Fishery-Independent surveys by independent entities

(a) In general The Administrator shall establish a program to enter into contracts with independent entities on a competitive basis under which such independent entities shall conduct fishery-independent surveys designed to estimate the absolute abundance of stocks of fish included in the Fish Stock Sustainability Index on behalf of the Administrator. (b) Applications To be eligible to enter into a contract under the program established under subsection (a), an independent entity shall submit to the Administrator an application in such form, at such time, and containing such information as the Administrator determines appropriate, including evidence of the following: (1) Use by the independent entity of modern or cutting-edge science. (2) The ability of the independent entity to handle data in a reliable manner. (c) Use of data Upon favorable peer review, the Administrator, in consultation with the relevant scientific and statistical committees and independent entity and with consideration of the report submitted under section 7, shall incorporate data collected pursuant to a fishery-independent abundance survey conducted by an independent entity under the program established under subsection (a) in management decisions. (d) Report The Administrator shall annually submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report regarding the findings of surveys conducted pursuant to this section and the incorporation of the results of such surveys in management decisions pursuant to subsection (c).