H. R. 5946—25
use in fishing in federal or state waters, or fishing on the 
high seas or in the waters of a foreign nation; or’’; 
(7) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall consult, as appropriate, 
with Councils,’’ in subsection (b)(4) and inserting ‘‘The harvester 
proponents of each program and the Secretary shall consult, 
as appropriate and practicable, with Councils,’’; 
(8) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following: 
‘‘(5) PAYMENT CONDITION.—The Secretary may not make a pay-
ment under paragraph (2) with respect to a vessel that will not 
be scrapped unless the Secretary certifies that the vessel will not 
be used for fishing in the waters of a foreign nation or fishing 
on the high seas. 
‘‘(6) REPORT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of funds, the 
Secretary shall, within 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 submit to the Con-
gress a report—
‘‘(i) identifying and describing the 20 fisheries in United 
States waters with the most severe examples of excess 
harvesting capacity in the fisheries, based on value of 
each fishery and the amount of excess harvesting capacity 
as determined by the Secretary; 
‘‘(ii) recommending measures for reducing such excess 
harvesting capacity, including the retirement of any latent 
fishing permits that could contribute to further excess har-
vesting capacity in those fisheries; and 
‘‘(iii) potential sources of funding for such measures. 
‘‘(B) BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall 
base the recommendations made with respect to a fishery on—
‘‘(i) the most cost effective means of achieving voluntary 
reduction in capacity for the fishery using the potential 
for industry financing; and 
‘‘(ii) including measures to prevent the capacity that 
is being removed from the fishery from moving to other 
fisheries in the United States, in the waters of a foreign 
nation, or on the high seas.’’; 
(9) by striking ‘‘Secretary, at the request of the appropriate 
Council,’’ in subsection (d)(1)(A) and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 
(10) by striking ‘‘Secretary, in consultation with the 
Council,’’ in subsection (d)(1)(A) and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 
(11) by striking ‘‘a two-thirds majority of the participants 
voting.’’ in subsection (d)(1)(B) and inserting ‘‘at least a majority 
of the permit holders in the fishery, or 50 percent of the 
permitted allocation of the fishery, who participated in the 
fishery.’’; 
(12) by striking ‘‘establish;’’ in subsection (d)(2)(C) and 
inserting ‘‘establish, unless the Secretary determines that such 
fees should be collected from the seller;’’; and 
(13) striking subsection (e) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—
‘‘(1) FRAMEWORK REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro-
pose and adopt framework regulations applicable to the 
implementation of all programs under this section.
H. R. 5946—26
‘‘(2) PROGRAM REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall imple-
ment each program under this section by promulgating regula-
tions that, together with the framework regulations, establish 
each program and control its implementation. 
‘‘(3) HARVESTER PROPONENTS’ IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The 
Secretary may not propose implementation regulations for a 
program to be paid for by an industry fee system until the 
harvester proponents of the program provide to the Secretary 
a proposed implementation plan that, among other matters—
‘‘(A) proposes the types and numbers of vessels or 
permits that are eligible to participate in the program 
and the manner in which the program shall proceed, taking 
into account—
‘‘(i) the requirements of this section; 
‘‘(ii) the requirements of the framework regula-
tions; 
‘‘(iii) the characteristics of the fishery and affected 
fishing communities; 
‘‘(iv) the requirements of the applicable fishery 
management plan and any amendment that such plan 
may require to support the proposed program; 
‘‘(v) the general needs and desires of harvesters 
in the fishery; 
‘‘(vi) the need to minimize program costs; and 
‘‘(vii) other matters, including the manner in which 
such proponents propose to fund the program to ensure 
its cost effectiveness, as well as any relevant factors 
demonstrating the potential for, or necessary to obtain, 
the support and general cooperation of a substantial 
number of affected harvesters in the fishery (or portion 
of the fishery) for which the program is intended; and 
‘‘(B) proposes procedures for program participation 
(such as submission of owner bids under an auction system 
or fair market-value assessment), including any terms and 
conditions for participation, that the harvester proponents 
deem to be reasonably necessary to meet the program’s 
proposed objectives. 
‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION CONTRACTS.—The Secretary shall con-
tract with each person participating in a program, and each 
such contract shall, in addition to including such other matters 
as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to effectively 
implement each program (including penalties for contract non-
performance) be consistent with the framework and imple-
menting regulations and all other applicable law. 
‘‘(5) REDUCTION AUCTIONS.—Each program not involving 
fair market assessment shall involve a reduction auction that 
scores the reduction price of each bid offer by the data relevant 
to each bidder under an appropriate fisheries productivity 
factor. If the Secretary accepts bids, the Secretary shall accept 
responsive bids in the rank order of their bid scores, starting 
with the bid whose reduction price is the lowest percentage 
of the productivity factor, and successively accepting each addi-
tional responsive bid in rank order until either there are no 
more responsive bids or acceptance of the next bid would cause 
the total value of bids accepted to exceed the amount of funds 
available for the program.
H. R. 5946—27
‘‘(6) BID INVITATIONS.—Each program shall proceed by the 
Secretary issuing invitations to bid setting out the terms and 
conditions for participation consistent with the framework and 
implementing regulations. Each bid that the Secretary receives 
in response to the invitation to bid shall constitute an irrev-
ocable offer from the bidder.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Sections 116, 203, 204, 205, and 
206 of the Sustainable Fisheries Act are deemed to have added 
sections 312, 402, 403, 404, and 405, respectively to the Act as 
of the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. 
SEC. 113. REGIONAL COASTAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE, TRANSITION, 
AND RECOVERY PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 315. REGIONAL COASTAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE, TRANSITION, 
AND RECOVERY PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When there is a catastrophic regional fishery 
disaster the Secretary may, upon the request of, and in consultation 
with, the Governors of affected States, establish a regional economic 
transition program to provide immediate disaster relief assistance 
to the fishermen, charter fishing operators, United States fish proc-
essors, and owners of related fishery infrastructure affected by 
the disaster. 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appropria-
tions, the program shall provide funds or other economic assist-
ance to affected entities, or to governmental entities for 
disbursement to affected entities, for—
‘‘(A) meeting immediate regional shoreside fishery 
infrastructure needs, including processing facilities, cold 
storage facilities, ice houses, docks, including temporary 
docks and storage facilities, and other related shoreside 
fishery support facilities and infrastructure while ensuring 
that those projects will not result in an increase or replace-
ment of fishing capacity; 
‘‘(B) financial assistance and job training assistance 
for fishermen who wish to remain in a fishery in the 
region that may be temporarily closed as a result of 
environmental or other effects associated with the disaster; 
‘‘(C) funding, pursuant to the requirements of section 
312(b), to fishermen who are willing to scrap a fishing 
vessel and permanently surrender permits for fisheries 
named on that vessel; and 
‘‘(D) any other activities authorized under section 312 
of this Act or section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fish-
eries Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 4107(d)). 
‘‘(2) JOB TRAINING.—Any fisherman who decides to scrap 
a fishing vessel under the program shall be eligible for job 
training assistance. 
‘‘(3) STATE PARTICIPATION OBLIGATION.—The participation 
by a State in the program shall be conditioned upon a commit-
ment by the appropriate State entity to ensure that the relevant 
State fishery meets the requirements of section 312(b) of this 
Act to ensure excess capacity does not re-enter the fishery. 
‘‘(4) NO MATCHING REQUIRED.—The Secretary may waive 
the matching requirements of section 312 of this Act, section
H. R. 5946—28
308 of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 
4107), and any other provision of law under which the Federal 
share of the cost of any activity is limited to less than 100 
percent if the Secretary determines that—
‘‘(A) no reasonable means are available through which 
applicants can meet the matching requirement; and 
‘‘(B) the probable benefit of 100 percent Federal 
financing outweighs the public interest in imposition of 
the matching requirement. 
‘‘(5) NET REVENUE LIMIT INAPPLICABLE.—Section 308(d)(3) 
of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (16 U.S.C. 4107(d)(3)) 
shall not apply to assistance under this section. 
‘‘(c) REGIONAL IMPACT EVALUATION.—Within 2 months after 
a catastrophic regional fishery disaster the Secretary shall provide 
the Governor of each State participating in the program a com-
prehensive economic and socio-economic evaluation of the affected 
region’s fisheries to assist the Governor in assessing the current 
and future economic viability of affected fisheries, including the 
economic impact of foreign fish imports and the direct, indirect, 
or environmental impact of the disaster on the fishery and coastal 
communities. 
‘‘(d) CATASTROPHIC REGIONAL FISHERY DISASTER DEFINED.—
In this section the term ‘catastrophic regional fishery disaster’ 
means a natural disaster, including a hurricane or tsunami, or 
a regulatory closure (including regulatory closures resulting from 
judicial action) to protect human health or the marine environment, 
that—
‘‘(1) results in economic losses to coastal or fishing commu-
nities; 
‘‘(2) affects more than 1 State or a major fishery managed 
by a Council or interstate fishery commission; and 
‘‘(3) is determined by the Secretary to be a commercial 
fishery failure under section 312(a) of this Act or a fishery 
resource disaster or section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional 
Fisheries Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 4107(d)).’’. 
(b) SALMON PLAN AND STUDY.—
(1) RECOVERY PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall 
complete a recovery plan for Klamath River Coho salmon and 
make it available to the public. 
(2) ANNUAL
REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
Secretary of Commerce shall submit a report to the Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 
House of Representatives Committee on Resources on—
(A) the actions taken under the recovery plan and 
other law relating to recovery of Klamath River Coho 
salmon, and how those actions are specifically contributing 
to its recovery; 
(B) the progress made on the restoration of salmon 
spawning habitat, including water conditions as they relate 
to salmon health and recovery, with emphasis on the 
Klamath River and its tributaries below Iron Gate Dam; 
(C) the status of other Klamath River anadromous 
fish populations, particularly Chinook salmon; and