H.R. 3718 — Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act of 2025

This section revises the findings, purposes, and policy provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by incorporating climate change considerations, including as a factor in fish stock declines alongside fishing pressure, inadequate management, and habitat losses (in findings para. (2)); requiring fishery conservation programs to account for environmental changes on fish stocks (in findings para. (6)); emphasizing habitat degradation due to climate change (in findings para. (9)); and adding new findings (paras. (14)-(16)) recognizing climate-driven alterations to fish abundance, productivity, and distribution; management challenges for ecosystems, resources, and communities; and the need to rebuild overfished stocks regardless of depletion cause (e.g., climate change, pollution, habitat degradation). The section further amends the purposes (subsection (b), para. (5)) to direct Regional Fishery Management Councils to address climate impacts on fish stocks, ecosystems, management, and coastal communities; and expands the national policy (subsection (c)) to promote climate-aware management and equitable inclusion of indigenous, insular, and coastal populations in related research, management, and expenditures.

This section amends required provisions for fishery management plans (FMPs) under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to incorporate climate change considerations, including (1) requiring conservation measures necessary to promote fish stock resilience to cumulative stressors associated with climate change; (2) requiring assessments of fishery conditions to consider climate change impacts; (3) updating data specifications to 2025 (from 1991) and requiring data needed for plan implementation under anticipated climate conditions; (4) requiring examination of fishery and participant vulnerability to climate change; (5) adding requirements to assess anticipated climate impacts on the fishery and whether plan measures account for them; and (6) requiring description of current fish stock range, distribution, fishing patterns (including outside council jurisdiction), and coordination measures for transboundary stocks. (FMPs, prepared by regional fishery management councils or the Secretary of Commerce, establish conservation measures for U.S. fisheries to prevent overfishing and achieve optimum yield.) The section further adds new MSA section 322, directing the Secretary, beginning 3 years after enactment and every 5 years thereafter, to (1) assess vulnerability of council-area fish stocks to climate change, notify councils, and recommend resilience measures; (2) require councils to publish and implement prioritization plans for vulnerable stocks within 1 year of notification (with the Secretary handling highly migratory species); (3) require council progress reports to the Secretary 3 years after plan publication; and (4) submit reports to Congress summarizing vulnerabilities, risks, and mitigation steps. The section also directs the Secretary to issue guidelines to councils for incorporating climate change into FMPs within 2 years of enactment. Amendments to FMP requirements take effect 4 years after enactment.

This section expands the mandatory training program for Regional Fishery Management Council members—regional bodies that develop fishery management plans for U.S. federal waters—to include two new topics: (1) climate change and relevant impacts of climate change on fisheries health, range, and other factors affecting conservation and management of fish stocks; and (2) ecosystem-based fishery management. It further directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct research on changes in geographic range, spatial distribution, and productivity of a fishery or interrelated fisheries under the cooperative fisheries research program and adds those topics to the program's research priorities.

This section directs the NOAA Administrator to establish, not later than one year after enactment, a climate-ready fisheries innovation program to develop science and management tools and approaches that increase the adaptive capacity of fishery management to climate change impacts. The program requires (1) input from fishery managers and scientists for incorporation into management actions and fishery management plans developed by the regional fishery management councils; (2) outreach to private, academic, and fishery sectors to promote tool development and adoption; and (3) coordination with National Marine Fisheries Service regional offices and science centers, the councils and their scientific and statistical committees, and other entities—including the cooperative research program (i.e., partnerships among federal, state, tribal, industry, and academic entities to address fishery data and management needs), the Integrated Ocean Observing System, and NOAA ocean acidification programs—to identify multiyear research priorities reviewed at least every five years. The section authorizes appropriations of $5 million annually for FY2026 through FY2030.

This section revises the procedures under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for managing federally managed fisheries spanning the geographical areas of authority of multiple regional fishery management councils (i.e., panels that develop fishery management plans for U.S. fisheries in federal waters) due to shifting stocks, as follows: (1) requires the Secretary of Commerce to review each council's area of authority every five years or upon council request to determine if a substantial portion of any such fishery is in another council's area; (2) if so, requires the Secretary to designate, within six months, one council or joint preparation of the applicable fishery management plan or amendment; (3) sets a two-year deadline for the designated council or councils to submit the plan or amendment; (4) authorizes termination of cross-jurisdictional management upon request or review if no longer applicable, with transition to single-council management (including plan adoption and amendments within two years) and repeal of any prior plan; (5) directs the Secretary to establish by regulation criteria for "substantial portion" determinations and boundaries between adjacent councils' areas; and (6) requires majority approval by voting members of each involved council for jointly prepared plans or amendments (with an exception for highly migratory species fisheries). This section further directs the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State as needed, to develop a strategy for coordinated research and management of shifting fish stocks spanning international boundaries. Not later than two years after enactment, the Secretary must submit to Congress a report listing affected fisheries and countries or organizations, analyzing priority coordinated research needs, and outlining a five-year research strategy with proposed budget and timeline.

This section revises the process for gear evaluation and development of new fisheries to require the Secretary of Commerce to publish, after notice and comment, a list of all managed fisheries organized by federal region (or Secretarial authority), including for each fishery the authorized gear types, managing jurisdiction, existence of a fishery management plan (FMP) or equivalent, and authorized species (replacing the prior list of all Council and certain Secretarial fisheries and their gear). It establishes guidelines for determining new fisheries and managed fishery criteria (requiring an FMP and regulations for federal fisheries); directs regional fishery management councils (or the Secretary) to review and propose specific, geographically narrow changes to the list within two years of enactment and every five years thereafter, with the Secretary to review and publish revisions; and authorizes limited experimental fishing permits for unlisted activities to gather data for FMP development, requiring public data release, council determinations on continuation, and data inclusion in any FMP (replacing the prior 90-day advance notice requirement). It prohibits unlisted gear or fisheries except under such permits and allows councils to request emergency regulations for prohibitions (previously available if unlisted activities compromised conservation).

This section directs the Secretary to conduct a study on the effects of inshore and shallow water mobile gear fishing on habitat and nontarget species—including effects across interstate boundaries and between Federal and State waters—and to submit a report to Congress, the Councils, State fisheries managers, and regional Marine Fisheries Commissions not later than one year after enactment.

This section amends the purposes of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to include subsistence fishing (by inserting “, subsistence,” after “commercial” in 16 U.S.C. 1801(b)(3)) and adds a definition of subsistence fishing to the Act’s definitions section (16 U.S.C. 1802). Subsistence fishing means fishing in which the fish harvested are intended for customary and traditional uses, including (i) direct or shared personal, family, or community consumption (e.g., as food, shelter, clothing, or tools); (ii) making or selling handicraft articles from nonedible byproducts; (iii) barter; or (iv) customary trade, with family defined to include blood/marriage/adoption relations or permanent household members and barter limited to non-monetary exchanges of a noncommercial nature.

This section establishes a Working Waterfronts program in the Coastal Zone Management Act by inserting new section 306B (16 U.S.C. 1455a note), which (1) requires the Secretary of Commerce to create a task force—including experts on working waterfronts (i.e., coastal areas supporting commercial fishing, aquaculture, and related water-dependent uses), representatives from specified federal agencies (e.g., NOAA, USFWS, EPA), Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations—to identify critical needs of such waterfronts in states with approved coastal management programs (e.g., economic importance, threats from sea level rise and extreme weather), outline response options, assign responsible agencies, and report to Congress within 18 months of enactment; and (2) directs federal agencies identified as responsible to implement those options, to the extent practicable and subject to appropriations, within 30 months of enactment. The section further authorizes covered entities (e.g., coastal states or localities) to submit working waterfronts plans for Secretary approval, which must assess economic, social, cultural, and historical values; identify threatened or historically connected areas and public access opportunities; outline prioritized preservation, expansion, and improvement strategies; ensure stakeholder involvement and consistency with existing plans; and, if designating qualified holders (i.e., entities enforcing covenants on waterfront properties), certify ongoing management responsibilities.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in conjunction with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to develop an outreach plan to increase fishing industry stakeholders' awareness of and assistance in using Agricultural Marketing Service programs. The section further directs the NOAA Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary and seafood industry members, to study the possibility of establishing education and marketing programs within NOAA. Both must submit reports to Congress on these activities not later than two years after enactment.

This section revises requirements for limited access privilege programs (LAPPs) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act—i.e., council-submitted programs that allocate harvest privileges such as quotas in limited access fisheries to promote safety, conservation, capacity reduction, and rebuilding of overfished stocks—as follows: (1) requires such programs to promote social and economic benefits, including participation of fishing communities in the fishery; (2) requires consideration of fishing community needs and establishment of a participation process for such communities; and (3) establishes eligibility for fishing communities—those located in the council's management area with residents engaged in commercial or recreational fishing, processing, or support businesses—to receive allocations upon submission and approval of a community sustainability plan detailing governance, quota allocation and appeals, monitoring, goals, new entry provisions, economic and social impact mitigation (including for remote or under-resourced communities), and measures to prevent inequitable privilege concentration while ensuring benefits accrue locally. (Previously adopted plans remain valid unless amended after enactment.) This section further directs the Department of Commerce Inspector General to audit LAPPs, determining (A) actively harvested and leased privileges from 2020 through 2025, (B) holders of privileges, (C) proportions of active quota holders, (D) average share and leasing costs, (E) Secretary oversight performance, and (F) transparency policies; requires a congressional briefing within one year of enactment and a final report to Congress 30 days thereafter.

This section revises paragraph (3) of the findings in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by adding charter fishing (to commercial and recreational fishing) as a major source of employment and economic contribution and by emphasizing that ensuring sustainable use of fishery resources is essential to the economic well-being of coastal areas dependent on fishing, while striking prior references to overfishing at an ever-increasing rate over the past decade and to damage from massive foreign fishing fleets.

This section modifies tribal representation on the Pacific Fishery Management Council—one of eight regional councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to develop fishery management plans for fisheries in federal waters seaward of Washington, Oregon, California, and certain other areas—by (1) eliminating the requirement for the Secretary of Commerce to appoint not less than 3 voting members nominated by Pacific Coast treaty Indian tribes, (2) requiring such an appointee to serve until a successor tribal appointment is made, and (3) making a conforming amendment to remove a cross-reference to the tribal appointment provision in the specification of the council's voting members.

This section increases the number of voting members on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to 13 (from 11) by requiring the Secretary of Commerce to appoint 2 representatives of covered Alaska Indian tribes (i.e., federally recognized tribes in Alaska), selected from lists submitted by tribal governments, in accordance with new qualification criteria (e.g., knowledge of anadromous fish, marine resources, subsistence uses, and tribal leadership), rotation among tribal regions, and provisions for alternates and indefinite terms until reappointment. (As background, the council—covering fisheries seaward of Alaska, including salmon vital to tribal subsistence—develops fishery management plans under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; thus, the seats ensure direct tribal representation in decisions affecting tribal resources and rights.) This section also directs the National Marine Fisheries Service Administrator to conduct a study on the feasibility and implications of adding indigenous seats to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council.

This section modifies the composition of the New England Fishery Management Council and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council as follows: (1) increases voting members on the New England Council to 19 (from 18) and adds one non-voting liaison appointed by the Secretary of Commerce who is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Council to represent interests of fisheries under that council's jurisdiction; and (2) increases voting members on the Mid-Atlantic Council to 22 (from 21) and adds one non-voting liaison appointed by the Secretary who is a member of the New England Council to represent interests of fisheries under that council's jurisdiction. It further directs the Secretary to appoint such liaisons based on expertise in fisheries spanning the geographical areas of both councils. (As background, these councils—established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act—develop fishery management plans for federal waters seaward of their states.)

This section revises voting procedures and meeting requirements for the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (which develop fishery management plans for fisheries in federal waters). Specifically, it (1) requires each council to hold a roll call vote on all nonprocedural matters (previously, only upon request of a voting member for any matter) and, upon request of a voting member, on any procedural matter; (2) directs each council, to the extent possible, to seek in-person meetings while ensuring remote participation and voting; and (3) requires councils to provide, for open meetings, live webcasts, audio, or video (for council and Council Coordination Committee meetings) or post audio/video recordings or transcripts within 30 days (for council and scientific and statistical committee meetings), with the Secretary maintaining a public archive of such materials for at least five years.

This section revises appointment requirements for voting members of the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils (which develop fishery management plans for U.S. fisheries in federal waters) by (1) expanding required expertise to include ecosystem-based fishery management or climate science (in addition to conservation, management, or commercial, recreational, or subsistence harvest); (2) directing a fair and balanced apportionment, to the extent practicable, among commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries participants; conservation, scientific, nonconsumptive, and indigenous/tribal community members; with annual reports to Congress assessing compliance and plans for improvement; (3) requiring governors to submit lists of at least three qualified nominees per vacancy (with biographical data and qualification statements), subject to Secretary review and notification of disqualifications (allowing revisions); (4) mandating at least one appointee without financial interest in council matters and financial disclosure prior to eligibility; and (5) requiring geographical representation across states for at-large members of the Western Pacific Council. The section also revises financial interest disclosure and recusal procedures by designating a NOAA General Counsel attorney (with conflict-of-interest expertise) as the council's official for determinations; adding contractors to disclosure requirements; and requiring public postings on agency and council websites. Finally, the section prohibits council members, advisory body members, employees, and contractors from using federal funds to influence legislation or executive actions, except for technical and factual presentations in response to documented requests (made publicly available).

This section revises the Western Pacific Sustainable Fishery Fund (i.e., a program financed by duties collected on foreign fishing in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off Pacific Insular Areas—American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii—to support fishery conservation and management). Specifically, it (1) requires disbursements from the fund at the request and with the concurrence of the Governor of the applicable Pacific Insular Area (previously in consultation with regional fishery management councils) and eliminates prior subcategories for fund uses; (2) requires foreign fishing permits issued under governing international agreements to be consistent with applicable fishery management plans; (3) shifts responsibility for developing marine conservation plans from councils and governors to governors alone (for American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands) or jointly with the Secretary (for other areas), expands eligible projects to include community-based demonstration projects and coastal improvements beyond state seaward boundaries, and specifies the Governor of the applicable area in fund allocation decisions; (4) prioritizes fund expenditures for (A) projects determined by the Secretary in consultation with a new advisory panel, (B) necessary payments to the Secretary, and (C) remaining funds to the Governor of Hawaii for state conservation objectives (previously included council funding); and (5) establishes a Western Pacific Sustainable Fishery Fund Advisory Panel—composed of one member selected by each applicable Pacific Insular Area Governor (excluding Western Pacific Council members or employees)—to rank grant applications, with requirements for public notice, minutes, annual reports to Congress on funded projects, and explanations if awards deviate from rankings (exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act).

This section requires each Regional Fishery Management Council (Council), with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, to develop a code of conduct and ethics for Council members and employees equivalent to those applicable to federal personnel. It further authorizes (1) the Secretary to take disciplinary action, up to and including termination, against a Council's executive director; and (2) a Council to take such action against its executive director or any other employee.

This section amends NOAA's policy on sexual harassment prevention and response to include equal employment and require inclusion of case synopses and disciplinary actions in reports (Sec. 3541(f) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA), 33 U.S.C. 894(f)). It revises NOAA's annual report on sexual assaults and harassment (1) to cover equal employment; (2) to require case synopses and disciplinary actions; (3) to summarize change-of-station, unit transfer, and work location requests (including denials); (4) to summarize Coast Guard referrals; and (5) to detail alleged cases involving fisheries observers, protected species observers, and endangered species observers—including synopses, investigation status and disposition, and fishery or geographic details (Sec. 3548, 33 U.S.C. 894e). It further redesignates existing sections as 3551 and 3552; establishes exceptions authorizing disclosure of survivor identifying information to specified staff, law enforcement, advocates, providers, or courts under defined conditions (with notice and privacy protections); directs the Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA's Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, to develop a restricted reporting system within three years (i.e., confidential reporting without automatic investigation); and requires a policy, within 180 days, for referring substantiated claims against NOAA personnel (including sexual harassment or assault) to the Coast Guard for potential mariner credential suspension or revocation (new Secs. 3548-3550).

This section directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, to submit to Congress not later than 180 days after enactment a national strategic plan for fisheries data. The plan must describe (1) activities to achieve its goals and objectives, (2) an implementation schedule, (3) an estimated budget, (4) a stakeholder engagement plan to develop user-centric systems, processes, and policies, and (5) alignment with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data management efforts, including NOAA's Data Strategy, Cloud Strategy, and Artificial Intelligence Strategy, to ensure efficiency and interoperability. The section further requires the Secretary to solicit input from data management and technology experts inside and outside the government and to submit annual progress reports to Congress.

This section expresses the sense of Congress supporting electronic technologies (e.g., digital cameras, monitoring systems) as complements or replacements for human observers to improve fishery data collection; amends fishery management plan requirements to authorize data collection from U.S. fishing vessels via electronic monitoring or onboard observers (except where vessel facilities are inadequate or unsafe); and requires fishery councils and the Secretary of Commerce to consider electronic monitoring and reporting in information collection programs. This section further directs the Secretary, at least once every five years, to review and revise fishery information collection procedures for timeliness, quality, usability, cost-effectiveness, and reduced duplication, with a public report on findings and planned changes; requires the Comptroller General to assess National Marine Fisheries Service capabilities for electronic monitoring tools and submit recommendations to Congress within 18 months of enactment; directs the NOAA Administrator to establish at least one prize competition to spur innovations in electronic data collection technologies (e.g., fish recognition software, AI applications, bycatch mapping); and establishes an advisory panel, including at least two electronic technology experts, to advise on advancements in fishery monitoring technologies, with annual public summaries of its activities.

This section directs the Secretary of Commerce, not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, to submit to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a report on the National Marine Fisheries Service's progress in prioritizing and improving stock assessments for fish stocks managed under fishery management plans pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The report must include (1) a summary of assessment methods for all such stocks, an identification of unassessed stocks, and explanations for the lack of assessments; (2) summaries of assessments and updates completed in the preceding year; (3) identifications of planned but uncompleted assessments and explanations; (4) a schedule for upcoming assessments and updates; (5) a summary of data and analyses that could reduce uncertainty in future assessments, including potential contributions from fishermen, fishing communities, universities, and research institutions; (6) progress on autonomous surveys and opportunities to expand new technologies for data collection; and (7) data gaps due to changing ocean and climate conditions, plus actions taken to address them.

This section revises the cooperative research program (i.e., funds competitive projects with fishing industry, Councils, states, and others to improve fishery data and management) by (1) adding fishing communities to eligible participants; (2) requiring annual Council lists of critical regional needs to prioritize projects and promoting use of data from federal/state agencies, traditional knowledge, and academia; (3) establishing 10 project priority types, including stock assessments using vessel/acoustic technology, bycatch reduction (including high seas and tech transfer), habitat conservation, electronic monitoring/reporting, climate resilience and ocean condition monitoring, shark-human interactions, and adaptive strategies for changing ocean conditions; (4) requiring the Secretary, within one year of enactment, to issue guidance for approving cooperative management agreements (subject to annual catch limits, bycatch caps, and performance standards, using existing processes, excluding preexisting agreements); (5) requiring Councils to publicly report project/permit results; and (6) directing a progress report to Congress within 180 days of enactment on implementing 2015 Cooperative Research and Management Working Group recommendations. This section also expands congressional findings (16 U.S.C. 1801(a)(8)) to state that fisheries management is most effective when using the best available science from governmental/nongovernmental sources, including fishermen, fishing communities, universities, nonprofits, and local/traditional knowledge from Tribes and Indigenous communities.

This section directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to develop, not later than one year after enactment and in coordination with relevant regional fishery management councils and the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program, an industry-based Northeast regional pilot research trawl survey and study to enhance NOAA's vessel-based trawl surveys (i.e., bottom trawl surveys that assess fish stocks and fisheries). Under the pilot—(1) the Secretary may select participating fishing industry vessels via procurement request, may model the survey on the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program's Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Nearshore Trawl Survey or another methodology, shall outfit vessels with a peer-reviewed net configuration, and shall ensure statistically valid sampling and spatial coverage comparable to NOAA surveys; and (2) the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center shall collect data for five years in partnership with the relevant councils and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Upon completion, the Secretary and relevant councils shall submit a report on results to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This section establishes guidelines for recreational catch data under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and creates a recreational data improvement program. Specifically, it (1) directs the Secretary of Commerce, not later than two years after enactment, to establish such guidelines—including data standards for timeliness, accuracy, precision, and validation—to facilitate use in stock assessments and management, considering prior recommendations and requiring integration measures (e.g., calibration) for data from multiple sources such as federal surveys, states, and marine fisheries commissions; and (2) requires the Secretary to carry out a program implementing the guidelines, including coordination with states and federal partners, publication of a strategic five-year plan within one year of enactment (and every five years thereafter) with specified requirements on coordination, calibration, integration, and research priorities, and prioritization of research in nine areas (e.g., discard estimation, electronic data collection, multi-source integration). (As background, recreational catch data inform stock assessments and annual catch limits for federally managed fisheries, where timely and accurate data support conservation and management by regional fishery management councils.)

This section directs the Administrator, in consultation with the Councils, relevant federal, state, and international agencies, scientific and technical experts, and interested stakeholders, to develop within one year of enactment a contingency plan for circumstances rendering fisheries monitoring—including human observation, surveys, and other data collection for stock assessments—impractical. The section further requires the Administrator to submit a report on the plan to Congress within the same one-year period.

This section (1) renames the Fisheries Conservation and Management Fund (16 U.S.C. 1891b) as the Zeke Grader Fisheries Conservation and Management Fund, including conforming changes to references, the section heading, and the table of contents; (2) adds to the fund's purposes conducting research and analysis to prepare and adapt fisheries and fishing communities to the effects of climate change; and (3) revises fund allocation to require the Secretary of Commerce to apportion amounts every two years among regions of each regional fishery management council according to council recommendations and regional priorities, with a minimum allocation of 5% of certain deposits to each region per period and provisions for funds designated for specific projects or regions. (The fund supports fishery data collection, research, marketing, and related efforts using quota set-asides, appropriations, and other deposits, available without further appropriation.)

This section directs the Secretary [of Commerce] and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), to enter into a cooperative agreement to fund survey mitigation programs, additional stock assessments, and fisheries and marine wildlife research as necessary due to BOEM actions related to offshore wind energy development.

This section directs the Secretary to develop, not later than one year after enactment, a strategy to identify research priorities and funding opportunities to update and improve shark research, population surveys, and stock assessments, including incorporation of new and emerging survey technologies into stock status reports, as applicable.

This section states the sense of Congress that protecting essential fish habitat under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ensures healthy and resilient fisheries and marine ecosystems, particularly amid shifting ocean conditions due to climate change, and that impacts from both fishing gear and nonfishing activities should be consistently considered.

This section revises essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (i.e., areas and substrate necessary for managed fishery species to spawn, breed, feed, or grow to maturity). (As background, EFH protections seek to minimize fishing and non-fishing impacts on habitats critical to U.S. fishery resources.) Specifically, the section (1) expands the Act's purposes to protect EFH from adverse effects caused by fishing and from projects; (2) defines "adverse effect" on EFH as any impact reducing its quality or quantity and "habitat area of particular concern" (HAPC) as EFH that provides important ecological functions, is sensitive to degradation, is stressed by human activities, may become important to species health, or is rare; (3) revises fishery management plan (FMP) contents to require describing and identifying EFH and HAPC, minimizing or avoiding adverse fishing effects on both, monitoring HAPC protections, and identifying conservation and enhancement actions; and (4) strengthens EFH consultation in section 305(b) by requiring federal agencies to notify and consult with the Secretary of Commerce on actions that may adversely affect EFH, avoid such effects or minimize and mitigate them, and—for HAPCs—monitor effects or minimize and mitigate them; directing the Secretary to inform regional fishery management councils of consultations and authorizing council comments and recommendations; and requiring agency heads to respond in writing within 30 days to Secretary recommendations on avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating EFH effects. (Thus, federal agencies must proactively protect EFH and HAPCs from authorized, funded, or undertaken actions, with mandatory responses and council input.)

This section revises bycatch-related requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as follows: (1) amends National Standard 9 to require conservation measures to minimize bycatch and, to the extent bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize its mortality (removing "to the extent practicable" qualifier); (2) revises fishery management plan contents to require (A) quantification of bycatch in stock status determinations, (B) establishment of standardized reporting methodologies (removing "to the extent practicable" qualifier), and (C) consideration of full retention requirements for species with high catch mortality rates if annual catch limits and accountability measures are in place; (3) directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, not later than three years after enactment, a national standardized bycatch reporting program to assess bycatch amounts and types, its contribution to fishing mortality, and ecosystem effects, with consistent methodologies, reporting across fisheries and councils, and state coordination; and (4) modifies the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program to expand outreach, technical assistance, and council consultation for adopting bycatch reduction technologies; requires program reports at least every three years (from annually); and mandates descriptions of technologies developed and their implementation status (or reasons for non-implementation). (Thus, these changes impose stricter bycatch minimization duties on regional fishery management councils, improve data collection for over 400 U.S. fisheries, and enhance incentives for gear and method innovations to reduce unintended catch of non-target species.)

This section revises subsection (e) of Section 304 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)), which addresses determinations of fish stock status, requirements to end overfishing, and rebuilding of overfished stocks. As revised, the subsection requires the Secretary of Commerce to (1) determine—using criteria in applicable management plans or best available science—for each stock managed by a regional council (or the Secretary) whether it is subject to overfishing, overfished, or approaching being overfished (i.e., likely overfished within 2 years based on trends in fishing effort, stock size, and other factors); (2) publish each determination in the Federal Register and immediately notify the relevant council to end overfishing immediately (and rebuild if overfished, or prevent overfished condition if approaching); and (3) submit an annual report to Congress and councils listing determinations, rebuilding plan statuses (including years in plan, anticipated length, number of plans implemented, and lack of progress), and use of "depleted" descriptor for environmentally impacted overfished stocks. The subsection further requires each council (or the Secretary, as applicable) to prepare a management document within 2 years of a determination that a stock is subject to overfishing, overfished, or approaching overfished (or of rebuilding plan failure or expiration), specifying actions to end overfishing immediately and rebuild (if applicable) or prevent overfished condition. Such documents for overfished stocks must include a rebuilding plan with (1) the shortest possible time period (not exceeding time to rebuild absent fishing mortality plus one mean generation), accounting for stock biology, fishing communities, international recommendations, and ecosystem interactions; (2) equitable allocation of overfishing restrictions and recovery benefits among fishery sectors; (3) reflection of U.S. traditional participation for internationally managed stocks; and (4) measurable criteria for progress. If a council misses the 2-year deadline, the Secretary must prepare the document within 9 months after expiration.

This section revises provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)—which authorizes regional fishery management councils to develop fishery management plans (FMPs) to end overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks—regarding scientific and statistical committee (SSC) duties and FMP standards for preventing overfishing, as follows: (1) requires SSCs to provide fishery management councils with ongoing scientific advice, including recommendations on acceptable biological catch levels, preventing overfishing, maximum sustainable yield, rebuilding targets, stock resilience to climate change, and objective criteria for determining if a stock is overfished or experiencing overfishing; plus reports on stock status and health, all sources of mortality, bycatch, habitat, social-ecological-economic impacts of management measures, fishing practice sustainability, and climate change effects on stocks, communities, and sectors (and adds "ecological" impacts to existing SSC considerations); (2) requires FMPs to specify objective and measurable criteria for identifying overfished or overfished-approaching stocks that are no less precautionary than SSC recommendations under revised standards, including conservation measures to prevent or end overfishing and rebuild such fisheries; and (3) makes a technical correction to the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 clarifying that it does not modify specified Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements or their equal application to commercial, charter, and recreational fisheries, including in mixed-use fisheries.

This section revises the requirements for Secretarial fishery management plans (i.e., plans prepared by the Secretary of Commerce when a regional fishery management council fails to submit a required plan or amendment) by (1) requiring the Secretary to prepare such a plan if a council fails to act (previously permissive under a "may" standard), (2) limiting the Secretary's preparation time to not more than two years, or nine months for plans or amendments subject to accelerated review under section 304(e)(7)(B), (3) requiring a council to submit a revised plan or amendment not later than 180 days after disapproval, and (4) requiring the Secretary to notify the council, not later than 30 days before the end of relevant deadlines, that failure to act will result in issuance of a Secretarial plan.

This section expands the duties of the Regional Fishery Management Councils—which develop fishery management plans for federal fisheries in their regions—as follows: (1) requires such councils, when developing those plans and plan amendments, to prioritize fisheries and habitats experiencing or expected to experience shifts in geographic range, spatial distribution, or productivity; (2) requires each council to approve, for each of its managed fish stocks, objective and measurable criteria for identifying whether the stock is overfished or experiencing overfishing, which may not be less precautionary than the recommendation of the council's scientific and statistical committee; (3) requires each council to develop and implement a habitat protection plan to protect essential fish habitat in its region from adverse fishing effects, including quantitative and measurable targets and goals to increase the quality, quantity, and representativeness of such habitat and conservation and management measures in a fishery management plan; and (4) requires each council to review, at intervals not less frequently than every seven years and based on scientific evidence or other relevant information, its habitat protection plans and essential fish habitat designations (including habitat areas of particular concern) and to amend fishery management plans as necessary and appropriate.

This section enhances forage fish conservation under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by (1) adding a congressional finding on the ecological role of forage fish (small- to intermediate-sized species that transfer energy to predators such as tuna and marine wildlife); (2) requiring the Secretary of Commerce, within 12 months of enactment, to define "forage fish" based on factors including low trophic level, size, schooling behavior, prey role, and energy transfer (with the definition applying via new 16 U.S.C. §1802(19), alongside species identified in approved fishery management plans, and defining "low trophic level" as consuming plankton); (3) directing scientific and statistical committees to recommend maintaining sufficient forage fish abundance, diversity, and distribution; (4) adding forage fish populations and distribution to regional fishery management councils' research priorities (effective 2 years after enactment) and requiring councils to list unmanaged forage fish and recommend prohibiting new directed fisheries until assessing impacts, determining need for management, and submitting plans (also effective 2 years after enactment); (5) requiring annual catch limits for forage fish in fishery management plans to account for predators' diet needs (effective 5 years after enactment); and (6) directing the Secretary to issue forage fish management guidelines within 18 months of enactment.

This section revises authorized uses of enforcement funding under 16 U.S.C. 1861(f)(4) for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan—developed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to manage groundfish stocks (e.g., cod, haddock, flounder) in federal waters off New England—to include monitoring implementation, including electronic monitoring, in addition to enforcement. (Thus, the funds may now support technologies such as vessel monitoring systems or cameras to verify compliance with catch limits and other plan requirements.)

This section revises regional fishery management councils' responsibilities for highly migratory species fisheries by (1) requiring each council to establish a scientific and statistical committee (SSC) in addition to other previously required entities or processes, and (2) requiring councils to develop annual catch limits for stocks not managed under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (i.e., certain tunas, swordfish, and sharks managed domestically rather than by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) that do not exceed the SSC's fishing level recommendations.

This section revises U.S. representation on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)—which manages highly migratory species such as tunas, swordfish, billfish, and sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea—by increasing the number of presidentially appointed Commissioners from not more than three to four, consisting of one federal employee serving as Chair and three nonfederal members with knowledge and experience in commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and marine conservation (representing nonconsumptive uses), respectively. Commissioner terms remain three years, with no individual eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms (previously limited to nonfederal Commissioners), and all serve at the President's pleasure. U.S. representation at ICCAT, Council, Panel, or Convention-related meetings is limited to the Chair plus two rotating nonfederal Commissioners (with rotation procedures established by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce), while all Commissioners may attend such meetings and participate in U.S. preparatory activities. (Previously, up to three Commissioners represented the U.S., with not more than one federal or state employee, Commissioners selecting their own Chair, and no specified rotation.) This section also amends restrictions on regulations implementing ICCAT recommendations by striking "or decreasing" from 16 U.S.C. 971d(c)(3). (Thus, such regulations may decrease—but not increase—U.S. allocations or quotas of allowable catch.)

This section revises the qualifications for the five U.S. Commissioners appointed by the President to the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC)—which manages tuna and other highly migratory species in that region—to require, in addition to one officer or employee of the Department of Commerce, one from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, and one from the Pacific Fishery Management Council, that one Commissioner have knowledge and experience in marine conservation and represent the public interest in marine conservation and non-consumptive uses of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (previously, three specified positions). It also specifies that Commissioners serve at the pleasure of the President and separately states their authority to adopt rules of procedure and select a chairman from among U.S. government officers or employees.

This section revises the qualifications for the four U.S. Commissioners to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)—which manages highly migratory fish stocks such as tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean—by requiring the President to appoint, in addition to one officer or employee of the Department of Commerce, one individual with knowledge and experience in marine conservation who represents the public interest in marine conservation and nonconsumptive uses of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It retains the existing requirements that commissioners be knowledgeable or experienced concerning such fish stocks and limits to no more than two the number who may reside in states other than those whose vessels maintain a substantial fishery in the IATTC Convention Area.

This section revises the applicability of annual catch limit (ACL) and accountability measure (AM) requirements—added by the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (i.e., science-based catch caps for each managed fish stock and measures to prevent exceeding them)—to fishery management plans under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Specifically, the requirements (1) apply to any such plan for a stock of fish prepared by a regional fishery management council or the Secretary, including a plan governing a stock managed under an international agreement in which the United States participates; (2) do not apply to a plan for a species that has a life cycle of approximately one year unless the Secretary determines such stock is subject to overfishing; and (3) do not limit or otherwise affect MSA requirements for conservation and management measures (sec. 301(a)(1)) or for overfishing determinations and stock rebuilding plans (sec. 304(e)). (Thus, ACLs/AMs apply more broadly than previously, including to certain international stocks, but exempt many short-lived species (e.g., squid) absent overfishing.)

This section authorizes appropriations to the Secretary to carry out this Act as follows: (1) $698,142,000 for FY2026; (2) $714,200,000 for FY2027; (3) $730,626,000 for FY2028; (4) $747,431,000 for FY2029; and (5) $764,621,000 for FY2030.