[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2972 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2972

 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
 to provide for a cooperative research and management program, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2002

Ms. Snowe (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
 to provide for a cooperative research and management program, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fisheries Research Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT PEER REVIEW OF DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES.

    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is 
amended by adding at the end of Title IV the following:

``SEC. 408. PEER REVIEW.

    ``The National Academy of Sciences shall review and recommend 
measures for improving National Marine Fisheries Service's procedures 
for ensuring data quality in the data collection phase of the stock 
assessment program. In this review, they shall address the quality 
control protocols through which stock assessment equipment is 
calibrated, operated, inspected, and maintained; the frequency and 
financial cost of these quality control checks; how the accuracy and 
validity of data collected with sampling equipment is verified; and how 
measurement error is accounted for in stock assessment modeling and 
analysis based on these data. This review shall apply to all activities 
that affect stock assessment data quality, whether conducted by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service or by National Marine Fisheries 
Service contractors.''.

SEC. 3. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT.

    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

             ``TITLE V--COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT

``SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a national 
cooperative research and management program to be administered by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, based on recommendations by the 
Councils. The program shall consist of cooperative research and 
management activities between fishing industry participants, the 
affected States, and the Service.
    ``(b) Research Awards.--Each research project under this program 
shall be awarded on a standard competitive basis established by the 
Service, in consultation with the Councils. Each Council shall 
establish a research steering committee to carry out this subsection.
    ``(c) Guidelines.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
appropriate Council and the fishing industry, shall create guidelines 
so that participants in this program are not penalized for loss of 
catch history or unexpended days-at-sea as part of a limited entry 
system.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the National Marine Fisheries Service, in addition to 
amounts otherwise authorized by this Act, the following amounts, to 
remain available until expended, for the conduct of this program:
            ``(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
            ``(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.
            ``(3) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.
            ``(4) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
            ``(5) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
    ``(e) New England Trawl Survey.--Of the funds authorized in 
subsection (d) $3,000,000 shall be authorized for the purpose of 
cooperative comparative trawl research between the National Marine 
Fisheries Service and fishing industry participants for the Northeast 
multispecies groundfish fishery, which the Secretary shall design and 
administer with input from fishing industry participants and other 
interested stakeholders.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY.

    Section 304(e)(4)(A)(ii) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(4)(A)(ii)) is 
amended to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) not exceed 10 years, except in the 
                        case where a rebuilding target is changed 
                        during the rebuilding period, the Council or 
                        the Secretary may extend the time period for 
                        the rebuilding to accommodate the new 
                        target;''.
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