Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-110

§3311 Salmon and Steelhead Advisory Commission

Title 16 › CHAPTER 52 — SALMON AND STEELHEAD CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT › SUBCHAPTER II — COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF SALMON AND STEELHEAD › § 3311

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce must set up the Salmon and Steelhead Advisory Commission within 90 days after December 22, 1980. The Commission will have six voting members: one each from Washington, Oregon, the Washington tribal coordinating body, the Columbia River tribal coordinating body, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Secretary will pick the voting members from lists given by the governors, the tribal bodies, and the Council. The NMFS spot must be the Northwest regional director or their designee. There will also be six nonvoting members: five chosen by the Secretary and the regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (or their designee). Voting members must be "qualified individuals"—people who know about managing, conserving, or harvesting salmon and steelhead. Within 15 months after the Commission starts, it must send a detailed report to the Secretary and Congress. The report must recommend a management system to coordinate research, enhancement, management, enforcement, and dispute resolution for Columbia River and Washington-area salmon and steelhead. The plan must cover things like agreed principles, preventing overfishing, using the best science, allowing for fishery variations, encouraging investment by producing areas, using enforcement resources well, honoring international commitments, avoiding extra costs and duplication, and allowing treaty tribes to harvest under their treaty rights unless those tribes agree otherwise. The report (or any revision) can only be sent if every voting member agrees. The Secretary, with the Interior Secretary, has 4 months to approve or return the report with written reasons. If returned, the Commission has 2 months to revise it; the Secretary must approve a revision if it fixes the objections. Members who are not full-time government employees may get travel pay and per diem as allowed by law. The Secretary must provide needed clerical and technical help. The Commission ends when the Secretary approves the report unless the voting members and the Secretary agree to continue.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §3311

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Establishment

Within 90 days after December 22, 1980, the Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Secretary”) shall establish the Salmon and Steelhead Advisory Commission (hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the “Commission”), which shall consist of one voting member from each of the following:

(1)The State of Washington.

(2)The State of Oregon.

(3)The Washington tribal coordinating body.

(4)The Columbia River tribal coordinating body.

(5)The Pacific Fishery Management Council.

(6)The National Marine Fisheries Service.

(b)Membership

(1)The voting representatives shall be appointed by the Secretary from a list of qualified individuals submitted by the Governor of each applicable State, by each appropriate tribal coordinating body, and by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The representative for the National Marine Fisheries Service shall be the Northwest regional director of the Service or his designee.

(2)The Commission shall have 6 nonvoting members, 5 of which shall be qualified individuals appointed by the Secretary. The sixth nonvoting member shall be the regional director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or his designee.

(3)For the purposes of this subsection, the term “qualified individual” means an individual who is knowledgeable with regard to the management, conservation, or harvesting of the salmon and steelhead resources of the conservation areas.

(c)Report by Commission

Within 15 months after the date of the establishment of the Commission, it shall prepare, and submit to the Secretary and Congress, a comprehensive report containing conclusions, comments, and recommendations for the development of a management structure (including effective procedures, mechanisms, and institutional arrangements) for the effective coordination of research, enhancement, management, and enforcement policies for the salmon and steelhead resources of the Columbia River and Washington conservation areas, and for the resolution of disputes between management entities that are concerned with stocks of common interest. The principal objectives of, and the standards for, the management structure shall include, but not be limited to—

(1)the development of common principles to govern and coordinate effectively management and enhancement activities;

(2)the prevention of overfishing;

(3)the use of the best scientific information available;

(4)the consideration of, and allowance for, variations among, and contingencies in, fisheries and catches;

(5)the promotion of harvest strategies and regulations which will encourage continued and increased investment by the salmon and steelhead producing jurisdictions;

(6)the optimization of the use of resources for enforcement;

(7)the consideration of harvest activities as they relate to existing and future international commitments;

(8)the minimization of costs and the avoidance of unnecessary duplication; and

(9)the harvest of fish by treaty tribes, in accordance with treaty rights, unless agreed otherwise by the affected treaty tribes.

(d)Unanimous vote required

No report or revision thereto may be submitted by the Commission to the Secretary for approval under this section unless the report or revision is approved by all of the voting members of the Commission.

(e)Secretarial action on report

Within 4 months after the date of the submission of the comprehensive report, or any revision thereto, under subsection (c), the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall review the report and, if he finds that the management structure recommended in the report would, if implemented, meet the objectives and standards specified in this section and be consistent with this chapter, approve the report. If the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, finds that such structure is not in conformity with the standards and objectives set forth in this section, the provisions of this chapter, or other applicable law, he shall return the report to the Commission together with a written statement of the reasons for not approving the report. If the Commission submits a revised report to the Secretary within 2 months after the date of return, the Secretary shall approve the report if he finds that the objections on which the prior disapproval was based are overcome.

(f)Per diem and travel allowances

The members of the Commission (other than those who are full-time employees of the Federal or a State government), while away from their homes or regular places of business for purposes of carrying out their duties as members, shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons intermittently employed in Government service.

(g)Administrative support

The Secretary shall provide such clerical and technical support as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its functions.

(h)Termination of Commission

Unless otherwise agreed to by the voting members of the Commission and approved by the Secretary, the Commission shall terminate upon the Secretary’s approval of the Commission’s report pursuant to subsection (e).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 3311

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110