BYCATCH REDUCTION ENGINEERING PROGRAM.

SEC. 116. BYCATCH REDUCTION ENGINEERING PROGRAM.(a) In General.—Title III (16 U.S.C. 1851 et seq.), as amended by section 113 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:“SEC. 316. BYCATCH REDUCTION ENGINEERING PROGRAM.“(a) Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, the Secretary, in cooperation with the Councils and other affected interests, and based upon the best scientific information available, shall establish a bycatch reduction program, including grants, to develop technological devices and other conservation engineering changes designed to minimize bycatch, seabird interactions, bycatch mortality, and post-release mortality in Federally managed fisheries. The program shall—“(1) be regionally based;“(2) be coordinated with projects conducted under the cooperative research and management program established under this Act;“(3) provide information and outreach to fishery participants that will encourage adoption and use of technologies developed under the program; and“(4) provide for routine consultation with the Councils in order to maximize opportunities to incorporate results of the program in Council actions and provide incentives for adoption of methods developed under the program in fishery management plans developed by the Councils.“(b) Incentives.—Any fishery management plan prepared by a Council or by the Secretary may establish a system of incentives to reduce total bycatch and seabird interactions, amounts, bycatch rates, and post-release mortality in fisheries under the Council’s or Secretary’s jurisdiction, including—“(1) measures to incorporate bycatch into quotas, including the establishment of collective or individual bycatch quotas;“(2) measures to promote the use of gear with verifiable and monitored low bycatch and seabird interactions, rates; and“(3) measures that, based on the best scientific information available, will reduce bycatch and seabird interactions, bycatch mortality, post-release mortality, or regulatory discards in the fishery.“(c) Coordination on Seabird Interactions.—The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Interior, is authorized to undertake projects in cooperation with industry to improve information and technology to reduce seabird bycatch, including—“(1) outreach to industry on new technologies and methods; “(2) projects to mitigate for seabird mortality; and“(3) actions at appropriate international fishery organizations to reduce seabird interactions in fisheries.“(d) Report.—The Secretary shall transmit an annual report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Resources that—“(1) describes funding provided to implement this section;“(2) describes developments in gear technology achieved under this section; and120 STAT. 3606“(3) describes improvements and reduction in bycatch and seabird interactions associated with implementing this section, as well as proposals to address remaining bycatch or seabird interaction problems.” .(b) CDQ Bycatch Limitations.—(1) In general.—Section 305(i) (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)) is amended—(A) by striking “directed fishing allocation” and all that follows in paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(I), and inserting “total allocation (directed and nontarget combined) of 10.7 percent effective January 1, 2008; and”;(B) by striking “directed fishing allocation of 10 percent.” in paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(II) and inserting “total allocation (directed and nontarget combined) of 10.7 percent.”;(C) by inserting after paragraph (1)(B)(ii) the following:“The total allocation (directed and nontarget combined) for a fishery to which subclause (I) or (II) applies may not be exceeded.”; and(D) by inserting “Voluntary transfers by and among eligible entities shall be allowed, whether before or after harvesting. Notwithstanding the first sentence of this subparagraph, seven-tenths of one percent of the total allowable catch, guideline harvest level, or other annual catch limit, within the amount allocated to the program by subclause (I) or subclause (II) of subparagraph (B)(ii), shall be allocated among the eligible entities by the panel established in subparagraph (G), or allocated by the Secretary based on the nontarget needs of eligible entities in the absence of a panel decision.” after “2006.” in paragraph (1)(C). (2) Effective date.—The allocation percentage in subclause (I) of section 305(i)(1)(B)(ii) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(B)(ii)), as amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall be in effect in 2007 with respect to any sector of a fishery to which such subclause applies and in which a fishing cooperative is established in 2007, and such sector’s 2007 allocation shall be reduced by a pro rata amount to accomplish such increased allocation to the program. For purposes of section 305(i)(1) of that Act and of this subsection, the term “fishing cooperative” means a fishing cooperative whether or not authorized by a fishery management council or Federal agency, if a majority of the participants in the sector are participants in the fishing cooperative.