157 
ticipation in the stock of fish, relative to other 
nations, by fishermen of the United States; and 
‘‘(D) contain objective and measurable cri-
teria for evaluating rebuilding progress. 
‘‘(5) SECRETARIAL PLAN.—If a Council does not 
meet the deadline described in paragraph (3)(A) to 
submit a management document the Secretary shall, 
not later than 9 months after the expiration of such 
deadline, prepare such management document for the 
affected fish stock under subsection (c). 
‘‘(6) INTERIM MEASURES.—During the develop-
ment of a management document for a stock of fish 
required by this subsection, a Council may request 
that the Secretary implement interim measures to re-
duce overfishing under section 305(c) until such meas-
ures can be replaced by such management document. 
Such measures, if otherwise in compliance with the 
provisions of this Act, may be implemented even 
though they are not sufficient to stop overfishing of a 
fishery. 
‘‘(7) ASSESSMENT OF REBUILDING PLAN.— 
‘‘(A) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—The Secretary 
shall review each management document relating 
to a stock of fish required by this subsection not 
less often than once every 2 years to determine 
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whether such management document has resulted 
in adequate progress toward rebuilding affected 
stocks of fish. The Secretary shall find a lack of 
adequate progress toward rebuilding an affected 
stock of fish if— 
‘‘(i) the status of the stock is not im-
proving sufficiently such that it becomes un-
likely that the stock will be rebuilt within 
the rebuilding time period; 
‘‘(ii) the applicable fishing mortality 
rate or annual catch limits are exceeded, 
and the causes and rebuilding consequences 
of such exceedances have not been corrected; 
‘‘(iii) new scientific information dem-
onstrates that assumptions regarding the 
stock’s biology that formed the basis for the 
rebuilding plan, such as stock productivity, 
were fundamentally inaccurate, and such 
inaccuracies render the current rebuilding 
plan unable to address the stock’s rebuilding 
needs; or 
‘‘(iv) for such other reasons as the Sec-
retary determines appropriate. 
‘‘(B) 
FINDING
OF
INADEQUATE 
PROGRESS.—Except as provided in subpara-
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graph (C), if the Secretary finds after a review 
under subparagraph (A) that a management 
document has not resulted in adequate progress 
toward rebuilding affected fish stocks, the Sec-
retary shall— 
‘‘(i) in the case of a stock of fish to 
which section 302(a)(3) applies, imme-
diately make revisions necessary to achieve 
adequate progress toward rebuilding by the 
deadline established under paragraph (4); 
or 
‘‘(ii) for all other stocks of fish, imme-
diately notify the appropriate Council, 
which must make revisions necessary to 
achieve adequate progress toward rebuilding 
by not later than the deadline established 
under paragraph (4). If the Council fails to 
complete such action by the date that is 9 
months after the date of such notification, 
the Secretary shall, not later than 18 
months after the date of such notification, 
make such revisions as are needed to ensure 
adequate progress toward rebuilding by not 
later than the rebuilding deadline estab-
lished under paragraph (4). 
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‘‘(C) FAILED
REBUILDING
PLAN.—If the 
Secretary finds that revisions pursuant to sub-
paragraph (B) cannot achieve adequate progress 
within the time period set under paragraph (4), 
the Secretary may find that the rebuilding plan 
has failed. 
‘‘(D) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 
publish the results of a review performed under 
this paragraph in the Federal Register, includ-
ing a determination of adequate progress or in-
adequate progress, and the basis for such deter-
mination. 
‘‘(8) SUBSEQUENT REBUILDING PLAN.—If a re-
building time period established under paragraph (4) 
expires and the relevant fish stock has not been re-
built, or the Secretary determines that an existing re-
building plan has failed under paragraph (7)(C), the 
Council (or Secretary in the case of a stock to which 
section 302(a)(3) applies) shall prepare a new re-
building plan pursuant to paragraphs (3) through 
(6), except that such plan shall have not less than a 
75 percent chance of rebuilding the stock of fish by the 
end of the new rebuilding time period set under para-
graph (4). Management measures intended to rebuild 
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the stock shall remain in effect during such prepara-
tion of a rebuilding plan. 
‘‘(9) MANAGEMENT
DOCUMENT.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘management document’ means a 
management plan, management plan amendment, or 
proposed regulations for a stock of fish.’’. 
SEC. 505. OVERFISHED FISHERIES AND PREVENTING OVER-
FISHING. 
(a) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY SCIENTIFIC AND STA-
TISTICAL
COMMITTEES.—Section 302(g)(1) (16 U.S.C. 
1852(g)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘ecologi-
cal,’’ after ‘‘social,’’; and 
(2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(B) Each scientific and statistical committee 
shall provide its Council with ongoing scientific ad-
vice for fishery management decisions, including— 
‘‘(i) recommendations for accounting for all 
sources of mortality in establishing management 
measures, for the acceptable biological catch lev-
els, for preventing overfishing, for maximum sus-
tainable yield, and for achieving rebuilding tar-
gets and promoting resilience of fish stocks to cli-
mate change; 
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‘‘(ii) objective and measurable criteria for 
determining whether a stock is overfished or ex-
periencing overfishing; and 
‘‘(iii) reports on stock status and health, 
sources of mortality, bycatch, habitat status, so-
cial, ecological, and economic impacts of man-
agement measures, and sustainability of fishing 
practices, and prevailing and anticipated future 
impacts of climate change on fish stocks, fishing 
communities, and fishery sectors.’’. 
(b) MINIMUM REQUIRED PRECAUTIONARY STAND-
ARD.—Section 303(a)(10) (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)(10)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(10) specify objective and measurable criteria 
for identifying when the fish stock to which the plan 
applies is overfished or subject to overfishing (with an 
analysis of how the criteria were determined and the 
relationship of the criteria to the reproductive poten-
tial of stocks of fish in that fishery), which may not 
be less precautionary than the recommendation of the 
scientific and statistical committees for such fishery, 
and, in the case of a fishery which the Council or the 
Secretary has determined is approaching an over-
fished condition or is overfished, contain conservation 
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and management measures to prevent overfishing or 
end overfishing and rebuild the fishery.’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 301 of the 
Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 
2018 (16 U.S.C. 1801 note) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 301. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
‘‘Nothing in this Act, including the amendment made 
by section 102(a)(3), shall be construed as modifying the 
requirements of sections 301(a), 302(h)(6), 303(a)(15), or 
304(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, or the equal application of such require-
ments and other standards and requirements under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act to commercial, charter, and recreational fisheries, in-
cluding each component of mixed-use fisheries.’’. 
SEC. 506. PREPARATION AND REVIEW OF SECRETARIAL 
PLANS. 
Section 304(c)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1854(c)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘not to ex-
ceed 2 years, or 9 months in the case of a manage-
ment 
plan 
or 
amendment 
subject 
to 
section 
304(e)(7)(B)’’ after ‘‘time’’; 
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(3) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘not later 
than 180 days after the disapproval’’ before the semi-
colon; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Not later than 30 days before the date on which a time 
period established in subparagraph (B) or (C) ends, the Sec-
retary shall provide written notification to the affected 
Council that if such Council does not fulfill the require-
ments described in such subparagraph, the Secretary shall 
issue a Secretarial plan.’’. 
SEC. 507. COUNCILS. 
Section 302(h) (16 U.S.C. 1852(h)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (7)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 
and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec-
tively; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
following: 
‘‘(B) prioritize fisheries and habitats expe-
riencing or expected to experience shifts in geo-
graphic range, spatial distribution, or produc-
tivity;’’; 
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(3) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as 
paragraphs (11) and (13), respectively; and 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8) approve, for each of its managed stocks, ob-
jective and measurable criteria for identifying wheth-
er the stock is overfished or experiencing overfishing, 
which may not be less precautionary than the rec-
ommendation of its scientific and statistical com-
mittee; 
‘‘(9) develop and implement a habitat protection 
plan to protect essential fish habitat in the region of 
the Council from adverse effects caused by fishing that 
shall include— 
‘‘(A) quantitative and measurable targets 
and goals for increasing quality, quantity, and 
representativeness of essential fish habitat; and 
‘‘(B) conservation and management meas-
ures in a fishery management plan to implement 
the habitat protection plan; 
‘‘(10) at routine intervals not less frequently 
than every 7 years and based on scientific evidence or 
other relevant information, review habitat protection 
plans developed under paragraph (9) by such Council 
and each designation of essential fish habitat and 
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habitat areas of particular concern under section 
303(a)(7) by such Council, and amend such Council’s 
fishery management plans as necessary and appro-
priate;’’. 
SEC. 508. FORAGE FISH CONSERVATION. 
(a) SECRETARY TO DEFINE FORAGE FISH.—Section 
305 (16 U.S.C. 1855) is further amended by adding after 
subsection (l), as added by this Act, the following: 
‘‘(m) FORAGE FISH.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of enactment of the Sustaining America’s Fisheries 
for the Future Act of 2022, the Secretary shall establish by 
regulation, in consultation with the Regional Fishery Man-
agement Councils, a definition of the term ‘forage fish’ for 
the purposes of this Act. In defining such term, the Sec-
retary shall consider factors including whether a species 
covered by such definition, throughout such species’ 
lifecycle— 
‘‘(1) is at a low trophic level; 
‘‘(2) is generally small- to intermediate-sized; 
‘‘(3) occurs in schools or other dense aggrega-
tions; 
‘‘(4) contributes significantly to the diets of other 
fish, marine mammals, or birds; and 
‘‘(5) serves as a conduit for energy transfer to 
species at a higher trophic level.’’. 
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(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is fur-
ther amended— 
(1) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(18A) FORAGE FISH.—The term ‘forage fish’— 
‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term by the 
Secretary under section 305(m); and 
‘‘(B) with respect to a species in a fishery 
managed pursuant to a fishery management 
plan or plan amendment that is approved by the 
Secretary under section 304(a), means any spe-
cies identified in such plan as a forage fish.’’; 
and 
(2) in paragraph (33)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘and’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 
period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) in the case of a forage fish, is reduced, 
pursuant to subparagraph (B), to provide for the 
diet needs of fish species and other marine wild-
life, including marine mammals and birds, for 
which forage fish is a significant dietary compo-
nent.’’. 
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