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‘‘(9) have the authority to use alternative fish-
ery management measures in a recreational fishery 
(or the recreational component of a mixed-use fish-
ery), including extraction rates, fishing mortality 
targets, and harvest control rules, in developing a 
fishery management plan, plan amendment, or pro-
posed regulations; and’’. 
SEC. 204. MODIFICATIONS TO THE ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT 
REQUIREMENT. 
(a) REGIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS.— 
Section 302 (16 U.S.C. 1852) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(m) CONSIDERATIONS FOR MODIFICATIONS TO AN-
NUAL CATCH LIMIT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT REQUIREMENT FOR 
CERTAIN
DATA-POOR
FISHERIES.—Notwithstanding 
subsection (h)(6), in the case of a stock of fish for 
which the total annual catch limit is 25 percent or 
more below the overfishing limit, a peer-reviewed 
stock survey and stock assessment have not been 
performed during the preceding 5 fishing years, and 
the stock is not subject to overfishing, a Council 
may, after notifying the Secretary, maintain the cur-
rent annual catch limit for the stock until a peer-re-
viewed stock survey and stock assessment are con-
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ducted and the results are considered by the Council 
and its scientific and statistical committee. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF ECOSYSTEM AND ECO-
NOMIC IMPACTS.—In establishing annual catch lim-
its a Council may, consistent with subsection (h)(6), 
consider changes in an ecosystem and the economic 
needs of the fishing communities. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS
TO
ANNUAL
CATCH
LIMIT 
REQUIREMENT FOR SPECIAL FISHERIES.—Notwith-
standing subsection (h)(6), a Council is not required 
to develop an annual catch limit for— 
‘‘(A) an ecosystem-component species; 
‘‘(B) a fishery for a species that has a life 
cycle of approximately 1 year, unless the Sec-
retary has determined the fishery is subject to 
overfishing; or 
‘‘(C) a stock for which— 
‘‘(i) more than half of a single-year 
class will complete their life cycle in less 
than 18 months; and 
‘‘(ii) fishing mortality will have little 
impact on the stock. 
‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO INTERNATIONAL FISH-
ERY EFFORTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each annual catch 
limit, consistent with subsection (h)(6)— 
‘‘(i) may take into account manage-
ment measures under international agree-
ments in which the United States partici-
pates; and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of an annual catch 
limit developed by a Council for a species, 
shall take into account fishing for the spe-
cies outside the exclusive economic zone 
and the life-history characteristics of the 
species that are not subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the Council. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION TO ANNUAL CATCH LIMIT 
REQUIREMENT.—If fishery management activi-
ties by another country with respect to fishing 
outside the exclusive economic zone may hinder 
conservation efforts by United States fishermen 
for a fish species for which any of the recruit-
ment, distribution, life history, or fishing activi-
ties are transboundary, and for which there is 
no informal transboundary agreement with that 
country in effect, then— 
‘‘(i) 
notwithstanding 
subsection 
(h)(6), no annual catch limit is required to 
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be developed for the species by a Council; 
and 
‘‘(ii) if an annual catch limit is devel-
oped by a Council for the species, the catch 
limit shall take into account fishing for the 
species outside the exclusive economic zone 
that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Council. 
‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION FOR MULTISPECIES COM-
PLEXES AND MULTIYEAR ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS.— 
For purposes of subsection (h)(6), a Council may es-
tablish— 
‘‘(A) an annual catch limit for a stock 
complex; or 
‘‘(B) annual catch limits for each year in 
any continuous period that is not more than 3 
years in duration. 
‘‘(6) ECOSYSTEM-COMPONENT
SPECIES
DE-
FINED.—In this subsection the term ‘ecosystem-com-
ponent species’ means a stock of fish that is a non-
target, incidentally harvested stock of fish in a fish-
ery, or a nontarget, incidentally harvested stock of 
fish that a Council or the Secretary has deter-
mined— 
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‘‘(A) is not subject to overfishing, ap-
proaching a depleted condition or depleted; and 
‘‘(B) is not likely to become subject to 
overfishing or depleted in the absence of con-
servation and management measures. 
‘‘(7) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed as providing an 
exemption from the requirements of section 301(a) 
of this Act.’’. 
(b) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—Section 304 (16 
U.S.C. 1854) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(i) INTERNATIONAL OVER-
FISHING.—’’ and inserting ‘‘(j) INTERNATIONAL 
OVERFISHING.—’’; 
(2) in subsection (j)(1), as redesignated, by in-
serting ‘‘shall’’ before ‘‘immediately’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) STOCK SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date that the Secretary receives no-
tice from a Council under section 302(m), the Secretary 
shall complete a peer-reviewed stock survey and stock as-
sessment of the applicable stock of fish and transmit the 
results of the survey and assessment to the Council.’’. 
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SEC. 205. LIMITATION ON FUTURE CATCH SHARE PRO-
GRAMS. 
(a) CATCH SHARE DEFINED.—Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 
1802) is amended by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2a) The term ‘catch share’ means any fishery 
management program that allocates a specific per-
centage of the total allowable catch for a fishery, or 
a specific fishing area, to an individual, cooperative, 
community, processor, representative of a commer-
cial sector, or regional fishery association established 
in accordance with section 303A(c)(4), or other enti-
ty.’’. 
(b) CATCH
SHARE
REFERENDUM
PILOT
PRO-
GRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303A(c)(6)(D) (16 
U.S.C. 1853a(c)(6)(D)) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(D) CATCH SHARE REFERENDUM PILOT 
PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(i) The New England, Mid-Atlantic, 
South Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico Coun-
cils may not submit a fishery management 
plan or amendment that creates a catch 
share program for a fishery, and the Sec-
retary may not approve or implement such 
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a plan or amendment submitted by such a 
Council or a Secretarial plan or amend-
ment under section 304(c) that creates 
such a program, unless the final program 
has been approved, in a referendum in ac-
cordance with this subparagraph, by a ma-
jority of the permit holders eligible to par-
ticipate in the fishery. For multispecies 
permits in the Gulf of Mexico, any permit 
holder with landings from within the sector 
of the fishery being considered for the 
catch share program within the 5-year pe-
riod preceding the date of the referendum 
and still active in fishing in the fishery 
shall be eligible to participate in such a 
referendum. If a catch share program is 
not approved by the requisite number of 
permit holders, it may be revised and sub-
mitted for approval in a subsequent ref-
erendum. 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall conduct a 
referendum under this subparagraph, in-
cluding notifying all permit holders eligible 
to participate in the referendum and mak-
ing available to them— 
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‘‘(I) a copy of the proposed pro-
gram; 
‘‘(II) an estimate of the costs of 
the program, including costs to par-
ticipants; 
‘‘(III) an estimate of the amount 
of fish or percentage of quota each 
permit holder would be allocated; and 
‘‘(IV) information concerning the 
schedule, procedures, and eligibility 
requirements for the referendum proc-
ess. 
‘‘(iii) For the purposes of this sub-
paragraph, the term ‘permit holder eligible 
to participate’ only includes the holder of 
a permit for a fishery under which fishing 
has occurred in 3 of the 5 years preceding 
a referendum for the fishery, unless sick-
ness, injury, or other unavoidable hardship 
prevented the permit holder from engaging 
in such fishing. 
‘‘(iv) The Secretary may not imple-
ment any catch share program for any 
fishery managed exclusively by the Sec-
retary unless first petitioned by a majority 
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of those permit holders eligible to partici-
pate in the fishery.’’. 
(2) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—The amend-
ment made by paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 
catch share program that is submitted to, or pro-
posed by, the Secretary of Commerce before the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(3) REGULATIONS.—Before conducting a ref-
erendum under the amendment made by paragraph 
(1), the Secretary of Commerce shall issue regula-
tions implementing such amendment after providing 
an opportunity for submission by the public of com-
ments on the regulations. 
SEC. 206. STUDY OF LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PRO-
GRAMS FOR MIXED-USE FISHERIES. 
(a) STUDY ON LIMITED ACCESS PRIVILEGE PRO-
GRAMS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall seek 
to enter into an arrangement under which the Ocean Stud-
ies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engi-
neering, and Medicine shall— 
(1) study the use of limited access privilege pro-
grams in mixed-use fisheries, including— 
(A) identifying any inequities caused by a 
limited access privilege program; 
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(B) recommending policies to address the 
inequities identified in subparagraph (A); and 
(C) identifying and recommending the dif-
ferent factors and information a mixed-use fish-
ery should consider when designing, estab-
lishing, or maintaining a limited access privilege 
program to mitigate any inequities identified in 
subparagraph (A); and 
(2) submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a report on the study under paragraph (1), 
including the recommendations under subparagraphs 
(B) and (C) of paragraph (1). 
(b) TEMPORARY MORATORIUM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), there shall be a moratorium on the sub-
mission and approval of a limited access privilege 
program for a mixed-use fishery until the date that 
the report is submitted under subsection (a)(1)(B). 
(2) EXCEPTION.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 
Council may submit, and the Secretary of Commerce 
may approve, for a mixed-use fishery that is man-
aged under a limited access system, a limited access 
privilege program if such program was part of a 
pending fishery management plan or plan amend-
ment before the date of enactment of this Act. 
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(3) MANDATORY REVIEW.—A Council that ap-
proves a limited access privilege program under 
paragraph (2) shall, upon issuance of the report re-
quired under subparagraph (a), review and, to the 
extent practicable, revise the limited access privilege 
program to be consistent with the recommendations 
of the report or any subsequent statutory or regu-
latory requirements designed to implement the rec-
ommendations of the report. 
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
section may be construed to affect a limited access 
privilege program approved by the Secretary of 
Commerce before the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 207. COOPERATIVE DATA COLLECTION. 
(a) IMPROVING DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS.— 
Section 404 (16 U.S.C. 1881c) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(f) IMPROVING DATA COLLECTION
AND ANAL-
YSIS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall develop, in consultation with the science and 
statistical committees of the Councils established 
under section 302(g) and the Marine Fisheries Com-
missions, and submit to the Committee on Com-
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merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives a report on facilitating 
greater incorporation of data, analysis, stock assess-
ments, and surveys from State agencies and non-
governmental sources described in paragraph (2) 
into fisheries management decisions. 
‘‘(2) 
NONGOVERNMENTAL
SOURCES.—Non-
governmental sources referred to in paragraph (1) 
include the following: 
‘‘(A) Fishermen. 
‘‘(B) Fishing communities. 
‘‘(C) Universities. 
‘‘(D) Research and philanthropic institu-
tions. 
‘‘(3) CONTENT.—In developing the report 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) identify types of data and analysis, 
especially concerning recreational fishing, that 
can be reliably used for purposes of this Act as 
the basis for establishing conservation and man-
agement measures as required by section 
303(a)(1), including setting standards for the 
collection and use of that data and analysis in 
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stock assessments and surveys and for other 
purposes as determined by the Secretary; 
‘‘(B) provide specific recommendations for 
collecting data and performing analyses identi-
fied as necessary to reduce uncertainty in and 
improve the accuracy of future stock assess-
ments, including whether such data and anal-
ysis could be provided by nongovernmental 
sources, including fishermen, fishing commu-
nities, universities, and research institutions; 
‘‘(C) consider the extent to which it is pos-
sible to establish a registry of persons collecting 
or submitting the data and performing the 
analyses identified under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B); and 
‘‘(D) consider the extent to which the ac-
ceptance and use of data and analyses identi-
fied in the report in fishery management deci-
sions is practicable.’’. 
(b) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 
make available on the Internet Website of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the report re-
quired under the amendment made by subsection (a) by 
not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
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(c) NAS REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Sec-
retary of Commerce shall take into consideration and, to 
the extent feasible, implement the recommendations of the 
National Academy of Sciences in the report entitled ‘‘Re-
view of the Marine Recreational Information Program 
(2017)’’, including— 
(1) prioritizing the evaluation of electronic data 
collection, including smartphone applications, elec-
tronic diaries for prospective data collection, and an 
Internet website option for panel members or for the 
public; 
(2) evaluating whether the design of the Marine 
Recreational Information Program for the purposes 
of stock assessment and the determination of stock 
management reference points is compatible with the 
needs of in-season management of annual catch lim-
its; and 
(3) if the Marine Recreational Information Pro-
gram is incompatible with the needs of in-season 
management of annual catch limits, determining an 
alternative method for in-season management. 
SEC. 208. RECREATIONAL FISHING DATA. 
Section 401(g) (16 U.S.C. 1881(g)) is amended by 
redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6), and by in-
serting after paragraph (4) the following: 
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‘‘(5) FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIPS.— 
‘‘(A) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall establish partnerships with States to de-
velop best practices for implementation of State 
programs established pursuant to paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall de-
velop guidance, in cooperation with the States, 
that details best practices for administering 
State programs pursuant to paragraph (2), and 
provide such guidance to the State.’’. 
SEC. 209. MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS RELATING TO 
FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCILS. 
(a) COUNCIL
JURISDICTION
FOR
OVERLAPPING 
FISHERIES.—Section 302(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(1)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), in the second sen-
tence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘18’’ and inserting ‘‘19’’; 
and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end ‘‘and a liaison who is a member of the Mid- 
Atlantic Fishery Management Council to rep-
resent the interests of fisheries under the juris-
diction of such Council’’; and 
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(2) in subparagraph (B), in the second sen-
tence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘21’’ and inserting ‘‘22’’; 
and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end ‘‘and a liaison who is a member of the New 
England Fishery Management Council to rep-
resent the interests of fisheries under the juris-
diction of such Council’’. 
(b) COUNCIL SEAT.—Section 302(b)(2) (16 U.S.C. 
1852(b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or rec-
reational’’ and inserting ‘‘, recreational, or subsist-
ence fishing’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (C), in the second sen-
tence, by inserting ‘‘, and in the case of the Gov-
ernor of Alaska with the subsistence fishing interests 
of the State,’’ after ‘‘interests of the State’’. 
(c) 
PURPOSE.—Section 
2(b)(3) 
(16 
U.S.C. 
1801(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘and recreational’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, recreational, and subsistence’’. 
(d) PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERING RED SNAPPER 
KILLED DURING REMOVAL OF OIL RIGS.—Any red snap-
per that are killed during the removal of any offshore oil 
rig in the Gulf of Mexico shall not be considered in deter-
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‘‘(G) Each Council shall make available on 
the Internet Web site of the Council— 
‘‘(i) to the extent practicable, a 
Webcast, an audio recording, or a live 
broadcast of each meeting of the Council, 
and of the Council Coordination Com-
mittee established under subsection (l), 
that is not closed in accordance with para-
graph (3); and 
‘‘(ii) audio, video (if the meeting was 
in person or by video conference), or a 
searchable audio or written transcript of 
each meeting of the Council and of the 
meetings of committees referred to in sec-
tion (g)(1)(B) of the Council by not later 
than 30 days after the conclusion of the 
meeting. 
‘‘(H) The Secretary shall maintain and 
make available to the public an archive of 
Council and scientific and statistical committee 
meeting audios, videos, and transcripts made 
available under clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara-
graph (G).’’. 
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