II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1124 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to modify the vessels eligible for 

a fishery endorsement, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mrs. MURRAY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 46, United States Code, to modify the vessels 

eligible for a fishery endorsement, 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. VESSEL SIZE LIMITS FOR FISHERY ENDORSE4 MENTS. 

5 (a) LENGTH, TONNAGE, AND HORSEPOWER.—Sec6 tion 12113(d)(2) of title 46, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (A) in clause (i), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

10 end; 


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1 (B) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; and 

3 (C) by striking clause (iii); 

4 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

5 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(C) the vessel is either a rebuilt vessel or 

8 a replacement vessel under section 208(g) of 

9 the American Fisheries Act (title II of division 

10 C of Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 2681– 

11 627) and is eligible for a fishery endorsement 

12 under this section.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) VESSEL REBUILDING AND REPLACE15 MENT.—Subsection (g) of section 208 of the Amer16 ican Fisheries Act (title II of division C of Public 

17 Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 2681–627) is amended to 

18 read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(g) VESSEL REBUILDING AND REPLACEMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) REBUILD OR REPLACE.—Notwith22 standing any limitation to the contrary on re23 placing, rebuilding, or lengthening vessels or 

24 transferring permits or licenses to a replace25 ment vessel contained in sections 679.2 and 


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1 679.4 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, 

2 as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

3 subsection and except as provided in paragraph 

4 (4), the owner of a vessel eligible under sub5 section (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) (other than 

6 paragraph (21)), in order to improve vessel 

7 safety and operational efficiencies (including 

8 fuel efficiency), may rebuild or replace that ves9 sel (including fuel efficiency) with a vessel docu10 mented with a fishery endorsement under sec11 tion 12113 of title 46, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(B) SAME REQUIREMENTS.—The rebuilt 

13 or replacement vessel shall be eligible in the 

14 same manner and subject to the same restric15 tions and limitations under such subsection as 

16 the vessel being rebuilt or replaced. 

17 ‘‘(C) TRANSFER OF PERMITS AND LI18 CENSES.—Each fishing permit and license held 

19 by the owner of a vessel or vessels to be rebuilt 

20 or replaced under subparagraph (A) shall be 

21 transferred to the rebuilt or replacement vessel. 

22 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS OF NORTH PACIFIC

23 COUNCIL.—The North Pacific Council may rec24 ommend for approval by the Secretary such con25 servation and management measures, including size 


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1 limits and measures to control fishing capacity, in 

2 accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act as it 

3 considers necessary to ensure that this subsection 

4 does not diminish the effectiveness of fishery man5 agement plans of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Is6 lands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska. 

7 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR REPLACEMENT OF

8 CERTAIN VESSELS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

10 requirements of subsections (b)(2), (c)(1), and 

11 (c)(2) of section 12113 of title 46, United 

12 States Code, a vessel that is eligible under sub13 section (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) (other than 

14 paragraph (21)) and that qualifies to be docu15 mented with a fishery endorsement pursuant to 

16 section 203(g) or 213(g) may be replaced with 

17 a replacement vessel under paragraph (1) if the 

18 vessel that is replaced is validly documented 

19 with a fishery endorsement pursuant to section 

20 203(g) or 213(g) before the replacement vessel 

21 is documented with a fishery endorsement 

22 under section 12113 of title 46, United States 

23 Code. 

24 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—A replacement ves25 sel under subparagraph (A) and its owner and 


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1 mortgagee are subject to the same limitations 

2 under section 203(g) or 213(g) that are appli3 cable to the vessel that has been replaced and 

4 its owner and mortgagee. 

5 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN CATCHER

6 VESSELS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A replacement for a 

8 covered vessel described in subparagraph (B) is 

9 prohibited from harvesting fish in any fishery 

10 (except for the Pacific whiting fishery) managed 

11 under the authority of any regional fishery 

12 management council (other than the North Pa13 cific Council) established under section 302(a) 

14 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

15 ‘‘(B) COVERED VESSELS.—A covered ves16 sel referred to in subparagraph (A) is— 

17 ‘‘(i) a vessel eligible under subsection 

18 (a), (b), or (c) that is replaced under para19 graph (1); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a vessel eligible under subsection 

21 (a), (b), or (c) that is rebuilt to increase 

22 its registered length, gross tonnage, or 

23 shaft horsepower. 

24 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON FISHERY ENDORSE25 MENTS.—Any vessel that is replaced under this subVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:08 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1124.IS S1124

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1 section shall thereafter not be eligible for a fishery 

2 endorsement under section 12113 of title 46, United 

3 States Code, unless that vessel is also a replacement 

4 vessel described in paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(6) GULF OF ALASKA LIMITATION.—Notwith6 standing paragraph (1), the Secretary shall prohibit 

7 from participation in the groundfish fisheries of the 

8 Gulf of Alaska any vessel that is rebuilt or replaced 

9 under this subsection and that exceeds the maximum 

10 length overall specified on the license that authorizes 

11 fishing for groundfish pursuant to the license limita12 tion program under part 679 of title 50, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of en14 actment of this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(7) AUTHORITY OF PACIFIC COUNCIL.—Noth16 ing in this section shall be construed to diminish or 

17 otherwise affect the authority of the Pacific Council 

18 to recommend to the Secretary conservation and 

19 management measures to protect fisheries under its 

20 jurisdiction (including the Pacific whiting fishery) 

21 and participants in such fisheries from adverse im22 pacts caused by this Act.’’. 

23 (2) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN VESSELS.—Sec24 tion 203(g) of the American Fisheries Act (title II 


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1 of division C of Public Law 105–277; 112 Stat. 

2 2681–620) is amended— 

3 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘(United 

4 States official number 651041)’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘, NORTHERN TRAV6 ELER (United States official number 635986), 

7 and NORTHERN VOYAGER (United States 

8 official number 637398) (or a replacement ves9 sel for the NORTHERN VOYAGER that com10 plies with paragraphs (2), (5), and (6) of sec11 tion 208(g) of this Act)’’; and 

12 (C) by striking ‘‘, in the case of the 

13 NORTHERN’’ and all that follows through 

14 ‘‘PHOENIX,’’. 

15 (3) FISHERY COOPERATIVE EXIT PROVI16 SIONS.—Section 210(b) of the American Fisheries 

17 Act (title II of division C of Public Law 105–277; 

18 112 Stat. 2681–629) is amended— 

19 (A) by moving the matter beginning with 

20 ‘‘the Secretary shall’’ in paragraph (1) 2 ems to 

21 the right; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(7) FISHERY COOPERATIVE EXIT PROVI24 SIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FISHING ALLOWANCE DETERMINA2 TION.—For purposes of determining the aggre3 gate percentage of directed fishing allowances 

4 under paragraph (1), when a catcher vessel is 

5 removed from the directed pollock fishery, the 

6 fishery allowance for pollock for the vessel being 

7 removed— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall be based on the catch his9 tory determination for the vessel made 

10 pursuant to section 679.62 of title 50, 

11 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect 

12 on the date of enactment of this para13 graph; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) shall be assigned, for all pur15 poses under this title, in the manner speci16 fied by the owner of the vessel being re17 moved to any other catcher vessel or 

18 among other catcher vessels participating 

19 in the fishery cooperative if such vessel or 

20 vessels remain in the fishery cooperative 

21 for at least one year after the date on 

22 which the vessel being removed leaves the 

23 directed pollock fishery. 

24 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR FISHERY ENDORSE25 MENT.—Except as provided in subparagraph 


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1 (C), a vessel that is removed pursuant to this 

2 paragraph shall be permanently ineligible for a 

3 fishery endorsement, and any claim (including 

4 relating to catch history) associated with such 

5 vessel that could qualify any owner of such ves6 sel for any permit to participate in any fishery 

7 within the exclusive economic zone of the 

8 United States shall be extinguished, unless such 

9 removed vessel is thereafter designated to re10 place a vessel to be removed pursuant to this 

11 paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CON13 STRUCTION.—Nothing in this paragraph shall 

14 be construed— 

15 ‘‘(i) to make the vessels AJ (United 

16 States official number 905625), DONA 

17 MARTITA (United States official number 

18 651751), NORDIC EXPLORER (United 

19 States official number 678234), and 

20 PROVIDIAN (United States official num21 ber 1062183) ineligible for a fishery en22 dorsement or any permit necessary to par23 ticipate in any fishery under the authority 

24 of the New England Fishery Management 

25 Council or the Mid-Atlantic Fishery ManVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:08 May 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1124.IS S1124

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1 agement Council established, respectively, 

2 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec3 tion 302(a)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

4 Act; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) to allow the vessels referred to in 

6 clause (i) to participate in any fishery 

7 under the authority of the Councils re8 ferred to in clause (i) in any manner that 

9 is not consistent with the fishery manage10 ment plan for the fishery developed by the 

11 Councils under section 303 of the Magnu12 son-Stevens Act.’’. 

Æ 


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