Pub. L. 108-447, div. B, tit. II, sec. 218

Sec. 218. A fishing capacity reduction program for the Federal Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan principally intended for commercial long line vessels is authorized to be financed through a capacity reduction loan of $35,000,000 pursuant to sections 1111 and 1112 of title XI of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 (46 U.S.C. App. 1279f and 1279g) subject to the conditions of this section. In accordance with the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), $350,000 is hereby appropriated for the subsidy cost of the loan authorized under this section and shall remain available until expended. The Secretary of Commerce, working in close coordination with active fishery participants, is hereby authorized to design and implement a comprehensive voluntary capacity reduction program using the loan authorized under this section. The Secretary shall set the loan term at 35 years and repayment shall begin within 1 year of final implementation of the program. In addition to the authority of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Fishery Management Council to develop and recommend conservation and management measures for the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery, the Secretary of Commerce is authorized to develop and implement a limited access program pursuant to the standards set forth in section 303(b)(6) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(b)(6)).