Modernizing fisheries monitoring and improving observer program transparency

(a) Electronic monitoring and reporting The Administrator shall— (1) create a timeline and process for reviewing and approving exempted fishing permits in Federally managed North Pacific fisheries to support innovative fishing gear types and technology for reducing bycatch, unobserved fishing mortality, 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; (2) streamline the approval process for experimental or exempted fishing permits used in Federally managed North Pacific fisheries for electronic monitoring pilot projects, including owners and operators of commercial fishing vessels who purchase or utilize low-cost commercially available electronic monitoring solutions, if approving such permits does not interfere with fishery conservation objectives; (3) facilitate cooperative research programs and regional pilot frameworks; (4) conduct a public stakeholder consultation process not less often than once every 3 years, which shall include public notice, listening sessions, a written comment period of not less than 60 days, and solicit input from stakeholders, including service providers, regional fishery management councils, fishery industry participants, and data scientists, on— (A) revisions to electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technical standards or operational guidance; (B) improvements to cost-effectiveness or usability; and (C) barriers to electronic monitoring adoption, particularly among small-scale fleets; and (5) provide a data integration strategy that— (A) incorporates electronic monitoring data directly into regional science center workflows and stock assessment models; (B) reduces latency between data collection and management application; and (C) supports the development of interoperable databases that facilitate real-time or near-real-time analysis and decision-making. (b) Transparency The Administrator shall— (1) 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 Federal trawl fisheries specifying the Federal fishery under their jurisdiction, including prohibited species catch (bycatch) for each observer program category; and (2) ensure that the National Marine Fisheries Service develops and disseminates, in print and for online distribution, public communications materials that clearly explain bycatch in Federal fisheries under its jurisdiction, using accessible, layman’s terminology and graphics. (c) Reporting (1) In general 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 confidential information. (2) Report to congress 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 report shall include a summary of the feedback received during public stakeholder consultation described in subsection (a)(4). (3) Recommendations The reports required under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall include recommendations— (A) 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 (B) to minimize bycatch and unobserved fishing mortality of commercially or culturally important wild marine and anadromous species in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska, such as Pacific halibut, Alaska crab species, and Alaska-origin salmon.