consensus and coordi7 nation in regional decision-making; and

8 ‘‘(E) include any program established

9 under subsection (b) to reduce the number of

10 vessels or level of capital investment in the fish11 ery.

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall complete

13 and submit to the Congress a report on any sustain14 able development strategy developed under this sec15 tion within 6 months and annually thereafter.

16 ‘‘(b) BUY-OUT PROGRAM.—

17 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, in consultation with the ap18 propriate Council, may develop and implement a

19 buy-out program for fishing vessels or permits in a

20 fishery for the purpose of reducing the number of

21 fishing vessels and fishing effort in such fishery, if

22 the Secretary, with the concurrence of the majority

23 of the voting members of such Council, determines

24 that a buy-out program is necessary for the develop-
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1 ment and implementation of a fishery recovery effort

2 under section 305(b).

3 ‘‘(2) Any buy-out program developed or imple4 mented in a fishery shall—

5 ‘‘(A) require a fishery management plan to

6 be in place for such fishery that is adequate to

7 limit access to the fishery and prevent the re8 placement of fishing effort removed by the buy9 out program;

10 ‘‘(B) require fishing vessels or permits ac11 quired under such program to be disposed of in

12 a manner ensuring that such vessels or permits

13 do not re-enter the fishery or contribute to ex14 cess fishing effort in other fisheries;

15 ‘‘(C) establish criteria for determining

16 types and numbers of vessels which are eligible

17 for participation in such program consistent

18 with—

19 ‘‘(i) any strategy developed under sub20 section (a);

21 ‘‘(ii) the requirements of applicable

22 fishery management plans; and

23 ‘‘(iii) the need to minimize program

24 costs;
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1 ‘‘(D) establish procedures (such as submis2 sion of owner bid under an auction system or

3 fair market-value assessment) to be used in de4 termining the level of payment for fishing ves5 sels or permits acquired under the program;

6 and

7 ‘‘(E) identify Federal and non-Federal

8 mechanisms for funding the buy-out program,

9 consistent with paragraphs (3) and (4).

10 ‘‘(3) The Federal share of the cost of a buy-out

11 program implemented under this section shall not

12 exceed 50 percent of the cost of that program. Such

13 Federal share may be provided from monies depos14 ited in the Ocean Conservation Trust Fund under

15 section 308(h) or monies made available under sec16 tion 316(b) of this Act or under section 2(b) of the

17 Act of August 11, 1939 (15 U.S.C. 713c–3(b)).

18 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding section 305(f)(1), the

19 Secretary, with the concurrence of a majority of the

20 voting members of the affected Council, may estab21 lish a fee system to collect those funds required for

22 the non-Federal share of such program that are not

23 available from other non-Federal sources. Under

24 such fee system, the Secretary may assess an annual

25 fee on holders of fishing permits in the fishery for
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1 which the buy-out program is established which may

2 not exceed 5 percent annually of the value of the

3 fish harvested under the fishing permit. Assessments

4 may not be used to pay any costs of administrative

5 overhead or other costs not directly incurred in car6 rying out the specific buy-out program under which

7 they are collected. Assessments shall be deposited in

8 the Ocean Conservation Trust fund established

9 under subsection (d) and shall be considered part of

10 the non-Federal share of the cost of a buyout pro11 gram.

12 ‘‘(5)(A) Upon completion of a proposal for a

13 buy-out program (including any fee system to be es14 tablished under this subsection), the Secretary shall

15 immediately—

16 ‘‘(i) submit the proposed program and reg17 ulations necessary for its implementation to the

18 appropriate Council for consideration and com19 ment; and

20 ‘‘(ii) publish in the Federal Register a no21 tice stating that the proposed program and reg22 ulations are available and that written data,

23 views, or comments of interested persons on the

24 proposed program and regulations may be sub25 mitted to the Secretary during the 60-day pe-
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1 riod beginning on the date the notice is pub2 lished.

3 ‘‘(B) During the 60-day public comment pe4 riod—

5 ‘‘(i) the Secretary shall conduct a public

6 hearing in each State affected by the proposed

7 buy-out program; and

8 ‘‘(ii) the appropriate Council shall submit

9 its comments and recommendations, if any, re10 garding the proposed program and regulations.

11 ‘‘(C) Within 45 days after the close of the pub12 lic comment period, the Secretary, in consultation

13 with the affected Council, shall analyze the public

14 comment received and publish a final buy-out pro15 gram and regulations for its implementation. The

16 Secretary shall include an explanation of any sub17 stantive differences between the proposed and final

18 program and regulations.

19 ‘‘(c) TASK FORCE.—The Secretary shall establish a

20 task force to assist in the development of a sustainable

21 development strategy or a buy-out program under this sec22 tion. Such task force shall, at a minimum, consist of mem23 bers of the affected communities and individuals with ex24 pertise in fishery management and conservation, econom25 ics, and sociology. Members of the task force are author-
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1 ized to receive per diem and travel expenses consistent

2 with section 302 of this Act.

3 ‘‘(d) OCEAN CONSERVATION TRUST FUND.—There is

4 established in the Treasury an Ocean Conservation Trust

5 Fund. The Fund shall be available, without appropriation

6 or fiscal year limitation, only to the Secretary for the pur7 pose of carrying out the provisions of this section subject

8 to the restrictions of this Act. This fund shall consist of

9 all monies deposited into it in accordance with this section

10 and section 308(h). Sums in the Fund that are not cur11 rently needed for the purpose of this section shall be kept

12 on deposit or invested in obligations of, or guaranteed by,

13 the United States.

14 ‘‘SEC. 316. FISHERIES DISASTER RELIEF.

15 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF FAILURE.—At the discre16 tion of the Secretary or at the request of the Governor

17 of an affected State or a fishery dependent community,

18 the Secretary shall determine whether there is a commer19 cial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster as

20 a result of—

21 ‘‘(1) natural causes;

22 ‘‘(2) man-made causes beyond the control of

23 fishery managers to mitigate through conservation

24 and management measures; or

25 ‘‘(3) undetermined causes.
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1 ‘‘(b) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—

2 ‘‘(1) Upon the determination under subsection

3 (a) that there is a commercial fishery failure, the

4 Secretary is authorized to make sums available to be

5 used by the affected State, fishery dependent com6 munity, or by the Secretary in cooperation with the

7 affected State or fishery dependent community for—

8 ‘‘(A) assessing the economic and social ef9 fects of the commercial fishery failure; and

10 ‘‘(B) any activity that the Secretary deter11 mines is appropriate to restore the fishery or

12 prevent a similar failure in the future and to

13 assist a fishery dependent community affected

14 by such failure.

15 ‘‘(2) Before making funds available for an ac16 tivity authorized under this section, the Secretary

17 shall make a determination that such activity will

18 not expand the size or scope of the commercial fish19 ery failure into other fisheries or other geographic

20 regions.

21 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL COST-SHARING.—The Federal share

22 of the cost of any activity carried out under the authority

23 of this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of

24 that activity.
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1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such

3 sums as are necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995,

4 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, provided that such sums are

5 designated by Congress as an emergency requirement pur6 suant to section 251(b)(2)(D)(i) of the Balanced Budget

7 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.’’.

8 (b) Section 2(b)(1)(A) of the Act of August 11, 1939

9 (15 U.S.C. 713c–3(b)(1)(A)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (ii);

11 and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new

13 clause:

14 ‘‘(iii) to fund the Federal share of a

15 buy-out program established under section

16 315(b) of the Magnuson Fishery Conserva17 tion and Management Act.’’.

18 TITLE II—FISHERY MONITORING

19 AND RESEARCH

20 SEC. 201. CHANGE OF TITLE.

21 The heading of title IV (16 U.S.C. 1881 et seq.) is

22 amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘TITLE IV—FISHERY

2 MONITORING AND RESEARCH’’.

3 SEC. 202. REGISTRATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT.

4 Title IV (16 U.S.C. 1881 et seq.) is amended by in5 serting after the title heading the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 401. REGISTRATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT.

7 ‘‘(a) STANDARDIZED FISHING VESSEL REGISTRA8 TION AND DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—The Secretary

9 shall, in cooperation with the Secretary of the department

10 in which the Coast Guard is operating, the States, the

11 Councils, and Marine Fisheries Commissions, develop rec12 ommendations for implementation of a standardized fish13 ing vessel registration and data management system on

14 a regional basis. The proposed system shall be developed

15 after consultation with interested governmental and non16 governmental parties and shall—

17 ‘‘(1) be designed to standardize the require18 ments of vessel registration and data collection sys19 tems required by this Act, the Marine Mammal Pro20 tection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and any other

21 marine resource law implemented by the Secretary;

22 ‘‘(2) integrate programs under existing fishery

23 management plans into a nonduplicative data collec24 tion and management system;
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1 ‘‘(3) avoid duplication of existing state, tribal,

2 or federal systems (other than a federal system

3 under paragraph (1)) and utilize, to the maximum

4 extent practicable, information collected from exist5 ing systems;

6 ‘‘(4) provide for implementation through coop7 erative agreements with appropriate State, regional,

8 or tribal entities and Marine Fisheries Commissions;

9 ‘‘(5) establish standardized units of measure10 ment, nomenclature, and formats for the collection

11 and submission of information;

12 ‘‘(6) minimize the paperwork required for ves13 sels registered under the system;

14 ‘‘(7) include all species of fish within the geo15 graphic areas of authority of the Councils and all

16 fishing vessels, except for private recreational fishing

17 vessels used exclusively for pleasure; and

18 ‘‘(8) prescribe procedures necessary to ensure

19 the confidentiality of information collected under

20 this section.

21 ‘‘(b) FISHING VESSEL INFORMATION.—The registra22 tion and data management system should, at a minimum,

23 obtain the following information for each fishing vessel—
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1 ‘‘(1) the name and official number or other

2 identification, together with the name and address of

3 the owner or operator or both;

4 ‘‘(2) vessel capacity, type and quantity of fish5 ing gear, mode of operation (catcher, catcher proc6 essor or other), and such other pertinent information

7 with respect to vessel characteristics as the Sec8 retary may require;

9 ‘‘(3) identification of the fisheries in which the

10 fishing vessel participates;

11 ‘‘(4) estimated amounts of fish caught, and

12 processed (if applicable) in each fishery; and

13 ‘‘(5) the geographic area of operations and the

14 season or period during which the fishing vessel op15 erates.

16 ‘‘(c) FISHERY INFORMATION.—The registration and

17 data management system should, at a minimum, provide

18 basic fisheries performance data for each fishery, includ19 ing—

20 ‘‘(1) the number of vessels participating in the

21 fishery;

22 ‘‘(2) the time period in which the fishery oc23 curs;

24 ‘‘(3) the approximate geographic location, or of25 ficial reporting area where the fishery occurs;
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1 ‘‘(4) a description of fishery gear used in the

2 fishery, including the amount of such gear and the

3 appropriate unit of fishery effort;

4 ‘‘(5) catch and ex-vessel value of the catch for

5 each stock of fish in the fishery; and

6 ‘‘(6) the amount and types of economic and

7 regulatory discards, and an estimate of any other

8 bycatch.

9 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Within one year after the

10 date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, the

11 Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register for a 60-

12 day public comment period, a proposal that would provide

13 for implementation of a standardized fishing vessel reg14 istration and data collection system that meets the re15 quirements of subsections (a) through (c). The proposal

16 shall include—

17 ‘‘(1) a description of the arrangements for con18 sultation and cooperation with the department in

19 which the Coast Guard is operating, the States, the

20 Councils, Marine Fisheries Commissions, the fishing

21 industry and other interested parties; and

22 ‘‘(2) proposed regulations and legislation nec23 essary to implement the proposal.

24 ‘‘(e) CONGRESSIONAL TRANSMITTAL.—Within 60

25 days after the end of the comment period and after consid-
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1 eration of comments received under subsection (d), the

2 Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce,

3 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com4 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives a

5 proposal for implementation of a national fishing vessel

6 registration system that includes—

7 ‘‘(1) any modifications made after comment and

8 consultation;

9 ‘‘(2) a proposed implementation schedule; and

10 ‘‘(3) recommendations for any such additional

11 legislation as the Secretary considers necessary or

12 desirable to implement the proposed system.

13 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 15 months

14 after the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries

15 Act, the Secretary shall report to Congress on the need

16 to include private recreational fishing vessels used exclu17 sively for pleasure into a national fishing vessel registra18 tion and data collection system. In preparing its report,

19 the Secretary shall cooperate with the Secretary of the de20 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating, the

21 States, the Councils, and Marine Fisheries Commissions,

22 and consult with governmental and nongovernmental par23 ties.’’.

24 SEC. 203. DATA COLLECTION.

25 Section 402 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 402. DATA COLLECTION.

2 ‘‘(a) COUNCIL REQUESTS.—If a Council determines

3 that additional information and data (other than informa4 tion and data that would disclose proprietary or confiden5 tial commercial or financial information regarding fishing

6 operations or fish processing operations) would be bene7 ficial for developing, implementing, or revising a fishery

8 management plan or for determining whether a fishery is

9 in need of management, the Council may request that the

10 Secretary implement a data collection program for the

11 fishery which would provide the types of information and

12 data (other than information and data that would disclose

13 proprietary or confidential commercial or financial infor14 mation regarding fishing operations or fish processing op15 erations) specified by the Council. The Secretary shall ap16 prove such a data collection program if he determines that

17 the need is justified, and shall promulgate regulations to

18 implement the program within 60 days after such deter19 mination is made. If the Secretary determines that the

20 need for a data collection program is not justified, the Sec21 retary shall inform the Council of the reasons for such

22 determination in writing. The determinations of the Sec23 retary under this subsection regarding a Council request

24 shall be made within a reasonable period of time after re25 ceipt of that request.
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1 ‘‘(b) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—Any in2 formation submitted to the Secretary by any person in

3 compliance with any requirement under this Act shall be

4 confidential and shall not be disclosed if disclosure would

5 significantly impair the commercial interests of the person

6 from whom the information was obtained, except—

7 ‘‘(1) to Federal employees and Council employ8 ees who are responsible for fishery management plan

9 development and monitoring;

10 ‘‘(2) to State or Marine Fisheries Commission

11 employees pursuant to an agreement with the Sec12 retary that prevents public disclosure of the identity

13 or business of any person;

14 ‘‘(3) when required by court order;

15 ‘‘(4) when such information is used to verify

16 catch under an individual transferable quota system;

17 or

18 ‘‘(5) unless the Secretary has obtained written

19 authorization from the person submitting such infor20 mation to release such information and such release

21 does not violate other requirements of this sub22 section.

23 The Secretary shall, by regulation, prescribe such proce24 dures as may be necessary to preserve such confidentiality,

25 except that the Secretary may release or make public any
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1 such information in any aggregate or summary form

2 which does not directly or indirectly disclose the identity

3 or business of any person who submits such information.

4 Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted or con5 strued to prevent the use for conservation and manage6 ment purposes by the Secretary, or with the approval of

7 the Secretary, the Council, of any information submitted

8 in compliance with regulations promulgated under this

9 Act.

10 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN DATA.—

11 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall promulgate regulations

12 to restrict the use, in civil enforcement or criminal

13 proceedings under this Act, the Marine Mammal

14 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), or

15 the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

16 seq.), of information collected by voluntary fishery

17 data collectors, including sea samplers, while aboard

18 any vessel for conservation and management pur19 poses if the presence of such a fishery data collector

20 aboard is not required by any of such Acts or regu21 lations thereunder.

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not require the submis23 sion of a Federal or State income tax return or

24 statement as a prerequisite for issuance of a Federal

25 fishing permit until such time as the Secretary has
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1 promulgated regulations to ensure the confidentiality

2 of information contained in such return or state3 ment, to limit the information submitted to that nec4 essary to achieve a demonstrated conservation and

5 management purpose, and to provide appropriate

6 penalties for violation of such regulations.’’.

7 SEC. 204. OBSERVERS.

8 Title IV of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1882) is amended by

9 adding the following new section 403:

10 ‘‘SEC. 403. OBSERVERS.

11 ‘‘(a) GUIDELINES FOR CARRYING OBSERVERS.—

12 Within one year of the date of enactment of the Sustain13 able Fisheries Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula14 tions, after notice and public comment, for fishing vessels

15 that are required to carry observers. The regulations shall

16 include guidelines for determining—

17 ‘‘(1) when a vessel is not required to carry an

18 observer on board because the facilities of such ves19 sel for the quartering of an observer, or for carrying

20 out observer functions, are so inadequate or unsafe

21 that the health or safety of the observer or the safe

22 operation of the vessel would be jeopardized; and

23 ‘‘(2) actions which vessel owners or operators

24 may reasonably be asked to take to render such fa25 cilities adequate and safe.
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1 ‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The Secretary, in cooperation with

2 State programs and the National Sea Grant College Pro3 gram, shall—

4 ‘‘(1) establish programs to ensure that each ob5 server receives adequate training in collecting and

6 analyzing data necessary for the conservation and

7 management purposes of the fishery to which such

8 observer is assigned; and

9 ‘‘(2) require that an observer demonstrate com10 petence in fisheries science and statistical analysis at

11 a level sufficient to enable such person to fulfill the

12 responsibilities of the position.

13 ‘‘(c) WAGES AS MARITIME LIENS.—Claims for ob14 servers’ wages shall be considered maritime liens against

15 the vessel and be accorded the same priority as seamen’s

16 liens under admiralty and general maritime law.’’.

17 SEC. 205. FISHERIES RESEARCH.

18 Section 404 is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘SEC. 404. FISHERIES RESEARCH.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall initiate and

21 maintain, in cooperation with the Councils, a comprehen22 sive program of fishery research to carry out and further

23 the purposes, policy, and provisions of this Act. Such pro24 gram shall be designed to acquire knowledge and informa-
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1 tion, including statistics, on fishery conservation and man2 agement and on the economics of the fisheries.

3 ‘‘(b) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Within one year after the

4 date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, and

5 at least every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall de6 velop and publish in the Federal Register a strategic plan

7 for fisheries research for the five years immediately follow8 ing such publication. The plan shall—

9 ‘‘(1) identify and describe a comprehensive pro10 gram with a limited number of priority objectives for

11 research in each of the areas specified in subsection

12 (c);

13 ‘‘(2) indicate the goals and timetables for the

14 program described in paragraph (1); and

15 ‘‘(3) provide a role for commercial fishermen in

16 such research, including involvement in field testing.

17 ‘‘(c) AREAS OF RESEARCH.—The areas of research

18 referred to in subsection (a) are as follows:

19 ‘‘(1) Research to support fishery conservation

20 and management, including but not limited to, re21 search on the economics of fisheries and biological

22 research concerning the abundance and life history

23 parameters of stocks of fish, the interdependence of

24 fisheries or stocks of fish, the identification of essen25 tial fish habitat, the impact of pollution on fish pop-
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1 ulations, the impact of wetland and estuarine deg2 radation, and other matters bearing upon the abun3 dance and availability of fish.

4 ‘‘(2) Conservation engineering research, includ5 ing the study of fish behavior and the development

6 and testing of new gear technology and fishing tech7 niques to minimize bycatch and any adverse effects

8 on essential fish habitat and promote efficient har9 vest of target species.

10 ‘‘(3) Information management research, includ11 ing the development of a fishery information base

12 and an information management system that will

13 permit the full use of data in the support of effective

14 fishery conservation and management.

15 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC NOTICE.—In developing the plan re16 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult

17 with relevant Federal, State, and international agencies,

18 scientific and technical experts, and other interested per19 sons, public and private, and shall publish a proposed plan

20 in the Federal Register for the purpose of receiving public

21 comment on the plan. The Secretary shall ensure that af22 fected commercial fishermen are actively involved in the

23 development of the portion of the plan pertaining to con24 servation engineering research. Upon final publication in

25 the Federal Register, the plan shall be submitted by the
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1 Secretary to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

2 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Re3 sources of the House of Representatives.’’.

4 SEC. 206. INCIDENTAL HARVEST RESEARCH.

5 Section 405 is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘SEC. 405. INCIDENTAL HARVEST RESEARCH.

7 ‘‘(a) COLLECTION OF DATA.—Within 9 months after

8 the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act,

9 the Secretary shall, after consultation with the Gulf of

10 Mexico Fishery Management Council and South Atlantic

11 Fishery Management Council, conclude the collection of

12 data in the program to assess the impact on fishery re13 sources of incidental harvest by the shrimp trawl fishery

14 within the authority of such Councils. Within the same

15 time period, the Secretary shall make available to the pub16 lic aggregated summaries of data collected prior to June

17 30, 1994 under such program.

18 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION OF STOCK.—The program con19 cluded pursuant to subsection (a) shall provide for the

20 identification of stocks of fish which are subject to signifi21 cant incidental harvest in the course of normal shrimp

22 trawl fishing activity.

23 ‘‘(c) COLLECTION AND ASSESSMENT OF SPECIFIC

24 STOCK DATA.—For stocks of fish identified pursuant to

25 subsection (b), with priority given to stocks which (based
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1 upon the best available scientific information) are consid2 ered to be overfished, the Secretary shall conduct—

3 ‘‘(1) a program to collect and evaluate data on

4 the nature and extent (including the spatial and

5 temporal distribution) of incidental mortality of such

6 stocks as a direct result of shrimp trawl fishing ac7 tivities;

8 ‘‘(2) an assessment of the status and condition

9 of such stocks, including collection of information

10 which would allow the estimation of life history pa11 rameters with sufficient accuracy and precision to

12 support sound scientific evaluation of the effects of

13 various management alternatives on the status of

14 such stocks; and

15 ‘‘(3) a program of data collection and evalua16 tion for such stocks on the magnitude and distribu17 tion of fishing mortality and fishing effort by

18 sources of fishing mortality other than shrimp trawl

19 fishing activity.

20 ‘‘(d) INCIDENTAL MORTALITY REDUCTION PRO21 GRAM.—The Secretary shall, in cooperation with affected

22 interests, commence a program to design and evaluate the

23 efficacy of technological devices and other changes in fish24 ing technology for the reduction of incidental mortality of

25 nontarget fishery resources in the course of shrimp trawl
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1 fishing activity which are designed to be inexpensive to

2 operate and which cause insignificant loss of shrimp. Such

3 program shall take into account local conditions and in4 clude evaluation of any reduction in incidental mortality,

5 as well as any reduction or increase in the retention of

6 shrimp in the course of normal fishing activity.

7 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—The Secretary

8 shall, within one year of completing the programs required

9 by this subsection, submit a detailed report on the results

10 of such programs to the Committee on Commerce,

11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com12 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives.

13 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION CRITERIA.—Any measure im14 plemented under this Act to reduce the incidental mortal15 ity of nontarget fishery resources in the course of shrimp

16 trawl fishing shall, to the extent practicable—

17 ‘‘(1) apply to such fishing throughout the range

18 of the nontarget fishery resource concerned; and

19 ‘‘(2) be implemented first in those areas and at

20 those times where the greatest reduction of such in21 cidental mortality can be achieved.’’.

22 SEC. 207. REPEAL.

23 Section 406 (16 U.S.C. 1882) is repealed.
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1 SEC. 208. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.

2 The table of contents is amended by striking the mat3 ter relating to title IV and inserting the following:

‘‘Sec. 315. Transition to sustainable fisheries.

‘‘Sec. 316. Fisheries disaster relief.

‘‘TITLE IV—FISHERY MONITORING AND RESEARCH

‘‘Sec. 401. Registration.

‘‘Sec. 402. Data collection.

‘‘Sec. 403. Observers.

‘‘Sec. 404. Fisheries research.

‘‘Sec. 405. Incidental harvest research.’’.

4 TITLE III—FISHERIES STOCK

5 RECOVERY FINANCING

6 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE.

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Fisheries Stock Recov8 ery Financing Act’’.

9 SEC. 302. FISHERIES STOCK RECOVERY REFINANCING.

10 Title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46

11 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.), is amended by adding at the end

12 the following new section:

13 ‘‘Sec. 1111. (a) Pursuant to the authority granted

14 under section 1103(a) of this title, the Secretary shall,

15 under such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall

16 prescribe by regulation, guarantee and make commitments

17 to guarantee the principal of, and interest on, obligations

18 which aid in refinancing, in a manner consistent with the

19 reduced cash flows available to obligors because of reduced

20 harvesting allocations during implementation of a fishery

21 recovery effort, existing obligations relating to fishing ves-
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1 sels or fishery facilities. Guarantees under this section

2 shall be subject to all other provisions of this title not in3 consistent with the provisions of this section. The provi4 sions of this section shall, notwithstanding any other pro5 visions of this title, apply to guarantees under this section.

6 ‘‘(b) Obligations eligible to be refinanced under this

7 section shall include all obligations which financed or refi8 nanced any expenditures associated with the ownership or

9 operation of fishing vessels or fishery facilities, including

10 but not limited to expenditures for reconstructing, recon11 ditioning, purchasing, equipping, maintaining, repairing,

12 supplying, or any other aspect whatsoever of operating

13 fishing vessels or fishery facilities, excluding only such

14 obligations—

15 ‘‘(1) which were not in existence prior to the

16 time the Secretary approved a fishery recovery effort

17 eligible for guarantees under this section and whose

18 purpose, in whole or in part, involved expenditures

19 which resulted in increased vessel harvesting capac20 ity; and

21 ‘‘(2) as may be owed by an obligor either to any

22 stockholder, partner, guarantor, or other principal of

23 such obligor or to any unrelated party if the purpose

24 of such obligation had been to pay an obligor’s pre-
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1 existing obligation to such stockholder, partner,

2 guarantor, or other principal of such obligor.

3 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall refinance up to 100 percent

4 of the principal of, and interest on, such obligations, but,

5 in no event, shall the Secretary refinance an amount ex6 ceeding 75 percent of the unencumbered (after deducting

7 the amount to be refinanced by guaranteed obligations

8 under this section) market value, as determined by an

9 independent marine surveyor, of the fishing vessel or fish10 ery facility to which such obligations relate plus 75 percent

11 of the unencumbered (including but not limited to home12 stead exemptions) market value, as determined by an inde13 pendent marine surveyor, of all other supplementary col14 lateral. The Secretary shall do so regardless of—

15 ‘‘(1) any fishing vessel or fishery facility’s ac16 tual cost or depreciated actual cost; and

17 ‘‘(2) any limitations elsewhere in this title on

18 the amount of obligations to be guaranteed or such

19 amount’s relationship to actual cost or depreciated

20 actual cost.

21 ‘‘(d) Obligations guaranteed under this section shall

22 have such maturity dates and other provisions as are con23 sistent with the intent and purpose of this section (includ24 ing but not limited to provisions for obligors to pay only

25 the interest accruing on the principal of such obligations
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1 during the period in which fisheries stocks are recovering,

2 with the principal and interest accruing thereon being

3 fully amortized between the date stock recovery is pro4 jected to be completed and the maturity date of such obli5 gations).

6 ‘‘(e) No provision of section 1104A(d) of this title

7 shall apply to obligations guaranteed under this section.

8 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall neither make commitments

9 to guarantee nor guarantee obligations under this section

10 unless—

11 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has first approved the fish12 ery recovery effort, for the fishery in which vessels

13 eligible for the guarantee of obligations under this

14 section are participants; and

15 ‘‘(2) the Secretary has considered such factors

16 as—

17 ‘‘(A) the projected degree and duration of

18 reduced fisheries allocations;

19 ‘‘(B) the projected reduction in fishing ves20 sel and fishery facility cash flows;

21 ‘‘(C) the projected severity of the impact

22 on fishing vessels and fishery facilities;

23 ‘‘(D) the projected effect of the fishery re24 covery effort;
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1 ‘‘(E) the provisions of any related fishery

2 management plan under the Magnuson Fishery

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

4 1801 et seq.); and

5 ‘‘(F) the need for and advisability of guar6 antees under this section;

7 ‘‘(3) the Secretary finds that the obligation to

8 be guaranteed will, considering the projected effect

9 of the fishery recovery effort involved and all other

10 aspects of the obligor, project, property, collateral,

11 and any other aspects whatsoever of the obligation

12 involved, constitute, in the Secretary’s opinion, a

13 reasonable prospect of full repayment; and

14 ‘‘(4) the obligors agree to provide such security

15 and meet such other terms and conditions as the

16 Secretary may, pursuant to regulations prescribed

17 under this section, require to protect the interest of

18 the United States and carry out the purpose of this

19 section.

20 ‘‘(g) All obligations guaranteed under this section

21 shall be accounted for separately, in a subaccount of the

22 Federal Ship Financing Fund to be known as the Fishery

23 Recovery Refinancing Account, from all other obligations

24 guaranteed under the other provisions of this title and the

25 assets and liabilities of the Federal Ship Financing Fund
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1 and the Fishery Recovery Refinancing Account shall be

2 segregated accordingly.

3 ‘‘(h) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘fish4 ery recovery effort’ means a fishery management plan,

5 amendment, or regulations required under section 305(b)

6 of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management

7 Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(b)) to rebuild a fishery which the

8 Secretary has determined to be a commercial fishery fail9 ure under section 316 of such Act.’’.

10 SEC. 303. FEDERAL FINANCING BANK RELATING TO FISH11 ING VESSELS AND FISHERY FACILITIES.

12 Section 1104A(b)(2) of the Merchant Marine Act,

13 1936 (46 U.S.C. 1274(b)(2)), is amended by striking

14 ‘‘Provided, further, That in the case of a fishing vessel or

15 fishery facility, the obligation shall be in an aggregate

16 principal amount equal to 80 percent of the actual cost

17 or depreciated actual cost of the fishing vessel or fishery

18 facility, except that no debt may be placed under this pro19 viso through the Federal Financing Bank:’’ and inserting

20 the following: ‘‘Provided, further, That in the case of a

21 fishing vessel or fishery facility, the obligation shall be in

22 an aggregate principal amount not to exceed 80 percent

23 of the actual cost or depreciated actual cost of the fishing

24 vessel or fishery facility, and obligations related to fishing

25 vessels and fishery facilities under this title shall be placed
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1 through the Federal Financing Bank unless placement

2 through the Federal Financing Bank is not reasonably

3 available or placement elsewhere is available at a lower

4 annual effective yield than placement through the Federal

5 Financing Bank:’’.

6 SEC. 304. FEES FOR GUARANTEEING OBLIGATIONS.

7 Section 1104A(e) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936

8 (46 U.S.C. 1274(e)), is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary is authorized to fix a fee for

10 the guarantee of obligations under this title. Obligors shall

11 pay all such fees to the Secretary when moneys are first

12 advanced under guaranteed obligations and at least 60

13 days prior to each anniversary date thereafter. All such

14 fees shall be computed and shall be payable to the Sec15 retary under such regulations as the Secretary may pre16 scribe.

17 ‘‘(2) For fishing vessels and fishery facilities, such

18 fee shall—

19 ‘‘(A) if the obligation will not be purchased by

20 the Federal Financing Bank, be in an amount equal

21 to 1 percent per year of the average principal

22 amount of the obligation outstanding (unless such

23 obligation is issued under section 1111 of this title,

24 in which case such fee shall be 1 and one-half per25 cent per year of such average principal amount; and
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1 ‘‘(B) if the obligation will be purchased by the

2 Federal Financing Bank, be in an amount equal to

3 2 percent per year of the average principal amount

4 of the obligation outstanding (unless such obligation

5 is issued under section 1111 of this title, in which

6 case such fee shall be 2 and one-half percent per

7 year of such average principal amount), less any fee

8 the Federal Financing Bank customarily charges for

9 its services with respect to federally guaranteed obli10 gations purchased by it and less the amount, if any,

11 by which the interest rate on such obligation (which

12 shall be fixed at the time the Federal Financing

13 Bank commits to purchase such obligation) exceeds

14 the current new issue rate on outstanding market15 able obligations of the United States of comparable

16 maturity.

17 ‘‘(3) For everything other than fishing vessels and

18 fishery facilities, such fee shall—

19 ‘‘(A) if the security for the guarantee of an ob20 ligation under this title relates to a delivered vessel,

21 not be less than one-half of 1 percent per year nor

22 more than 1 percent per year of the average prin23 cipal amount of such obligation outstanding, exclud24 ing the average amount (except interest) on deposit
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1 in an escrow fund created under section 1108 of this

2 title; and

3 ‘‘(B) if the security for the guarantee of an ob4 ligation under this title relates to a vessel to be con5 structed, reconstructed, or reconditioned, not be less

6 than one-quarter of 1 percent per year nor more

7 than one-half of 1 percent per year of the average

8 principal amount of such obligation outstanding, ex9 cluding the average amount (except interest) on de10 posit in an escrow fund created under section 1108

11 of this title. For the purposes of this subsection, if

12 the security for the guarantee of an obligation under

13 this title relates both to a delivered vessel or vessels

14 and to a vessel or vessels to be constructed, recon15 structed, or reconditioned, the principal amount of

16 such obligation shall be prorated in accordance with

17 regulations prescribed by the Secretary. The regula18 tions to be prescribed by the Secretary under this

19 subsection shall provide a formula for determining

20 the creditworthiness of obligors under which the

21 most creditworthy obligors pay a fee computed on

22 the lowest allowable percentage and the least credit23 worthy obligors pay a fee which may be computed on

24 the highest allowable percentage (the range of cred-
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1 itworthiness to be based on obligors which have ac2 tually issued guaranteed obligations).’’.

3 SEC. 305. SALE OF ACQUIRED COLLATERAL.

4 Section 1104A(a)(3) of the Merchant Marine Act,

5 1936 (46 U.S.C. 1274(a)(3)), is amended by inserting

6 after ‘‘financing’’ the following: ‘‘(without requiring sub7 sidy cost ceiling or other authorization under the Federal

8 Credit Reform Act of 1990)’’.

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