the requirements of section 304 or 312 of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1854 and 1861a).
(b) COMMERCIAL SHARE.—
(1) DESCRIPTION.—The commercial share of
the loan made under section 7(f) shall be 50 percent
of the original principal amount of the loan plus all
interest accruing on that 50 percent of the principal
amount.
(2) METHOD
OF
PAYMENT.—The Secretary
shall, for the repayment of the commercial share of
the loan obligation, plus associated interest, estab-
lish a fee, that—
(A) shall be an amount determined by the
Secretary to be sufficient to amortize the com-
mercial share over the loan term of 30 years,
not to exceed five cents, for each pound of all
Atlantic swordfish sold by swordfish dealers;
(B) shall be collected beginning on the
365th day after the date of enactment of this
Act and continue without interruption, regard-
less of the loan’s maturity until such commer-
cial share is fully paid; and
(C) shall be deducted by each swordfish
dealer from all proceeds received from the sale
by the dealer of all Atlantic swordfish and shall
be accounted for and forwarded by the dealer to
the Secretary in the following manner:
(i) The fee for all proceeds received
during each month shall be forwarded by
not later than the 15th calendar day of
each month immediately following the
month for which the fees were collected,
and fee payments shall be late if not re-
ceived at the lock box account designated
under clause (iii) by the 20th calendar day
of each such immediately following month.
(ii) All fees forwarded shall include a
settlement sheet that establishes the total
proceeds received during the previous
month, the total pounds of all Atlantic
swordfish sold upon which such receipts
were based, and the total fee forwarded.
(iii) All fees shall be forwarded to a
lock box account that the Secretary shall
designate by a letter to each swordfish
dealer holding a swordfish dealer’s permit
at its record address.
(iv) All fee matters shall be in accord-
ance with such other conditions as the Sec-
retary shall establish, and may amend
from time to time by a letter (but not by
regulation or any other form of notice)
sent to each swordfish dealer holding a
swordfish dealer’s permit at its record ad-
dress.
(3) DUTY
OF
PROMPT
NOTIFICATION.—The
Secretary shall immediately notify swordfish dealers
and swordfish limited access permit holders when
the commercial share has been fully repaid and the
collection requirement terminates. This shall be ac-
complished by the Secretary’s letter sent to each
swordfish dealer, holding a swordfish dealer’s permit
and each swordfish access permit holder at its
record address.
(4) AUDIT.—The Secretary may at reasonable
times and places conduct audits of swordfish dealer’s
books and records to determine compliance with this
section. Swordfish dealers shall furnish such books
and records as the Secretary may reasonably require
for the conduct of such audits.
(5) PENALTY
INTEREST
ON
LATE
FEE
PAY-
MENTS.—Swordfish dealers shall pay penalty inter-
est equal to one and one-half percent the full
amount of each late fee payment for each month, or
portion thereof, in which a late fee payment remains
unpaid.
(6) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary shall col-
lect all unpaid fees by such manner as the Secretary
considers appropriate, including bringing collection
enforcement actions at law and attaching and liqui-
dating swordfish dealers’ assets.
(7) 
CONTINUING
OBLIGATION.—Notwith-
standing that the commercial share of the loan is
not paid in full by the loan’s maturity date, the fee
shall continue without interruption until such time
as the commercial share is paid in full.
(c) RECREATIONAL SHARE.—
(1) DESCRIPTION.—The recreational share of
the loan made under section 7(f) shall be 50 percent
of the original principal amount of the loan plus all
interest accruing on 50 percent of the principal
amount.
(2) METHODS OF PAYMENT.—The recreational
share of the loan obligation, plus associated interest,
shall be repaid through payment by affected States
under paragraph (3), and by the sale of fishery con-
servation permits issued under paragraph (4).
(3) PAYMENT BY AFFECTED STATE.—A vessel
registered in an affected State will not be required
to purchase a Federal fishery conservation permit if
the State by no later than 240 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, makes a binding, legally
enforceable agreement with the United States Gov-
ernment to pay fully, within 4 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, a fee equal to the State’s
recreational share allocation, plus associated inter-
est. The allocations for each affected State are as
follows:
(A) South Carolina—9.4 percent.
(B) Georgia—4.3 percent.
(C) Florida—40.0 percent.
(D) Alabama—3.2 percent.
(E) Mississippi—2.6 percent.
(F) Louisiana—14.6 percent.
(G) Texas—19.9 percent.
(4) FISHERY CONSERVATION PERMITS.—
(A) ISSUANCE AND SALE.—Beginning not
later than 240 days after the date of enactment
of this Act and thereafter until the recreational
share is fully repaid, the Secretary shall issue,
upon payment of a fee of $25, an annual fish-
ery conservation permit authorizing a vessel
over 18 feet in length to be used to engage in
recreational fishing for highly migratory species
in any area closed under section 6. For vessels
registered in a State electing to pay the rec-
reational share, the Secretary shall issue the
permit free of charge.
(B) MEANS OF SALE OR ISSUANCE.—The
Secretary—
(i) may, to the extent practicable, au-
thorize the permits to be issued or sold by
a variety of persons, including State agen-
cies, retail dealers, and through convenient
means, including the Internet and toll-free
telephone numbers; and
(ii) may establish procedures for such
persons to account for and forward the
proceeds of sale to the Secretary.
(C) LIMITATION
ON
PERMITTING.—The
Secretary may not issue such permit after the
repayment of the recreational share of the loan
obligation.
(D) OBTAINING
FISHERY
CONSERVATION
PERMIT.—Vessels registered in affected States
agreeing to pay the recreational share shall ob-
tain a fishery conservation permit from the Sec-
retary or the affected State where the vessel is
registered.
(5) PROHIBITION.—After the 240th day after
the date of enactment of this Act until the rec-
reational share is fully repaid under this Act, no per-
son may engage in recreational fishing for highly mi-
gratory species in an area that is closed to fishing
under section 6 from a vessel of 18 feet or more in
length, unless a valid fishery conservation permit
has been issued for the vessel. It shall be a rebut-
table presumption that any recreational vessel 18
feet or more in length, in such a closed area, and
having gear aboard capable of catching highly mi-
gratory species, is fishing for highly migratory spe-
cies.
(6) DUTY
OF
PROMPT
NOTIFICATION.—The
Secretary shall immediately notify the Coast Guard,
the heads of the agencies of the affected States that
have responsibility for marine fishery law enforce-
ment, retail dealers and others who sell fishery con-
servation permits under this subsection, and the
public when—
(A) payment of the recreational share be-
gins, and
(B) the recreational share has been fully
repaid.
This shall be accomplished by a Federal Register no-
tice, direct communication, and such other means as
the Secretary determines are effective and appro-
priate.
(d) APPLICATION OF FEE PAYMENTS.—Amounts re-
ceived by the United States as fees under this section shall
be applied to repay the amount of the loan under section
7(f) (including interest thereon) in accordance with this
section.
SEC. 11. PROHIBITED ACT UNDER MAGNUSON-STEVENS
ACT.
A person who violates this Act shall, in addition to
any other penalties provided in this Act or elsewhere, be
considered to have committed an act prohibited under sec-
tion 307(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C.
1857(1)(A)).
SEC. 12. BILLFISH BYCATCH MORTALITY REDUCTION RE-
SEARCH PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab-
lished within the National Marine Fisheries Service at the
Southeast Fisheries Science Center a Pelagic Longline
Billfish Bycatch and Mortality Reduction Research Pro-
gram. The Program shall identify and test a variety of
pelagic longline fishing gear configurations and uses, in-
cluding recreational catch and release, and determine
which of those configurations and uses are the most effec-
tive in reducing billfish bycatch mortality and oceanic
shark and sea turtle mortality in the pelagic longline fish-
eries of the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mid-Atlantic Bight
Conservation Zone established under section 6. The pro-
gram shall also include provision for observers to be placed
on pelagic longline fishing vessels for the purposes of mon-
itoring the fishery and participating in the research pro-
gram. To fund the observers, the Secretary shall collect
a fee that shall not exceed 1 percent of the ex-vessel value
of fish harvested from Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico pelagic
longline vessels, and shall be collected at either the time
of the landing, filing of a landing report, or sale of such
fish during a fishing season in the last quarter of the cal-
endar year in which the fish is harvested.
(b) PROGRAM DESIGN.—The Program design shall
be developed through a scientific workshop organized and
convened by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center of the
National Marine Fisheries Service. Knowledgeable mem-
bers of the pelagic longline fishing sector, the recreational
billfish and tuna sector, and the conservation community,
along with scientists associated with each such entity,
shall be invited to participate on the workshop design
team. The Center shall make its best efforts to ensure that
each such sector is fairly represented on the design team.
The program design shall be submitted to the Secretary
no later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this
Act and shall include a statistically significant rec-
ommendation for the level of observer coverage on pelagic
longline fishing vessels that is necessary to monitor the
fishery effectively and participate in the research program.
The Secretary shall aggressively monitor the mid-Atlantic
bight during the months it is open to pelagic longline fish-
ing to determine if there has been a substantial net in-
crease in the number of vessels or effort from the remain-
ing pelagic longline fleet and whether that net increase
is negatively impacting billfish, shark, and turtle bycatch.
If the Secretary so finds, the Secretary shall immediately
report the finding to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives,
along with proposed statutory language to address the im-
pact.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—No later than 90 days
after the third year of closure of the Gulf of Mexico Con-
servation Zone For Highly Migratory Species under sec-
tion 6(c), the Secretary shall submit a report on the Pro-
gram’s determinations to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives. The
report shall include proposed statutory language for legis-
lation that may be appropriate prior to the expiration of
the closure of the Gulf of Mexico Conservation Zone For
Highly Migratory Species.
SEC. 13. REALLOCATION OF TOTAL ALLOWABLE CATCH.
The Secretary shall reallocate, to the United States
commercial swordfish hand gear fishing fleet, the portion
of total allowable catch of swordfish by the United States
pelagic longline fishing fleet that was attributable to ves-
sels that were authorized to engage in fishing under per-
mits and licenses revoked under section 8. Such realloca-
tion shall be based on the data used to calculate landing
payments under section 7(e) for such vessels.
SEC. 14. INTERIM REGULATIONS.
(a) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may not
implement before a date that is either 1 year after the
date on which the Secretary submits a report to the Con-
gress under section 12(c) or 3 years after the date of en-
actment of this Act, whichever is earlier, rules or regula-
tions establishing time-area closures for pelagic longline
fishing in the Atlantic Ocean by United States fishing ves-
sels that are in addition to those time-area closures estab-
lished under this Act.
(b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition set forth in sub-
section (b) shall not apply—
(1) to rules or regulations necessary to imple-
ment any recommendation of ICCAT or Act of Con-
gress;
(2) to technical and conforming corrections to
those time-area closures established under this Act
that the Secretary finds are necessary to meet the
conservation purposes of this Act, for public safety
and enforcement of this Act;
(3) if the Secretary, after consultation with and
considering the comments of affected Regional Fish-
ery Management Councils, the Commissioners ap-
pointed under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act,
and the relevant advisory panels established under
section 302(g) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16
U.S.C. 1852(g)), and after providing an opportunity
for public comment, finds that—
(A) fishing by United States pelagic
longline fishing vessels is hindering the con-
servation of an Atlantic highly migratory spe-
cies of fish or sea turtles; and
(B) time-area closures for pelagic longline
fishing in the Atlantic Ocean by United States
fishing vessels that are in addition to those
time-area closures established under this Act
are necessary to address such emergency and
there are no other practicable means available
to address such emergency; or
(4) to any action taken under either the Marine
Mammal Protect Act of 1972 or the Endangered
Species Act of 1973.
SEC. 15. VESSEL MONITORING DEVICES.
(a) VESSEL MONITORING DEVICE REQUIREMENT.—
After the 165th day after the date of enactment of this
Act, no pelagic longline vessel shall operate within the At-
lantic highly migratory species fishery without a vessel
monitoring device approved by the Secretary.
(b) LIMITATION ON REQUIREMENT.—A vessel that is
prohibited by section 8 from being used to engage in com-
mercial fishing is not required to carry a vessel monitoring
device under this section.
SEC. 16. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Sections 6 and 7 shall take effect on the date suffi-
cient funds are available to carry out section 7 and section
12.
SEC. 17. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary—
(1) $250,000 per fiscal year for the cost of car-
rying out the compensation program under section
7; and
(2) $3,000,000 for research under section 12;
plus such other sums as may be necessary for carrying
out all other functions in the Act. In addition, there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more
than $400,000 for the Southeast Fisheries Science Center
to conduct additional research on billfish and swordfish.
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