§53735 Fisheries Financing and Capacity Reduction

Summary

The Secretary may guarantee repayment of debt for approved entities that run a fishing capacity reduction program. A "program" means a fishing capacity reduction program set up under section 312 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Guaranteed debt must follow the same rules as other federal guarantees when those rules apply. Fees from the program must go into a separate subaccount. No program can have more than $100,000,000 in unpaid principal at one time. Loans can have terms up to 20 years. The program’s fishing fees are the main source of repayment (and other program funds may also be used). The Secretary can put the debt on the public market or sell it to the Federal Financing Bank. The Treasury will hold a Fishing Capacity Reduction Fund with subaccounts for each program. Money in the Fund is available without appropriation or fiscal year limit to pay program costs and may be invested in U.S. government obligations. The Secretary must write rules to carry this out.