I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2610 
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
to reform procedures for the payment of funds from the asset forfeiture 
fund, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 21, 2011 
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. JONES, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 
GUINTA, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 
LYNCH, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. PALLONE, 
and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act to reform procedures for the payment 
of funds from the asset forfeiture fund, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asset Forfeiture Fund 
Reform and Distribution Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. ASSET FORFEITURE FUND REFORM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 311(e) of the Magnuson- 
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1861(e)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(1)(A) Notwithstanding’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘may pay from’’ and in-
serting ‘‘shall use each of the’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘(16 U.S.C. 3371 et 
seq.)—’’ and all that follows through the end of 
the paragraph and inserting the following: ‘‘(16 
U.S.C. 3371 et seq.), to make a payment, in 
the amount of the sum received— 
‘‘(i) if the violation occurred in a State, to such 
State; 
‘‘(ii) if the violation did not occur in a State, 
to the State in which the vessel involved in the viola-
tion is homeported; or 
‘‘(iii) if the violation did not occur in a State 
and did not involve a vessel, to the State which is 
most directly affected by the violation. 
‘‘(B) Amounts paid to a State under subparagraph 
(A) shall be used for research and monitoring activities 
as determined appropriate by the head of the agency of 
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the State that is responsible for management of marine 
fisheries. Such activities may include— 
‘‘(i) fishery research and independent stock as-
sessments, including cooperative research; 
‘‘(ii) socioeconomic assessments, including so-
cioeconomic conditions of fishing communities; 
‘‘(iii) data collection, including creation of an 
information system that will enable timely audit and 
transmission of data for utilization by researchers 
and other collaborating institutions; 
‘‘(iv) compensation for the costs of analyzing 
the economic impacts of fishery management deci-
sions and to analyze potential methods to provide 
targeted compensation to fisherman that have been 
harmed by such management decisions; 
‘‘(v) at-sea and shoreside monitoring of fishing; 
‘‘(vi) preparation of fishery impact statements; 
and 
‘‘(vii) other activities that a Regional Fishery 
Management Council of which the State is a member 
considers to be necessary to rebuild or maintain sus-
tainable fisheries, ensure healthy ecosystems, provide 
socioeconomic economic assistance, or maintain fish-
ing communities.’’. 
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(b) RULE OF APPLICATION.—The amendments made 
by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to amounts re-
ceived under section 311(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1861(e)) after September 30, 2011. 
(c) TRANSITION RULE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use any 
amount received as a fisheries enforcement penalty 
before October 1, 2011, to reimburse appropriate 
legal fees and costs to a covered person in an 
amount not to exceed $200,000 per covered person. 
(2) TIMING.— 
(A) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION.—A cov-
ered person seeking reimbursement of appro-
priate legal fees and costs under paragraph (1) 
shall submit to the Secretary an application for 
such reimbursement— 
(i) in the case of a covered person de-
scribed in paragraph (4)(B)(i), not later 
than December 31, 2011; and 
(ii) in the case of a covered person de-
scribed in paragraph (4)(B)(ii), not later 
than 1 year after the date on which the 
Secretary directed that such covered per-
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son shall receive a remittance of a fisheries 
enforcement penalty. 
(B) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 60 
days after receiving an application under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall make a final de-
termination on whether to provide such reim-
bursement and the amount of any such reim-
bursement. 
(3) REMAINING
FUNDS.—The Secretary shall 
use— 
(A) 80 percent of the amounts described in 
paragraph (1) remaining after all reimburse-
ments have been made under such paragraph, 
for fishery stock assessments in the fishery 
management region that the Secretary deter-
mines to be appropriate; and 
(B) 20 percent of such amounts to make 
payments to States in accordance with section 
311(e)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1861(e)(1)). 
(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) The term ‘‘appropriate legal fees and 
costs’’ means the legal fees and costs incurred 
by a covered person— 
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(i) that the Secretary determines were 
appropriately incurred by the covered per-
son in successfully challenging a fisheries 
enforcement penalty; and 
(ii) that were incurred not later than 
30 days after the date on which the Sec-
retary directed that such penalty shall be 
remitted to the covered person. 
(B) The term ‘‘covered person’’ means— 
(i) a person that the Secretary di-
rected shall receive a remittance of a fish-
eries enforcement penalty in the Decision 
Memorandum; or 
(ii) a person that— 
(I) received a Notice of Violation 
and Assessment issued on or after 
March 17, 1994, for a fisheries en-
forcement penalty that was settled or 
otherwise resolved prior to February 
3, 2010; 
(II) paid such fisheries enforce-
ment penalty; 
(III) submitted a complaint prior 
to May 7, 2011, seeking remittance of 
such civil penalty; and 
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