Ensuring mid-water nets do not operate like bottom trawl gear

(a) In general The North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall— (1) establish a pelagic trawl gear performance standard for vessels using pelagic trawl gear in fisheries managed under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (referred to in this section as applicable vessels); and (2) implement enforceable regulations to manage gear impacts from such applicable vessels on benthic habitat and reduce unobserved mortality on important subsistence, commercial, or recreational species during fishing operations. (b) Establish a pelagic trawl gear baseline (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall use methods, such as gear design standards, model and field testing verification, sensors, or technology, to identify the current baseline of the effects of pelagic trawl gear on marine benthic habitat in areas managed under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. (2) Independent review The North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the methodology, data, and findings used to identify the baseline under paragraph (1). The results of the review shall be made publicly available. (c) Regulations Following the identification of the pelagic trawl gear baseline under subsection (b), the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (referred to in this Act as the Administrator), in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, shall promulgate regulations to reduce impacts relative to such baseline from pelagic trawl gear, including through— (1) requiring gear modifications to pelagic trawl gear, including requiring applicable vessels to be equipped with a commercially available seafloor contact detection system capable of monitoring and verifying the net position and clearance of pelagic trawl gear in relation to the seafloor; (2) reductions in the amount of fishing effort that results in pelagic trawl gear making contact with the marine benthic habitat in areas that are closed to nonpelagic trawl gear; (3) prohibitions on fishing by pelagic trawl gear in areas closed to nonpelagic trawl gear; or (4) prohibitions in fishing by pelagic trawl gear if there are any areas identified in section 6(c)(4) that support juvenile recruitment of important subsistence, commercial, or recreational species. (d) Monitoring; data retention and access In providing consultation to the Administrator for the promulgation of regulations under subsection (c)(1), the North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall consider— (1) establishing protocols for the collection, storage, and submission of data related to the use of pelagic trawl gear; (2) requiring real-time or near-real-time monitoring of such data, with transmission of such data each week to support compliance monitoring and enforcement; (3) ensuring seafloor contact detection systems are compatible with existing electronic monitoring or observer programs implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service; and (4) establishing requirements for the retention, submission, and confidentiality of data collected under this section consistent with section 402 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881a). (e) Enforcement An applicable vessel that fails to comply with the regulations promulgated under this section shall be deemed to have violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and shall be subject to the penalties and sanctions, including civil penalties, permit sanctions, or other enforcement actions, provided under such Act. (f) Consultation In implementing this section, the Administrator and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council shall consult with affected subsistence, commercial, and recreational participants, including harvesters, processors, communities, and community development quota groups.