H. R. 5946—37
or vessel that receives, purchases, or arranges to purchase 
unprocessed crab, that is located on shore or moored within 
the harbor. 
TITLE II—INFORMATION AND 
RESEARCH 
SEC. 201. RECREATIONAL FISHERIES INFORMATION. 
Section 401 (16 U.S.C. 1881) is amended by striking subsection 
(g) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(g) RECREATIONAL FISHERIES.—
‘‘(1) FEDERAL PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish and 
implement a regionally based registry program for recreational 
fishermen in each of the 8 fishery management regions. The 
program, which shall not require a fee before January 1, 2011, 
shall provide for—
‘‘(A) the registration (including identification and con-
tact information) of individuals who engage in recreational 
fishing—
‘‘(i) in the Exclusive Economic Zone; 
‘‘(ii) for anadromous species; or 
‘‘(iii) for Continental Shelf fishery resources beyond 
the Exclusive Economic Zone; and 
‘‘(B) if appropriate, the registration (including the 
ownership, operator, and identification of the vessel) of 
vessels used in such fishing. 
‘‘(2) STATE PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall exempt from 
registration under the program recreational fishermen and 
charter fishing vessels licensed, permitted, or registered under 
the laws of a State if the Secretary determines that information 
from the State program is suitable for the Secretary’s use 
or is used to assist in completing marine recreational fisheries 
statistical surveys, or evaluating the effects of proposed con-
servation and management measures for marine recreational 
fisheries. 
‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION.—
‘‘(A) IMPROVEMENT
OF
THE
MARINE
RECREATIONAL 
FISHERY STATISTICS SURVEY.—Within 24 months after the 
date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con-
servation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, 
the Secretary, in consultation with representatives of the 
recreational fishing industry and experts in statistics, tech-
nology, and other appropriate fields, shall establish a pro-
gram to improve the quality and accuracy of information 
generated by the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics 
Survey, with a goal of achieving acceptable accuracy and 
utility for each individual fishery. 
‘‘(B) NRC REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS.—The program 
shall take into consideration and, to the extent feasible, 
implement the recommendations of the National Research 
Council in its report Review of Recreational Fisheries 
Survey Methods (2006), including—
‘‘(i) redesigning the Survey to improve the effective-
ness and appropriateness of sampling and estimation 
procedures, its applicability to various kinds of
H. R. 5946—38
management decisions, and its usefulness for social 
and economic analyses; and 
‘‘(ii) providing for ongoing technical evaluation and 
modification as needed to meet emerging management 
needs. 
‘‘(C) METHODOLOGY.—Unless the Secretary determines 
that alternate methods will achieve this goal more effi-
ciently and effectively, the program shall, to the extent 
possible, include—
‘‘(i) an adequate number of intercepts to accurately 
estimate recreational catch and effort; 
‘‘(ii) use of surveys that target anglers registered 
or licensed at the State or Federal level to collect 
participation and effort data; 
‘‘(iii) collection and analysis of vessel trip report 
data from charter fishing vessels; 
‘‘(iv) development of a weather corrective factor 
that can be applied to recreational catch and effort 
estimates; and 
‘‘(v) an independent committee composed of rec-
reational fishermen, academics, persons with expertise 
in stock assessments and survey design, and appro-
priate personnel from the National Marine Fisheries 
Service to review the collection estimates, geographic, 
and other variables related to dockside intercepts and 
to identify deficiencies in recreational data collection, 
and possible correction measures. 
‘‘(D) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall complete the pro-
gram under this paragraph and implement the improved 
Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey not later 
than January 1, 2009. 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Within 24 months after establishment of 
the program, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress 
that describes the progress made toward achieving the goals 
and objectives of the program.’’. 
SEC. 202. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. 
Section 402(a) (16 U.S.C. 1881a(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(a) COUNCIL REQUESTS.—’’ in the subsection 
heading and inserting ‘‘(a) COLLECTION PROGRAMS.—’’; 
(2) by resetting the text following ‘‘(a) COLLECTION PRO-
GRAMS.—’’ as a new paragraph 2 ems from the left margin; 
(3) by inserting ‘‘(1) COUNCIL REQUESTS.—’’ before ‘‘If a 
Council’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘subsection’’ in the last sentence and 
inserting ‘‘paragraph’’; 
(5) by striking ‘‘(other than information that would disclose 
proprietary or confidential commercial or financial information 
regarding fishing operations or fish processing operations)’’ each 
place it appears; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL INITIATION.—If the Secretary determines 
that additional information is necessary for developing, imple-
menting, revising, or monitoring a fishery management plan, 
or for determining whether a fishery is in need of management, 
the Secretary may, by regulation, implement an information
H. R. 5946—39
collection or observer program requiring submission of such 
additional information for the fishery.’’. 
SEC. 203. ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION. 
(a) IN
GENERAL.—Section 402(b) (16 U.S.C. 1881a(b)) is 
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3) and 
resetting it 2 ems from the left margin; 
(2) by striking all preceding paragraph (3), as redesignated, 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) Any information submitted to the Secretary, a State 
fishery management agency, or a marine fisheries commission 
by any person in compliance with the requirements of this 
Act shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except—
‘‘(A) to Federal employees and Council employees who 
are responsible for fishery management plan development, 
monitoring, or enforcement; 
‘‘(B) to State or Marine Fisheries Commission 
employees as necessary to further the Department’s mis-
sion, subject to a confidentiality agreement that prohibits 
public disclosure of the identity of business of any person; 
‘‘(C) to State employees who are responsible for fishery 
management plan enforcement, if the States employing 
those employees have entered into a fishery enforcement 
agreement with the Secretary and the agreement is in 
effect; 
‘‘(D) when required by court order; 
‘‘(E) when such information is used by State, Council, 
or Marine Fisheries Commission employees to verify catch 
under a limited access program, but only to the extent 
that such use is consistent with subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(F) 
when 
the 
Secretary 
has 
obtained 
written 
authorization from the person submitting such information 
to release such information to persons for reasons not other-
wise provided for in this subsection, and such release does 
not violate other requirements of this Act; 
‘‘(G) when such information is required to be submitted 
to the Secretary for any determination under a limited 
access program; or 
‘‘(H) in support of homeland and national security 
activities, including the Coast Guard’s homeland security 
missions as defined in section 888(a)(2) of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 468(a)(2)). 
‘‘(2) Any observer information shall be confidential and 
shall not be disclosed, except in accordance with the require-
ments of subparagraphs (A) through (H) of paragraph (1), or—
‘‘(A) as authorized by a fishery management plan or 
regulations under the authority of the North Pacific Council 
to allow disclosure to the public of weekly summary bycatch 
information identified by vessel or for haul-specific bycatch 
information without vessel identification; 
‘‘(B) when such information is necessary in proceedings 
to adjudicate observer certifications; or 
‘‘(C) as authorized by any regulations issued under 
paragraph (3) allowing the collection of observer informa-
tion, pursuant to a confidentiality agreement between the
H. R. 5946—40
observers, observer employers, and the Secretary prohib-
iting disclosure of the information by the observers or 
observer employers, in order—
‘‘(i) to allow the sharing of observer information 
among observers and between observers and observer 
employers as necessary to train and prepare observers 
for deployments on specific vessels; or 
‘‘(ii) to validate the accuracy of the observer 
information collected.’’; and 
(3) by striking ‘‘(1)(E).’’ in paragraph (3), as redesignated, 
and inserting ‘‘(2)(A).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 404(c)(4) (16 U.S.C. 
1881c(c)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 401’’. 
SEC. 204. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM. 
Title III (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.), as amended by section 119 
of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 318. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation 
with the Councils, shall establish a cooperative research and 
management program to address needs identified under this Act 
and under any other marine resource laws enforced by the Sec-
retary. The program shall be implemented on a regional basis 
and shall be developed and conducted through partnerships among 
Federal, State, and Tribal managers and scientists (including inter-
state fishery commissions), fishing industry participants (including 
use of commercial charter or recreational vessels for gathering 
data), and educational institutions. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall make funds avail-
able under the program for the support of projects to address 
critical needs identified by the Councils in consultation with the 
Secretary. The program shall promote and encourage efforts to 
utilize sources of data maintained by other Federal agencies, State 
agencies, or academia for use in such projects. 
‘‘(c) FUNDING.—In making funds available the Secretary shall 
award funding on a competitive basis and based on regional fishery 
management needs, select programs that form part of a coherent 
program of research focused on solving priority issues identified 
by the Councils, and shall give priority to the following projects: 
‘‘(1) Projects to collect data to improve, supplement, or 
enhance stock assessments, including the use of fishing vessels 
or acoustic or other marine technology. 
‘‘(2) Projects to assess the amount and type of bycatch 
or post-release mortality occurring in a fishery. 
‘‘(3) Conservation engineering projects designed to reduce 
bycatch, including avoidance of post-release mortality, reduction 
of bycatch in high seas fisheries, and transfer of such fishing 
technologies to other nations. 
‘‘(4) Projects for the identification of habitat areas of par-
ticular concern and for habitat conservation. 
‘‘(5) Projects designed to collect and compile economic and 
social data. 
‘‘(d) EXPERIMENTAL PERMITTING PROCESS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Councils, shall promulgate regu-
lations that create an expedited, uniform, and regionally-based