1.This Act may be cited as the Longline
Catcher Processor Subsector Single Fishery Cooperative Act
.
2.Authority to
approve and implement a single fishery cooperative for the longline catcher
processor subsector in the BSAI
(a)Upon the request of eligible members of the longline
catcher processor subsector holding at least 80 percent of the licenses issued
for that subsector, the Secretary is authorized to approve a single fishery
cooperative for the longline catcher processor subsector in the BSAI.
(b)A
single fishery cooperative approved under this section shall include a
limitation prohibiting any eligible member from harvesting a total of more than
20 percent of the Pacific cod available to be harvested in the longline catcher
processor subsector, the violation of which is subject to the penalties,
sanctions, and forfeitures under section 308 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16
U.S.C. 1858), except that such limitation shall not apply to harvest amounts
from quota assigned explicitly to a CDQ group as part of a CDQ allocation to an
entity established by section 305(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C.
1855(i)).
(c)Contract
Submission and ReviewThe longline catcher processor subsector
shall submit to the Secretary—
(1)not later than
November 1 of each year, a contract to implement a single fishery cooperative
approved under this section for the following calendar year; and
(2)not later than 60
days prior to the commencement of fishing under the single fishery cooperative,
any interim modifications to the contract submitted under paragraph (1).
(d)Department of
Justice ReviewNot later than November 1 before the first year of
fishing under a single fishery cooperative approved under this section, the
longline catcher processor sector shall submit to the Secretary a copy of a
letter from a party to the contract under subsection (c)(1) requesting a
business review letter from the Attorney General and any response to such
request.
(e)The
Secretary shall implement a single fishery cooperative approved under this
section not later than 2 years after receiving a request under subsection
(a).
(f)If the longline catcher processor subsector does not
submit a contract to the Secretary under subsection (c) then the longline
catcher processor subsector in the BSAI shall operate as a limited access
fishery for the following year subject to the license limitation program in
effect for the longline catcher processor subsector on the date of enactment of
this Act or any subsequent modifications to the license limitation program
recommended by the Council and approved by the Secretary.
3.Harvest and
prohibited species allocations to a single fishery cooperative for the longline
catcher processor subsector in the BSAIA single fishery cooperative approved under
section 2 may, on an annual basis, collectively—
(1)harvest the total
amount of BSAI Pacific cod total allowable catch, less any amount allocated to
the longline catcher processor subsector non-cooperative limited access
fishery;
(2)utilize the total
amount of BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation, less any amount
allocated to a longline catcher processor subsector non-cooperative limited
access fishery; and
(3)harvest any
reallocation of Pacific cod to the longline catcher processor subsector during
a fishing year by the Secretary.
4.Longline catcher
processor subsector non-cooperative limited access fishery
(a)An eligible member that elects not to participate in a
single fishery cooperative approved under section 2 shall operate in a
non-cooperative limited access fishery subject to the license limitation
program in effect for the longline catcher processor subsector on the date of
enactment of this Act or any subsequent modifications to the license limitation
program recommended by the Council and approved by the Secretary.
(b)Harvest and
Prohibited Species AllocationsEligible members operating in a
non-cooperative limited access fishery under this section may
collectively—
(1)harvest the
percentage of BSAI Pacific cod total allowable catch equal to the combined
average percentage of the BSAI Pacific cod harvest allocated to the longline
catcher processor sector and retained by the vessel or vessels designated on
the eligible members license limitation program license or licenses for 2006,
2007, and 2008, according to the catch accounting system data used to establish
total catch; and
(2)utilize the
percentage of BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation equal to the
percentage calculated under paragraph (1).
5.Authority of the
North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(a)Nothing in this Act shall supersede the authority of the
Council to recommend for approval by the Secretary such conservation and
management measures, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq.) as it considers necessary to ensure that this Act does not
diminish the effectiveness of fishery management in the BSAI or the Gulf of
Alaska Pacific cod fishery.
(b)
(1)Notwithstanding
the authority provided to the Council under this section, the Council is
prohibited from altering or otherwise modifying—
(A)the methodology
established under section 3 for allocating the BSAI Pacific cod total allowable
catch and BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation to a single
fishery cooperative approved under this Act; or
(B)the methodology
established under section 4 of this Act for allocating the BSAI Pacific cod
total allowable catch and BSAI Pacific cod prohibited species catch allocation
to the non-cooperative limited access fishery.
(2)No sooner than 7
years after approval of a single fisheries cooperative under section 2 of this
Act, the Council may modify the harvest limitation established under section
2(b) if such modification does not negatively impact any eligible member of the
longline catcher processor subsector.
(c)Protections for
the Gulf of Alaska Pacific Cod FisheryThe Council may recommend
for approval by the Secretary such harvest limitations of Pacific cod by the
longline catcher processor subsector in the Western Gulf of Alaska and the
Central Gulf of Alaska as may be necessary to protect coastal communities and
other Gulf of Alaska participants from potential competitive advantages
provided to the longline catcher processor subsector by this Act.
6.Relationship to
the Magnuson-Stevens Act
(a)Consistent with section 301(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act (16 U.S.C. 1851(a)), a single fishery cooperative approved under section 2
of this Act is intended to enhance conservation and sustainable fishery
management, reduce and minimize bycatch, promote social and economic benefits,
and improve the vessel safety of the longline catcher processor subsector in
the BSAI.
(b)A single fishery cooperative approved under section 2 of
this Act is deemed to meet the requirements of section 303A(i) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1853a(i)) as if it had been approved by the
Secretary within 6 months after the date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, unless the
Secretary makes a determination, within 30 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, that application of section 303A(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to
the cooperative approved under section 2 of this Act would be inconsistent with
the purposes for which section 303A was added to the Magnuson-Stevens
Act.
(c)Consistent with section 304(d)(2) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)), the Secretary is authorized to
recover reasonable costs to administer a single fishery cooperative approved
under section 2 of this Act.
7.Community
development quota programNothing in this Act shall affect the western
Alaska community development program established by section 305(i) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)), including the allocation of fishery
resources in the directed Pacific cod fishery.
8.In this Act:
(1)The
term BSAI has the meaning given that term in section 219(a)(2) of
the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005
(Public Law 108–447; 118 Stat. 2886).
(2)BSAI pacific cod
total allowable catchThe term BSAI Pacific cod total
allowable catch means the Pacific cod total allowable catch for the
directed longline catcher processor subsector in the BSAI as established on an
annual basis by the Council and approved by the Secretary.
(3)BSAI pacific cod
prohibited species catch allocationThe term BSAI Pacific
cod prohibited species catch allocation means the prohibited species
catch allocation for the directed longline catcher processor subsector in the
BSAI as established on an annual basis by the Council and approved by the
Secretary.
(4)The
term Council means the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
established under section 302(a)(1)(G) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C.
1852(a)(1)(G)).
(5)The term eligible member means a holder of a
license limitation program license, or licenses, eligible to participate in the
longline catcher processor subsector.
(6)The term Gulf of Alaska means that portion of
the Exclusive Economic Zone contained in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and
630.
(7)Longline catcher
processor subsectorThe term longline catcher processor
subsector has the meaning given that term in section 219(a)(6) of the
Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public
Law 108–447; 118 Stat. 2886).
(8)The term Magnuson-Stevens Act means the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq.).
(9)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce.