§1881d — Title 16 Conservation | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must finish collecting data for a program that studies how shrimp trawl fishing accidentally catches other fish within the areas managed by the Gulf Council and the South Atlantic Council. This must be done within nine months after October 11, 1996. The Secretary must also make public summary reports of data gathered under the program before June 30, 1994. The program must find which fish stocks face significant accidental catch. For those stocks—giving priority to ones that best science says are overfished—the Secretary must (first) collect and analyze where, when, and how much accidental death happens because of shrimp trawling, (second) assess stock condition and gather life-history data needed for management, and (third) gather information on fishing deaths and effort from other fishing types. Within 12 months after October 11, 1996, and with affected groups, the Secretary must develop and test gear changes and fishing practices to reduce bycatch (using November 28, 1990 levels as a reference), evaluate their costs and ecological effects, and study whether unavoidable bycatch can be used. One year after finishing these programs, the Secretary must send a detailed report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Resources. Any measures to reduce shrimp-trawl bycatch must, as much as possible, match rules that apply across the species’ U.S. range and avoid serious environmental harm.

Title 16, §1881d

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Within nine months after October 11, 1996, the Secretary shall, after consultation with the Gulf Council and South Atlantic Council, conclude the collection of information in the program to assess the impact on fishery resources of incidental harvest by the shrimp trawl fishery within the authority of such Councils. Within the same time period, the Secretary shall make available to the public aggregated summaries of information collected prior to June 30, 1994 under such program.

(b)The program concluded pursuant to subsection (a) shall provide for the identification of stocks of fish which are subject to significant incidental harvest in the course of normal shrimp trawl fishing activity.

(c)For stocks of fish identified pursuant to subsection (b), with priority given to stocks which (based upon the best available scientific information) are considered to be overfished, the Secretary shall conduct—

(1)a program to collect and evaluate information on the nature and extent (including the spatial and temporal distribution) of incidental mortality of such stocks as a direct result of shrimp trawl fishing activities;

(2)an assessment of the status and condition of such stocks, including collection of information which would allow the estimation of life history parameters with sufficient accuracy and precision to support sound scientific evaluation of the effects of various management alternatives on the status of such stocks; and

(3)a program of information collection and evaluation for such stocks on the magnitude and distribution of fishing mortality and fishing effort by sources of fishing mortality other than shrimp trawl fishing activity.

(d)Not later than 12 months after October 11, 1996, the Secretary shall, in cooperation with affected interests, and based upon the best scientific information available, complete a program to—

(1)develop technological devices and other changes in fishing operations necessary and appropriate to minimize the incidental mortality of bycatch in the course of shrimp trawl activity to the extent practicable, taking into account the level of bycatch mortality in the fishery on November 28, 1990;

(2)evaluate the ecological impacts and the benefits and costs of such devices and changes in fishing operations; and

(3)assess whether it is practicable to utilize bycatch which is not avoidable.

(e)The Secretary shall, within one year of completing the programs required by this section, submit a detailed report on the results of such programs to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives.

(f)To the extent practicable, any conservation and management measure implemented under this chapter to reduce the incidental mortality of bycatch in the course of shrimp trawl fishing shall be consistent with—

(1)measures applicable to fishing throughout the range in United States waters of the bycatch species concerned; and

(2)the need to avoid any serious adverse environmental impacts on such bycatch species or the ecology of the affected area.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (f), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 94–265, Apr. 13, 1976, 90 Stat. 331, known as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1801 of this title and Tables.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 405 of Pub. L. 94–265, amended section 971 of this title and enacted provisions formerly set out as a note under section 971 of this title, prior to being amended generally by Pub. L. 104–297.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Resources of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Natural Resources of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007.

§1881d Incidental Harvest Research