§ 1862. — North Pacific fisheries conservation.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1862]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 38--FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
SUBCHAPTER IV--NATIONAL FISHERY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Sec. 1862. North Pacific fisheries conservation
(a) In general
The North Pacific Council may prepare, in consultation with the
Secretary, a fisheries research plan for all fisheries under the
Council's jurisdiction except salmon fisheries which--
(1) requires that observers be stationed on fishing vessels
engaged in the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish and on United
States fish processors fishing for or processing species under the
jurisdiction of the Council, including the Northern Pacific halibut
fishery, for the purpose of collecting data necessary for the
conservation, management, and scientific understanding of any
fisheries under the Council's jurisdiction; and
(2) establishes a system of fees to pay for the costs of
implementing the plan.
(b) Standards
(1) Any plan or plan amendment prepared under this section shall be
reasonably calculated to--
(A) gather reliable data, by stationing observers on all or a
statistically reliable sample of the fishing vessels and United
States fish processors included in the plan, necessary for the
conservation, management, and scientific understanding of the
fisheries covered by the plan;
(B) be fair and equitable to all vessels and processors;
(C) be consistent with applicable provisions of law; and
(D) take into consideration the operating requirements of the
fisheries and the safety of observers and fishermen.
(2) Any system of fees established under this section shall--
(A) provide that the total amount of fees collected under this
section not exceed the combined cost of (i) stationing observers on
board fishing vessels and United States fish processors, (ii) the
actual cost of inputting collected data, and (iii) assessments
necessary for a risk-sharing pool implemented under subsection (e)
of this section, less any amount received for such purpose from
another source or from an existing surplus in the North Pacific
Fishery Observer Fund established in subsection (d) of this section;
(B) be fair and equitable to all participants in the fisheries
under the jurisdiction of the Council, including the Northern
Pacific halibut fishery;
(C) provide that fees collected not be used to pay any costs of
administrative overhead or other costs not directly incurred in
carrying out the plan;
(D) not be used to offset amounts authorized under other
provisions of law;
(E) be expressed as a percentage, not to exceed 2 percent, of
the unprocessed ex-vessel value of fish and shellfish harvested
under the jurisdiction of the Council, including the Northern
Pacific halibut fishery;
(F) be assessed against all fishing vessels and United States
fish processors, including those not required to carry an observer
under the plan, participating in fisheries under the jurisdiction of
the Council, including the Northern Pacific halibut fishery;
(G) provide that fees collected will be deposited in the North
Pacific Fishery Observer Fund established under subsection (d) of
this section;
(H) provide that fees collected will only be used for
implementing the plan established under this section; and
(I) meet the requirements of section 9701(b) of title 31.
(c) Action by Secretary
(1) Within 60 days after receiving a plan or plan amendment from the
North Pacific Council under this section, the Secretary shall review
such plan or plan amendment and either (A) remand such plan or plan
amendment to the Council with comments if it does not meet the
requirements of this section, or (B) publish in the Federal Register
proposed regulations for implementing such plan or plan amendment.
(2) During the 60-day public comment period, the Secretary shall
conduct a public hearing in each State represented on the Council for
the purpose of receiving public comments on the proposed regulations.
(3) Within 45 days of the close of the public comment period, the
Secretary, in consultation with the Council, shall analyze the public
comment received and publish final regulations for implementing such
plan.
(4) If the Secretary remands a plan or plan amendment to the Council
for failure to meet the requirements of this section, the Council may
resubmit such plan or plan amendment at any time after taking action the
Council believes will address the defects identified by the Secretary.
Any plan or plan amendment resubmitted to the Secretary will be treated
as an original plan submitted to the Secretary under paragraph (1) of
this subsection.
(d) Fishery Observer Fund
There is established in the Treasury a North Pacific Fishery
Observer Fund. The Fund shall be available, without appropriation or
fiscal year limitation, only to the Secretary for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of this section, subject to the restrictions
in subsection (b)(2) of this section. The Fund shall consist of all
monies deposited into it in accordance with this section. Sums in the
Fund that are not currently needed for the purposes of this section
shall be kept on deposit or invested in obligations of, or guaranteed
by, the United States.
(e) Special provisions regarding observers
(1) The Secretary shall review--
(A) the feasibility of establishing a risk sharing pool through
a reasonable fee, subject to the limitations of subsection (b)(2)(E)
of this section, to provide coverage for vessels and owners against
liability from civil suits by observers, and
(B) the availability of comprehensive commercial insurance for
vessel and owner liability against civil suits by observers.
(2) If the Secretary determines that a risk sharing pool is
feasible, the Secretary shall establish such a pool, subject to the
provisions of subsection (b)(2) of this section, unless the Secretary
determines that--
(A) comprehensive commercial insurance is available for all
fishing vessels and United States fish processors required to have
observers under the provisions of this section, and
(B) such comprehensive commercial insurance will provide a
greater measure of coverage at a lower cost to each participant.
(f) Bycatch reduction
In implementing section 1853(a)(11) of this title and this section,
the North Pacific Council shall submit conservation and management
measures to lower, on an annual basis for a period of not less than four
years, the total amount of economic discards occurring in the fisheries
under its jurisdiction.
(g) Bycatch reduction incentives
(1) Notwithstanding section 1854(d) of this title, the North Pacific
Council may submit, and the Secretary may approve, consistent with the
provisions of this chapter, a system of fines in a fishery to provide
incentives to reduce bycatch and bycatch rates; except that such fines
shall not exceed $25,000 per vessel per season. Any fines collected
shall be deposited in the North Pacific Fishery Observer Fund, and may
be made available by the Secretary to offset costs related to the
reduction of bycatch in the fishery from which such fines were derived,
including conservation and management measures and research, and to the
State of Alaska to offset costs incurred by the State in the fishery
from which such penalties were derived or in fisheries in which the
State is directly involved in management or enforcement and which are
directly affected by the fishery from which such penalties were derived.
(2)(A) Notwithstanding section 1853(d) of this title, and in
addition to the authority provided in section 1853(b)(10) of this title,
the North Pacific Council may submit, and the Secretary may approve,
conservation and management measures which provide allocations of
regulatory discards to individual fishing vessels as an incentive to
reduce per vessel bycatch and bycatch rates in a fishery, Provided,
That--
(i) such allocations may not be transferred for monetary
consideration and are made only on an annual basis; and
(ii) any such conservation and management measures will meet the
requirements of subsection (h) of this section and will result in an
actual reduction in regulatory discards in the fishery.
(B) The North Pacific Council may submit restrictions in addition to
the restriction imposed by clause (i) of subparagraph (A) on the
transferability of any such allocations, and the Secretary may approve
such recommendation.
(h) Catch measurement
(1) By June 1, 1997 the North Pacific Council shall submit, and the
Secretary may approve, consistent with the other provisions of this
chapter, conservation and management measures to ensure total catch
measurement in each fishery under the jurisdiction of such Council. Such
measures shall ensure the accurate enumeration, at a minimum, of target
species, economic discards, and regulatory discards.
(2) To the extent the measures submitted under paragraph (1) do not
require United States fish processors and fish processing vessels (as
defined in chapter 21 of title 46) to weigh fish, the North Pacific
Council and the Secretary shall submit a plan to the Congress by January
1, 1998, to allow for weighing, including recommendations to assist such
processors and processing vessels in acquiring necessary equipment,
unless the Council determines that such weighing is not necessary to
meet the requirements of this subsection.
(i) Full retention and utilization
(1) The North Pacific Council shall submit to the Secretary by
October 1, 1998 a report on the advisability of requiring the full
retention by fishing vessels and full utilization by United States fish
processors of economic discards in fisheries under its jurisdiction if
such economic discards, or the mortality of such economic discards,
cannot be avoided. The report shall address the projected impacts of
such requirements on participants in the fishery and describe any full
retention and full utilization requirements that have been implemented.
(2) The report shall address the advisability of measures to
minimize processing waste, including standards setting minimum
percentages which must be processed for human consumption. For the
purpose of the report, ``processing waste'' means that portion of any
fish which is processed and which could be used for human consumption or
other commercial use, but which is not so used.
(Pub. L. 94-265, title III, Sec. 313, as added Pub. L. 101-627, title I,
Sec. 118(a), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4457; amended Pub. L. 102-582,
title IV, Sec. 404, Nov. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 4909; Pub. L. 104-297, title
I, Sec. 117(a), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3603.)
Amendments
1996--Pub. L. 104-297, Sec. 117(a)(1), substituted ``conservation''
for ``research plan'' in section catchline.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-297, Sec. 117(a)(2), substituted ``North
Pacific Council'' for ``North Pacific Fishery Management Council'' in
introductory provisions.
Subsecs. (f) to (i). Pub. L. 104-297, Sec. 117(a)(3), added subsecs.
(f) to (i).
1992--Subsec. (b)(2)(E). Pub. L. 102-582 substituted ``2 percent, of
the unprocessed ex-vessel'' for ``one percentum, of the''.
