(2) IMPLEMENTATION OF MONITORING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph 
(B), and after the issuance of the final regula-
tions, a Council, or the Secretary for fisheries re-
ferred to in section 302(a)(3) of the Magnuson- 
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(3)), may, in accordance 
with the regulations, on a fishery-by-fishery basis 
and consistent with the existing objectives and 
management goals of a fishery management plan 
and the Act for a fishery issued by the Council 
or the Secretary, respectively, amend such 
plan— 
(i) to incorporate electronic monitoring 
as an alternative tool for data collection 
and monitoring purposes or for compliance 
and enforcement purposes (or both); and 
(ii) to allow for the replacement of a 
percentage of on-board observers with elec-
tronic monitoring. 
(B) COMPARABILITY.—Subparagraph (A) 
shall apply to a fishery only if the Council or 
Secretary, respectively, determines that such 
monitoring will yield comparable data collection 
and compliance results. 
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(3) PILOT
PROJECTS.—Before the issuance of 
final regulations, a Council, or the Secretary for fish-
eries referred to in section 302(a)(3), may, subject to 
the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, on a fishery-by- 
fishery basis, and consistent with the existing objec-
tives and management goals of a fishery management 
plan for a fishery issued by the Council or the Sec-
retary, respectively, conduct a pilot project for the use 
of electronic monitoring for the fishery. 
(4) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall issue final 
regulations under this subsection by not later than 12 
months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) VIDEO AND ACOUSTIC SURVEY TECHNOLOGIES.— 
The Secretary shall work with the Regional Fishery Man-
agement Councils and nongovernmental entities to develop 
and implement the use pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq.) of video survey technologies and expanded use 
of acoustic survey technologies. 
(c) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 402(b) (16 U.S.C. 
1881a(b)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
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(i) by amending subparagraph (B) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(B) to State or Marine Fisheries Commis-
sion employees as necessary for achievement of 
the purposes of this Act, subject to a confiden-
tiality agreement between the State or Commis-
sion, respectively, and the Secretary that pro-
hibits public disclosure of the identity of any 
person and of confidential information;’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
‘‘limited 
access’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘catch 
share’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (G), by striking 
‘‘limited 
access’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘catch 
share’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, and information 
obtained through a vessel monitoring system 
or other technology used onboard a fishing 
vessel for enforcement or data collection 
purposes,’’ after ‘‘information’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semi-
colon at the end of subparagraph (B); and 
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(iii) by striking subparagraph (C) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) as authorized by any regulations 
issued under paragraph (6) allowing the collec-
tion of observer information, pursuant to a con-
fidentiality agreement between the observers, ob-
server employers, and the Secretary prohibiting 
disclosure of the information by the observers or 
observer employers, in order— 
‘‘(i) to allow the sharing of observer in-
formation among observers and between ob-
servers and observer employers as necessary 
to train and prepare observers for deploy-
ments on specific vessels; or 
‘‘(ii) to validate the accuracy of the ob-
server information collected; or 
‘‘(D) to other persons if the Secretary has 
obtained written authorization from the person 
who submitted such information or from the per-
son on whose vessel the information was col-
lected, to release such information for reasons not 
otherwise provided for in this subsection.’’; 
(C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
paragraph (6); and 
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(D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3) Any information submitted to the Secretary, 
a State fisheries management agency, or a Marine 
Fisheries Commission by any person in compliance 
with the requirements of this Act, including confiden-
tial information, may only be used for purposes of 
fisheries management and monitoring and enforce-
ment under this Act. 
‘‘(4) The Secretary may enter into a memo-
randum of understanding with the heads of other 
Federal agencies for the sharing of confidential infor-
mation to ensure safety of life at sea or for fisheries 
enforcement purposes, including information obtained 
through a vessel monitoring system or other electronic 
enforcement and monitoring systems, if— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary determines there is a 
compelling need to do so; and 
‘‘(B) the heads of the other Federal agencies 
agree— 
‘‘(i) to maintain the confidentiality of 
the information in accordance with the re-
quirements that apply to the Secretary 
under this section; and 
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‘‘(ii) to use the information only for 
the purposes for which it was shared with 
the agencies. 
‘‘(5) The Secretary may not provide any vessel- 
specific or aggregate vessel information from a fishery 
that is collected for monitoring and enforcement pur-
poses to any person for the purposes of coastal and 
marine spatial planning under Executive Order 
13547, unless the Secretary determines that providing 
such information is important for maintaining or en-
hancing national security or for ensuring fishermen 
continued access to fishing grounds.’’. 
(2) CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION
DEFINED.— 
Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1802) is further amended by in-
serting after paragraph (4) the following: 
‘‘(4a) 
The 
term 
‘confidential 
information’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) trade secrets; 
‘‘(B) proprietary information; 
‘‘(C) observer information; and 
‘‘(D) commercial or financial information 
the disclosure of which is likely to result in harm 
to the competitive position of the person that 
submitted the information to the Secretary.’’. 
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