Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization.

Sec. 801. Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization. Section 313 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), as amended, is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following:“(j) Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization.—“(1) By not later than January 1, 2005, the Secretary shall approve and hereafter implement by regulation the Voluntary Three-Pie Cooperative Program for crab fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council between June 2002 and April 2003, and all trailing amendments including those reported to Congress on May 6, 2003. This section shall not preclude the Secretary from approving by January 1, 2005, and implementing any subsequent program amendments approved by the Council.“(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, in carrying out paragraph (1) the Secretary shall approve all parts of the Program referred to in such paragraph. Further, no part of such Program may be implemented if, as approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, individual fishing quotas, processing quotas, community development 118 STAT. 109 quota allocation, voluntary cooperatives, binding arbitration, regional landing and processing requirements, community protections, economic data collection, or the loan program for crab fishing vessel captains and crew members, is invalidated subject to a judicial determination not subject to judicial appeal. If the Secretary determines that a processor has leveraged its Individual Processor Quota shares to acquire a harvesters open-delivery “B shares”, the processor’s Individual Processor Quota shares shall be forfeited.“(3) Subsequent to implementation pursuant to paragraph (1), the Council may submit and the Secretary may implement changes to or repeal of conservation and management measures, including measures authorized in this section, for crab fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands in accordance with applicable law, including this Act as amended by this subsection, to achieve on a continuing basis the purposes identified by the Council.“(4) The loan program referred to in paragraph (2) shall be carried out pursuant to the authority of sections 1111 and 1112 of title XI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1279f, 1279g).“(5) For purposes of implementing this section $1,000,000 shall be made available each year until fully implemented from funds otherwise made available to the National Marine Fisheries Service for Alaska fisheries activities.“(6) Nothing in this Act shall constitute a waiver, either express or implied, of the antitrust laws of the United States. The Secretary, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, shall develop and implement a mandatory information collection and review process to provide any and all information necessary for the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether any illegal acts of anti-competition, anti-trust, or price collusion have occurred among persons receiving individual processing quotas under the Program. The Secretary may revoke any individual processing quota held by any person found to have violated a provision of the antitrust laws of the United States.“(7) An individual processing quota issued under the Program shall be considered a permit for the purposes of sections 307, 308, and 309, and may be revoked or limited at any time in accordance with this Act. Issuance of an individual processing quota under the program shall not confer any right of compensation to the holder of such individual processing quota if it is revoked or limited and shall not create, or be construed to create, any right, title, or interest in or to any fish before the fish is purchased from an individual fishing quota holder.“(8) The restriction on the collection of economic data in section 303 shall not apply with respect to any fish processor who is eligible for, or who has received, individual processing quota under the Program. The restriction on the disclosure of information in section 402(b)(1) shall not apply when the information is used to determine eligibility for or compliance with an individual processing quota program.“(9) The provisions of sections 308, 310, and 311 shall apply to the processing facilities and fish products of any person118 STAT. 110 holding individual processing quota, and the provisions of subparagraphs (D), (E), and (L) of section 307(l) shall apply to any facility owned or controlled by a person holding individual processing quota.”.