meeting of the Council, and of the Council Co-
ordination Committee established under sub-
section (l), that is not closed in accordance with 
paragraph (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 section 302(g)(1)(B) of the Coun-
cil by not later than 30 days after the conclu-
sion of the meeting. 
‘‘(H) The Secretary shall maintain and make 
available to the public an archive of Council and sci-
entific and statistical committee meeting audios, vid-
eos, and transcripts made available under clauses (i) 
and (ii) of subparagraph (G).’’. 
(c) FISHERY IMPACT STATEMENTS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 303 (16 U.S.C. 
1853) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a), by striking para-
graph (9) and redesignating paragraphs (10) 
through (15) as paragraphs (9) through (14), 
respectively; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) FISHERY IMPACT STATEMENT.— 
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‘‘(1) Any fishery management plan (or fishery 
management plan amendment) prepared by any 
Council or by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 
(a) or (b), or proposed regulations deemed necessary 
pursuant to subsection (c), shall include a fishery 
impact statement which shall assess, specify and 
analyze the likely effects and impact of the proposed 
action on the quality of the human environment. 
‘‘(2) The fishery impact statement shall de-
scribe— 
‘‘(A) a purpose of the proposed action; 
‘‘(B) the environmental impact of the pro-
posed action; 
‘‘(C) any adverse environmental effects 
which cannot be avoided should the proposed 
action be implemented; 
‘‘(D) a reasonable range of alternatives to 
the proposed action; 
‘‘(E) the relationship between short-term 
use of fishery resources and the enhancement of 
long-term productivity; 
‘‘(F) the cumulative conservation and man-
agement effects; and 
‘‘(G) economic, and social impacts of the 
proposed action on— 
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‘‘(i) participants in the fisheries and 
fishing communities affected by the pro-
posed action; 
‘‘(ii) participants in the fisheries con-
ducted in adjacent areas under the author-
ity of another Council, after consultation 
with such Council and representatives of 
those participants; and 
‘‘(iii) the safety of human life at sea, 
including whether and to what extent such 
measures may affect the safety of partici-
pants in the fishery. 
‘‘(3) A substantially complete fishery impact 
statement, which may be in draft form, shall be 
available not less than 14 days before the beginning 
of the meeting at which a Council makes its final de-
cision on the proposal (for plans, plan amendments, 
or proposed regulations prepared by a Council pur-
suant to subsection (a) or (c)). Availability of this 
fishery impact statement will be announced by the 
methods used by the council to disseminate public 
information and the public and relevant government 
agencies will be invited to comment on the fishery 
impact statement. 
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‘‘(4) The completed fishery impact statement 
shall accompany the transmittal of a fishery man-
agement plan or plan amendment as specified in sec-
tion 304(a), as well as the transmittal of proposed 
regulations as specified in section 304(b). 
‘‘(5) The Councils shall, subject to approval by 
the Secretary, establish criteria to determine actions 
or classes of action of minor significance regarding 
subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), (E), and (F) of para-
graph (2), for which preparation of a fishery impact 
statement is unnecessary and categorically excluded 
from the requirements of this section, and the docu-
mentation required to establish the exclusion. 
‘‘(6) The Councils shall, subject to approval by 
the Secretary, prepare procedures for compliance 
with this section that provide for timely, clear, and 
concise analysis that is useful to decisionmakers and 
the public, reduce extraneous paperwork and effec-
tively involve the public, including— 
‘‘(A) using Council meetings to determine 
the scope of issues to be addressed and identi-
fying significant issues related to the proposed 
action; 
‘‘(B) integration of the fishery impact 
statement development process with preliminary 
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and final Council decisionmaking in a manner 
that provides opportunity for comment from the 
public and relevant government agencies prior 
to these decision points; and 
‘‘(C) providing scientific, technical, and 
legal advice at an early stage of the develop-
ment of the fishery impact statement to ensure 
timely transmittal and Secretarial review of the 
proposed 
fishery 
management 
plan, 
plan 
amendment, or regulations to the Secretary. 
‘‘(7) Actions taken in accordance with this sec-
tion are deemed to fulfill the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and all related implementing 
regulations.’’. 
(2) 
EVALUATION
OF
ADEQUACY.—Section 
304(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1854(a)(2)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of sub-
paragraph (B), striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) evaluate the adequacy of the accom-
panying fishery impact statement as basis for 
fully considering the environmental impacts of 
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implementing the fishery management plan or 
plan amendment.’’. 
(3) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS.—Section 304(b) 
(16 U.S.C. 1854(b)) is amended by striking so much 
as precedes subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) REVIEW OF REGULATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) Upon transmittal by the Council to the 
Secretary of proposed regulations prepared under 
section 303(c), the Secretary shall immediately ini-
tiate an evaluation of the proposed regulations to de-
termine whether they are consistent with the fishery 
management plan, plan amendment, this Act and 
other applicable law. The Secretary shall also imme-
diately initiate an evaluation of the accompanying 
fishery impact statement as a basis for fully consid-
ering the environmental impacts of implementing the 
proposed regulations. Within 15 days of initiating 
such evaluation the Secretary shall make a deter-
mination and—’’. 
(4) EFFECT ON TIME REQUIREMENTS.—Section 
305(e) (16 U.S.C. 1855(e)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),’’ after ‘‘the Regulatory Flexi-
bility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.),’’. 
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SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON FUTURE CATCH SHARE PROGRAMS. 
(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 
a plan or amendment submitted by such a 
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Council or a secretarial plan or amendment 
under section 304(c) that creates such a 
program, unless the final program has 
been approved, in a referendum in accord-
ance with this subparagraph, by a majority 
of the permit holders eligible to participate 
in the fishery. For multispecies permits in 
the Gulf of Mexico, any permit holder with 
landings from within the sector of the fish-
ery being considered for the catch share 
program within the 5-year period pre-
ceding the date of the referendum and still 
active in fishing in the fishery shall be eli-
gible 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 submitted for ap-
proval in a subsequent referendum. 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary may, at the re-
quest of the New England Fishery Man-
agement Council, allow participation in 
such a referendum for a fishery under the 
Council’s authority, by fishing vessel crew-
members who derive a significant portion 
of their livelihood from such fishing. 
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‘‘(iii) 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— 
‘‘(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. 
‘‘(iv) 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 
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prevented the permit holder from engaging 
in such fishing. 
‘‘(v) 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 
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. 9. REPORT ON FEE. 
Section 304(d)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) The Secretary shall report annually on the 
amount collected under this paragraph from each 
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fishery and detail how the funds were spent in the 
prior year on a fishery-by-fishery basis, to— 
‘‘(i) Congress; and 
‘‘(ii) each Council from whose fisheries the 
fee under this paragraph were collected.’’. 
SEC. 10. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT 
PROGRAM. 
Section 318 (16 U.S.C. 1867) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before 
the first sentence, and by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) Within one year after the date of enactment of 
the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing 
Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, and after con-
sultation with the Councils, the Secretary shall publish a 
plan for implementing and conducting the program estab-
lished in paragraph (1). Such plan shall identify and de-
scribe critical regional fishery management and research 
needs, possible projects that may address those needs, and 
estimated costs for such projects. The plan shall be revised 
and updated every 5 years, and updated plans shall in-
clude a brief description of projects that were funded in 
the prior 5-year period and the research and management 
needs that were addressed by those projects.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
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(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FUNDING’’ 
and inserting ‘‘PRIORITIES’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking all after 
‘‘including’’ and inserting an em dash, followed 
on the next line by the following: 
‘‘(A) the use of fishing vessels or acoustic 
or other marine technology; 
‘‘(B) expanding the use of electronic catch 
reporting programs and technology; and 
‘‘(C) improving monitoring and observer 
coverage through the expanded use of electronic 
monitoring devices.’’. 
SEC. 11. COUNCIL JURISDICTION FOR OVERLAPPING FISH-
ERIES. 
Section 302(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)) 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’’. 
SEC. 12. GULF OF MEXICO FISHERIES COOPERATIVE RE-
SEARCH AND RED SNAPPER MANAGEMENT. 
(a) REPEAL.—Section 407 (16 U.S.C. 1883), and the 
item relating to such section in the table of contents in 
the first section, are repealed. 
(b) REPORTING
AND
DATA
COLLECTION
PRO-
GRAM.—The Secretary of Commerce shall— 
(1) in conjunction with the States, the Gulf of 
Mexico Fishery Management Council, and the rec-
reational fishing sectors, develop and implement a 
real-time reporting and data collection program for 
the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery using avail-
able technology; and 
(2) make implementation of this subsection a 
priority for funds received by the Secretary and allo-
cated to this region under section 2 of the Act of 
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August 
11, 
1939 
(commonly 
known 
as 
the 
‘‘Saltonstall-Kennedy Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 713c–3). 
(c) FISHERIES
COOPERATIVE
RESEARCH
PRO-
GRAM.—The Secretary of Commerce— 
(1) shall, in conjunction with the States, the 
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the 
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Manage-
ment Councils, and the commercial, charter, and 
recreational fishing sectors, develop and implement a 
cooperative research program authorized under sec-
tion 318 for the fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico and 
South Atlantic regions, giving priority to those fish-
eries that are considered data-poor; and 
(2) may, subject to the availability of appropria-
tions, use funds received by the Secretary under sec-
tion 2 of the Act of August 11, 1939 (commonly 
known as the ‘‘Saltonstall-Kennedy Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 
713c–3) to implement this subsection. 
(d) STOCK SURVEYS AND STOCK ASSESSMENTS.— 
The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the National 
Marine Fisheries Service Regional Administrator of the 
Southeast Regional Office, shall for purposes of the Mag-
nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)— 
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(1) develop a schedule of stock surveys and 
stock assessments for the Gulf of Mexico Region and 
the South Atlantic Region for the 5-year period be-
ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
for every 5-year period thereafter; 
(2) direct the Southeast Science Center Direc-
tor to implement such schedule; and 
(3) in such development and implementation— 
(A) give priority to those stocks that are 
commercially or recreationally important; and 
(B) ensure that each such important stock 
is surveyed at least every 5 years. 
(e) USE OF FISHERIES INFORMATION IN STOCK AS-
SESSMENTS.—The Southeast Science Center Director 
shall ensure that fisheries information made available 
through fisheries programs funded under Public Law 
112–141 is incorporated as soon as possible into any fish-
eries stock assessments conducted after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(f) STATE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN THE GULF 
OF MEXICO WITH RESPECT TO RED SNAPPER.—Section 
306(b) (16 U.S.C. 1856(b)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(4) Notwithstanding section 3(11), for the purposes 
of managing the recreational sector of the Gulf of Mexico 
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red snapper fishery, the seaward boundary of a coastal 
State in the Gulf of Mexico is a line 9 miles seaward from 
the baseline from which the territorial sea of the United 
States is measured.’’. 
(g) FUNDING OF STOCK ASSESSMENTS.—The Sec-
retary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior, act-
ing through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 
shall enter into a cooperative agreement for the funding 
of stock assessments that are necessitated by any action 
by the Bureau with respect to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf 
of Mexico that adversely impacts red snapper. 
SEC. 13. NORTH PACIFIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT CLARI-
FICATION. 
Section 306(a)(3)(C) (16 U.S.C. 1856(a)(3)(C)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘was no’’ and inserting ‘‘is no’’; 
and 
(2) by striking ‘‘on August 1, 1996’’. 
SEC. 14. ENSURING CONSISTENT MANAGEMENT FOR FISH-
ERIES THROUGHOUT THEIR RANGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Act is amended by inserting 
after section 4 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 5. ENSURING CONSISTENT FISHERIES MANAGEMENT 
UNDER CERTAIN OTHER FEDERAL LAWS. 
‘‘(a) NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES ACT AND AN-
TIQUITIES ACT OF 1906.—In any case of a conflict be-
tween this Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) or the Antiquities Act of 1906 
(16 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), this Act shall control. 
‘‘(b) FISHERIES
RESTRICTIONS
UNDER
ENDAN-
GERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973.—To ensure transparency 
and consistent management of fisheries throughout their 
range, any restriction on the management of fish in the 
exclusive economic zone that is necessary to implement a 
recovery plan under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) shall be implemented— 
‘‘(1) using authority under this Act; and 
‘‘(2) in accordance with processes and time 
schedules required under this Act.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in the first section is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 3 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 4. Authorization of appropriations. 
‘‘Sec. 5. Ensuring consistent fisheries management under certain other Federal 
laws.’’. 
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