TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES.

SEC. 112. TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES.(a) In General.—Section 312 (16 U.S.C. 1861a) is amended—(1) by striking “measures;” in subsection (a)(1)(B) and inserting “measures, including regulatory restrictions (including those imposed as a result of judicial action) imposed to protect human health or the marine environment;”;(2) by striking “1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.” in subsection (a)(4) and inserting “2007 through 2013.”;(3) by striking “or the Governor of a State for fisheries under State authority, may conduct a fishing” in subsection (b)(1) and inserting “the Governor of a State for fisheries under State authority, or a majority of permit holders in the fishery, may conduct a voluntary fishing”;(4) by inserting “practicable” after “entrants,” in subsection (b)(1)(B)(i);(5) by striking “cost-effective and” in subsection (b)(1)(C) and inserting “cost-effective and, in the instance of a program involving an industry fee system, prospectively”;(6) by striking subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2) and inserting the following:“(A) the owner of a fishing vessel, if the permit authorizing the participation of the vessel in the fishery is surrendered for permanent revocation and the vessel owner and permit holder relinquish any claim associated with the vessel or permit that could qualify such owner or holder for any present or future limited access system permit in the fishery for which the program is established or in any other fishery and such vessel is (i) scrapped, or (ii) through the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, subjected to title restrictions (including loss of the vessel’s fisheries endorsement) that permanently prohibit and effectively prevent its 120 STAT. 3599 use in fishing in federal or state waters, or fishing on the high seas or in the waters of a foreign nation; or”;(7) by striking “The Secretary shall consult, as appropriate, with Councils,” in subsection (b)(4) and inserting “The harvester proponents of each program and the Secretary shall consult, as appropriate and practicable, with Councils,”;(8) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following:“(5) Payment condition.—The Secretary may not make a payment under paragraph (2) with respect to a vessel that will not be scrapped unless the Secretary certifies that the vessel will not be used for fishing in the waters of a foreign nation or fishing on the high seas.“(6) Report.—“(A) In general.—Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretary shall, within 12 months after the date of the enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 submit to the Congress a report—“(i) identifying and describing the 20 fisheries in United States waters with the most severe examples of excess harvesting capacity in the fisheries, based on value of each fishery and the amount of excess harvesting capacity as determined by the Secretary;“(ii) recommending measures for reducing such excess harvesting capacity, including the retirement of any latent fishing permits that could contribute to further excess harvesting capacity in those fisheries; and“(iii) potential sources of funding for such measures.“(B) Basis for recommendations.—The Secretary shall base the recommendations made with respect to a fishery on—“(i) the most cost effective means of achieving voluntary reduction in capacity for the fishery using the potential for industry financing; and“(ii) including measures to prevent the capacity that is being removed from the fishery from moving to other fisheries in the United States, in the waters of a foreign nation, or on the high seas.”;(9) by striking “Secretary, at the request of the appropriate Council,” in subsection (d)(1)(A) and inserting “Secretary”;(10) by striking “Secretary, in consultation with the Council,” in subsection (d)(1)(A) and inserting “Secretary”;(11) by striking “a two-thirds majority of the participants voting.” in subsection (d)(1)(B) and inserting “at least a majority of the permit holders in the fishery, or 50 percent of the permitted allocation of the fishery, who participated in the fishery.”;(12) by striking “establish;” in subsection (d)(2)(C) and inserting “establish, unless the Secretary determines that such fees should be collected from the seller;”; and(13) striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:“(e) Implementation Plan.—“(1) Framework regulations.—The Secretary shall propose and adopt framework regulations applicable to the implementation of all programs under this section.120 STAT. 3600“(2) Program regulations.—The Secretary shall implement each program under this section by promulgating regulations that, together with the framework regulations, establish each program and control its implementation.“(3) Harvester proponents’ implementation plan.—The Secretary may not propose implementation regulations for a program to be paid for by an industry fee system until the harvester proponents of the program provide to the Secretary a proposed implementation plan that, among other matters—“(A) proposes the types and numbers of vessels or permits that are eligible to participate in the program and the manner in which the program shall proceed, taking into account—“(i) the requirements of this section;“(ii) the requirements of the framework regulations;“(iii) the characteristics of the fishery and affected fishing communities;“(iv) the requirements of the applicable fishery management plan and any amendment that such plan may require to support the proposed program;“(v) the general needs and desires of harvesters in the fishery;“(vi) the need to minimize program costs; and“(vii) other matters, including the manner in which such proponents propose to fund the program to ensure its cost effectiveness, as well as any relevant factors demonstrating the potential for, or necessary to obtain, the support and general cooperation of a substantial number of affected harvesters in the fishery (or portion of the fishery) for which the program is intended; and“(B) proposes procedures for program participation (such as submission of owner bids under an auction system or fair market-value assessment), including any terms and conditions for participation, that the harvester proponents deem to be reasonably necessary to meet the program’s proposed objectives.“(4) Participation contracts.—The Secretary shall contract with each person participating in a program, and each such contract shall, in addition to including such other matters as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to effectively implement each program (including penalties for contract non-performance) be consistent with the framework and implementing regulations and all other applicable law.“(5) Reduction auctions.—Each program not involving fair market assessment shall involve a reduction auction that scores the reduction price of each bid offer by the data relevant to each bidder under an appropriate fisheries productivity factor. If the Secretary accepts bids, the Secretary shall accept responsive bids in the rank order of their bid scores, starting with the bid whose reduction price is the lowest percentage of the productivity factor, and successively accepting each additional responsive bid in rank order until either there are no more responsive bids or acceptance of the next bid would cause the total value of bids accepted to exceed the amount of funds available for the program.120 STAT. 3601“(6) Bid invitations.—Each program shall proceed by the Secretary issuing invitations to bid setting out the terms and conditions for participation consistent with the framework and implementing regulations. Each bid that the Secretary receives in response to the invitation to bid shall constitute an irrevocable offer from the bidder.”.(b) Technical Amendment.—Sections 116, 203, 204, 205, and 206 of the Sustainable Fisheries Act are deemed to have added sections 312, 402, 403, 404, and 405, respectively to the Act as of the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act.