EXHIBIT "A"
EXCERPTS: "SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES ACT"
`(l)(A) A Council may not submit and the Secretary may not
approve or implement before October l, 2000, any fishery
management plan, plan amendment, or regulation under this
Act which creates a new individual fishing quota program.
`(B) Any fishery management plan, plan amendment, or
regulation approved by the Secretary on or after January 4,
1995, which creates any new individual fishing quota program
shall be repealed and immediately returned by the Secretary to
the appropriate Council and shall not be resubmitted,
re-approved, or implemented during the moratorium set forth
in subparagraph (A).
`(2)(A) No provision of law shall be construed to limit the
authority of a Council to submit and the Secretary to approve
the termination or limitation, without compensation to holders
of any limited access system permits, of a fishery management
plan, plan amendment, or regulation that provides for a limited
access system, including an individual fishing quota program.
`(B) This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit a
Council from submitting, or the Secretary from approving and
implementing, amendments to the North Pacific halibut and
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procedures as may be necessary to preserve the confidentiality
of information submitted in compliance with any requirement
or regulation under this Act, except that the Secretary may
release or make public any such information in any aggregate
or summary form which does not directly or indirectly disclose
the identity or business of any person who submits such
information. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted or
construed to prevent the use for conservation and
management purposes by the Secretary, or with the approval
of the Secretary, the Council, of any information submitted in
compliance with any requirement or regulation under this Act
or the use, release, or publication of bycatch information
pursuant to paragraph(1)(E).
`( C) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION - (l) The
Secretary shall promulgate regulations to restrict the use, in civil
enforcement or criminal proceedings under this Act, the Marine
Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), of information
collected by voluntary fishery data collectors, including sea samplers,
while aboard any vessel for conservation and management purposes if
the presence of such a fishery data collector aboard is not required by
any of such Acts or regulations thereunder.
`(2) The Secretary may not require the submission of a Federal or State
income tax return or statement as a prerequisite for issuance
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of a permit until such time as the Secretary has promulgated regulations
to ensure the confidentiality of information contained in such return or
statement,to limit the information submitted to that necessary to achieve
a demonstrated conservation and management purpose, and to provide
appropriate penalties for violation of such regulations.
`(d) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY - Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Secretary may provide a grant, contract, or other financial
assistance on a sole-source basis to a State, Council, or Marine Fisheries
Commission for the purpose of carrying out information or other
programs if –
`(1) the recipient of such a grant, contract, or other financial assistance
is specified by statute to be, or has customarily been, such State,
Council, or Marine Fisheries Commission; or
`(2) the Secretary has entered into a cooperative agreement with such
State, Council, or Marine Fisheries Commission.
`(e) RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS - (1) The Secretary may use the private
sector to provide vessels, equipment, and services necessary to survey
the fishery resources of the United States when the arrangement will
yield statistically reliable results.
`(2) The Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate Council and the
fishing industry—
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that should be undertaken to expand the application of ecosystem
principles in fishery conservation and management; and
`(3) such other information as may be appropriate.
`(e) PROCEDURAL MATTER - The advisory Panel established under this
section shall be deemed an advisory panel under Section 302(g).
(16 U.S.C. 1882) is amended by adding the following new section:
``SEC. 407, GULF OF MEXICO RED SNAPPER RESEARCH.
`(a) INDEPENDENT PEER REVIEW - (1) Within 30 days of the date of
enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, the Secretary shall initiate
an independent peer review to evaluate –
`(A) the accuracy and adequacy of fishery statistics used by the Secretary
for the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico to account for all
commercial, recreational, and charter fishing harvests and fishing effort
on the stock;
`(B) the appropriateness of the scientific methods, information and
models used by the Secretary to assess the status and trends of the Gulf
of Mexico red snapper stock and as the basis for the fishery management
plan for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery;
`( C) the appropriateness and adequacy of the management measures in
the fishery management plan for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico for
conserving and managing the red snapper fishery under this Act; and
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`(D) the costs and benefits of all reasonable alternatives to an individual
fishing quota program for the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico.
`(2) The Secretary shall ensure that commercial, recreational, and charter
fishermen in the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico are provided
an opportunity to –
`(A) participate in the peer review under this subsection; and
`(B) provide information to the Secretary concerning the review of fishery
statistics under this subsection without being subject to penalty under
this Act or other applicable law for any past violation of a requirement to
report such information to the Secretary.
`(3) The Secretary shall submit a detailed written report on the findings of
the peer review conducted under this subsection to the Gulf Council no
later than one year after the date of enactment of the Sustainable
Fisheries Act.
`(b) PROHIBITION - In addition to the restrictions under section
303(d)(1)(A), the Gulf Council may not, prior to October 1, 2000,
undertake or continue the preparation of any fishery management plan,
plan amendment or regulation under this Act for the Gulf of Mexico
commercial red snapper fishery that creates an individual fishing quota
program or that authorizes the consolidation of licenses, permits, or
endorsements that result in different trip limits for vessels in the same
class.
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`(c ) REFERENDUM -
`(1) On or after October 1, 2000, the Gulf Council may prepare and
submit a fishery management plan, plan amendment, or regulation for
the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery that creates an
individual fishing quota program or that authorizes the consolidation of
licenses, permits, or endorsements that result in different trip limits for
vessels in the same class, only if the preparation of such plan,
amendment, or regulation is approved in a referendum conducted under
paragraph (2) and only if the submission to the Secretary of such plan,
amendment, or regulation is approved in a subsequent referendum
conducted under paragraph (2).
`(2) The Secretary, at the request of the Gulf Council, shall conduct
referendums under this subsection. Only a person who held an annual
vessel permit with a red snapper endorsement for such permit on
September 1,1996 (or any person to whom such permit with such
endorsement was transferred after such date) and vessel captains who
harvested red snapper in a commercial fishery using such endorsement
in each red snapper fishing season occurring between January 1, 1993,
and such date may vote in a referendum under this subsection. The
referendum shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast. The
Secretary shall develop a formula to weigh votes based on the
proportional harvest under each such permit and endorsement and by
each such captain in the fishery between January1, 1993, and
September 1, 1996. Prior to each referendum, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Council, shall –
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`(A) identify and notify all such persons holding permits with red
snapper endorsements and all such vessel captains; and
`(B) make available to all such persons and vessel captains information
about the schedule, procedures, and eligibility requirements for the
referendum and the proposed individual fishing quota program.
`(d) CATCH LIMITS - Any fishery management plan, plan amendment, or
regulation submitted by the Gulf Council for the red snapper fishery after
the date of enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act shall contain
conservation and management measures that—
`(1) establish separate quotas for recreational fishing (which, for the
purposes of this subsection shall include charter fishing) and commercial
fishing that, when reached, result in a prohibition on the retention of
fish caught during recreational fishing and commercial fishing,
respectively, for the remainder of the fishing year, and
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