Sec. 4. Observer coverage
477 words·~2 min read·
/bill/119/s/3579/is/section-4A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Administrator shall— create a timeline and process for reviewing and approving exempted fishing permits to support innovating fishing gear types and technology for reducing bycatch and reducing marine habitat disturbances, including streamlining exempted fishing permits for fishermen and owners and operators of commercial fishing vessels who purchase or modify fishing gear, equipment, or technology with financial assistance provided under the Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund, established under section 322 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, if approving such permits does not interfere with fishery conservation objectives; streamline the approval process for experimental or exempted fishing permits for electronic monitoring pilot projects, if approving such permits does not interfere with fishery conservation objectives; facilitate cooperative research programs and regional pilot frameworks; conduct a public stakeholder consultation process not less often than once every 3 years, which shall include public notice, listening sessions, and a written comment period of not less than 60 days, and solicit input from stakeholders, including service providers, regional management council technical teams, fishery industry participants, and data scientists, on— revisions to electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technical standards or operational guidance; improvements to cost-effectiveness or usability; and barriers to electronic monitoring adoption, particularly among small-scale fleets; and provide a data integration strategy that— incorporates electronic monitoring data directly into regional science center workflows and stock assessment models; aligns electronic monitoring data review and retention timelines and quality control protocols with those used in traditional observer data streams; reduces latency between data collection and management application; and supports the development of interoperable databases that facilitate real-time or near-real-time analysis and decision making.
The Administrator shall require the regional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service to publish, online and in layman’s terms, up-to-date observer coverage category requirements for high-volume Federal fisheries specifying the Federal fishery under their jurisdiction, including prohibited species catch (bycatch) for each observer program category. Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish a report on how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Regional Fishery Management Councils can improve and integrate the use of observer and electronic monitoring data to better inform spatio-temporal fishing activity and impacts to harvested and incidentally harvested populations, while ensuring the protection of proprietary information.
The Administrator shall submit a report to Congress and publish the report on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website that includes the data integration strategy for increasing data review efficiency and uniformity described in subsection (a)(5). The reports required under paragraphs
(1)and
(2)shall include recommendations— for the use of any technologies identified as effective for sharing real-time, or near-real-time, catch information to identify bycatch hotspots and bycatch avoidance areas; and to minimize commercially or culturally important wild marine and anadromous species in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska origin salmon bycatch.