
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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''.
