(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a)(5) shall take effect 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(c) ENDING OVERFISHING.— 
(1) SUBSTITUTION
OF
TERM.—The Act is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘overfished’’ each place it 
appears (other than in subsection (a) of section 
3 of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1802), as amended by 
this Act) and inserting ‘‘depleted’’; and 
(B) in the heading for section 304(e) (16 
U.S.C. 1854(e)) by striking ‘‘OVERFISHED’’ 
and inserting ‘‘DEPLETED’’. 
(2) REQUIRED PROVISIONS OF FISHERY MAN-
AGEMENT PLANS.—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 fishery to which the plan 
applies is depleted or being subjected to overfishing 
(with an analysis of how the criteria were deter-
mined and the relationship of the criteria to the re-
productive potential of stocks of fish in that fish-
ery);’’. 
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(3) 
ACTION
BY
SECRETARY.—Section 
304(e)(4)(A)(i) (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(4)(A)(i)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) be as short as possible, not to ex-
ceed one year unless otherwise provided for 
under an international agreement in which 
the United States participates, taking into 
account the status and biology of any de-
pleted stocks of fish, the needs of fishing 
communities, recommendations by inter-
national organizations in which the United 
States participates, and the interaction of 
the depleted stock of fish within the ma-
rine ecosystem; and’’. 
(d) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Section 303(c) (16 
U.S.C. 1853(c)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(1); 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) implementing conservation and manage-
ment measures under a fishery ecosystem plan under 
subsection (e)(3) may be submitted at any time after 
the Council adopts the fishery ecosystem plan.’’. 
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SEC. 104. FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN DISCRETIONARY 
PROVISIONS. 
Section 303(b) (16 U.S.C. 1853(b)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’ in paragraph 
(2); 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 
the end of paragraph (2)(A) (as designated by sub-
paragraph (A) of this paragraph); 
(3) by inserting at the end of paragraph (2) the 
following: 
‘‘(B) designate such zones in areas where deep 
sea corals are identified under section 408, to pro-
tect deep sea corals from physical damage from fish-
ing gear or to prevent loss or damage to such fishing 
gear from interactions with deep sea corals, after 
considering long-term sustainable uses of fishery re-
sources in such areas;’’; 
(4) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(6) establish a limited access system for the 
fishery in order to achieve optimum yield if, in devel-
oping such system, the Council and the Secretary 
take into account— 
‘‘(A) the conservation requirements of this 
Act with respect to the fishery; 
‘‘(B) present participation in the fishery; 
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‘‘(C) historical fishing practices in, and de-
pendence on, the fishery; 
‘‘(D) the economics of the fishery; 
‘‘(E) the capability of fishing vessels used 
in the fishery to engage in other fisheries; 
‘‘(F) the cultural and social framework rel-
evant to the fishery and any affected fishing 
communities; 
‘‘(G) the fair and equitable distribution of 
access privileges to a public resource; and 
‘‘(H) any other relevant considerations;’’; 
(5) by striking ‘‘(other than economic data)’’ in 
paragraph (7); 
(6) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 
paragraph (11); and 
(7) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para-
graph (14) and inserting after paragraph (11) the 
following: 
‘‘(12) establish a process for complying with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.) pursuant to section 304(h) of this Act; 
‘‘(13) include management measures in the 
plan to conserve target and non-target species and 
habitats, considering the variety of ecological factors 
affecting fishery populations; and’’. 
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SEC. 105. LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking section 303(d); and 
(2) by inserting after section 303 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—After the date of enactment of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Manage-
ment Amendments Act of 2006, a Council may submit, 
and the Secretary may approve, for a fishery that is man-
aged under a limited access system, a limited access privi-
lege program to harvest fish if the program meets the re-
quirements of this section. 
‘‘(b) NO CREATION OF RIGHT, TITLE, OR INTER-
EST.—A limited access system, limited access privilege, 
quota share, or other authorization established, imple-
mented, or managed under this Act— 
‘‘(1) shall be considered a permit for the pur-
poses of sections 307, 308, and 309; 
‘‘(2) may be revoked, limited, or modified at 
any time in accordance with this Act, including rev-
ocation for failure to comply with the terms of the 
plan or if the system is found to have jeopardized 
the sustainability of the stock or the safety of fisher-
men; 
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‘‘(3) shall not confer any right of compensation 
to the holder of such limited access privilege, quota 
share, or other such limited access system authoriza-
tion if it is revoked, limited, or modified; 
‘‘(4) shall not create, or be construed to create, 
any right, title, or interest in or to any fish before 
the fish is harvested by the holder; and 
‘‘(5) shall be considered a grant of permission 
to the holder of the limited access privilege or quota 
share to engage in activities permitted by such lim-
ited access privilege or quota share. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR LIMITED ACCESS PRIVI-
LEGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to complying 
with the other requirements of this Act, any limited 
access privilege program to harvest fish submitted 
by a Council or approved by the Secretary under 
this section shall— 
‘‘(A) if established in a fishery that is de-
pleted or subject to a rebuilding plan, assist in 
its rebuilding; and 
‘‘(B) if established in a fishery that is de-
termined by the Secretary or the Council to 
have over-capacity, contribute to reducing ca-
pacity; 
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‘‘(C) promote— 
‘‘(i) the safety of human life at sea; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the conservation and manage-
ment of the fishery; 
‘‘(D) prohibit any person other than a 
United States citizen, a corporation, partner-
ship, or other entity established under the laws 
of the United States or any State, or a perma-
nent resident alien, that meets the eligibility 
and participation requirements established in 
the program from acquiring a privilege to har-
vest fish; 
‘‘(E) require that all fish harvested under 
a limited access privilege program be processed 
by vessels of the United States, in United 
States waters, or on United States soil (includ-
ing any territory of the United States). 
‘‘(F) specify the goals of the program; 
‘‘(G) include provisions for the regular 
monitoring and review by the Council and the 
Secretary of the operations of the program, in-
cluding determining progress in meeting the 
goals of the program and this Act, and any nec-
essary modification of the program to meet 
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those goals, with a formal and detailed review 
5 years after the establishment of the program 
and every 5 years thereafter; 
‘‘(H) include an effective system for en-
forcement, monitoring, and management of the 
program, including the use of observers; 
‘‘(I) include an appeals process for admin-
istrative review of determinations with respect 
to the Secretary’s decisions regarding adminis-
tration of the limited access privilege program; 
‘‘(J) provide for the establishment by the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Department 
of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, 
for an information collection and review process 
to provide any additional information needed by 
the Department of Justice and the Federal 
Trade Commission to determine whether any il-
legal acts of anti-competition, anti-trust, price 
collusion, or price fixing have occurred among 
regional fishery associations or persons receiv-
ing limited access privileges under the program; 
and 
‘‘(K) provide for the revocation by the Sec-
retary of limited access privileges held by any 
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person found to have violated the antitrust laws 
of the United States. 
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 
requirement of paragraph (1)(E) if the Secretary de-
termines that— 
‘‘(A) the fishery has historically processed 
the fish outside of the United States; and 
‘‘(B) the United States has a seafood safe-
ty equivalency agreement with the country 
where processing will occur (or other assurance 
that seafood safety procedures to be used in 
such processing are equivalent or superior to 
the applicable United States seafood safety 
standards). 
‘‘(3) FISHING COMMUNITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(i) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 
participate in a limited access privilege 
program to harvest fish, a fishing commu-
nity shall— 
‘‘(I) be located within the man-
agement area of the relevant Council; 
‘‘(II) meet criteria developed by 
the relevant Council, approved by the 
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Secretary, and published in the Fed-
eral Register; 
‘‘(III) consist of residents who 
conduct commercial or recreational 
fishing, processing, or fishery-depend-
ent support businesses within the 
Council’s management area; and 
‘‘(IV) develop and submit a com-
munity sustainability plan to the 
Council and the Secretary that dem-
onstrates how the plan will address 
the social and economic development 
needs of fishing communities, includ-
ing those that have not historically 
had the resources to participate in the 
fishery, for approval based on criteria 
developed by the Council that have 
been approved by the Secretary and 
published in the Federal Register. 
‘‘(ii) FAILURE
TO
COMPLY
WITH 
PLAN.—The Secretary shall deny limited 
access privileges granted under this section 
for any person who fails to comply with the 
requirements of the plan. 
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‘‘(B) PARTICIPATION CRITERIA.—In devel-
oping participation criteria for eligible commu-
nities under this paragraph, a Council shall 
consider— 
‘‘(i) traditional fishing or processing 
practices in, and dependence on, the fish-
ery; 
‘‘(ii) the cultural and social frame-
work relevant to the fishery; 
‘‘(iii) economic barriers to access to 
fishery; 
‘‘(iv) the existence and severity of pro-
jected economic and social impacts associ-
ated with implementation of limited access 
privilege programs on harvesters, captains, 
crew, processors, and other businesses sub-
stantially dependent upon the fishery in 
the region or subregion; 
‘‘(v) the expected effectiveness, oper-
ational transparency, and equitability of 
the community sustainability plan; and 
‘‘(vi) the potential for improving eco-
nomic conditions in remote coastal commu-
nities lacking resources to participate in 
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harvesting or processing activities in the 
fishery. 
‘‘(4) REGIONAL FISHERY ASSOCIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to par-
ticipate in a limited access privilege program to 
harvest fish, a regional fishery association 
shall— 
‘‘(i) be located within the management 
area of the relevant Council; 
‘‘(ii) meet criteria developed by the 
relevant Council, approved by the Sec-
retary, and published in the Federal Reg-
ister; 
‘‘(iii) be a voluntary association with 
established by-laws and operating proce-
dures consisting of participants in the fish-
ery, including commercial or recreational 
fishing, processing, fishery-dependent sup-
port businesses, or fishing communities; 
and 
‘‘(iv) develop and submit a regional 
fishery association plan to the Council and 
the Secretary for approval based on cri-
teria developed by the Council that have 
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