16 U.S.C. § 1865: Bycatch reduction engineering program

be regionally based; be coordinated with projects conducted under the cooperative research and management program established under this chapter; provide information and outreach to fishery participants that will encourage adoption and use of technologies developed under the program; and provide for routine consultation with the Councils in order to maximize opportunities to incorporate results of the program in Council actions and provide incentives for adoption of methods developed under the program in fishery management plans developed by the Councils. measures to incorporate bycatch into quotas, including the establishment of collective or individual bycatch quotas; measures to promote the use of gear with verifiable and monitored low bycatch and seabird interactions, rates; and measures that, based on the best scientific information available, will reduce bycatch and seabird interactions, bycatch mortality, post-release mortality, or regulatory discards in the fishery. outreach to industry on new technologies and methods; projects to mitigate for seabird mortality; and actions at appropriate international fishery organizations to reduce seabird interactions in fisheries. describes funding provided to implement this section; describes developments in gear technology achieved under this section; and describes improvements and reduction in bycatch and seabird interactions associated with implementing this section, as well as proposals to address remaining bycatch or seabird interaction problems. assessment of gaps and biases in reporting of discards and associated discard mortality; assessment of uncertainty and likely impacts of such uncertainty in discard mortality; assessment of the effectiveness and usage rates of barotrauma-reducing devices; recommendations for future research priorities; and recommendations for standardized reporting and quantification of discards in the same metric as landings for fisheries under the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Academy of Sciences shall complete the study required under subsection (a) and transmit the final report to the Secretary. Not later than 3 months after receiving the study and report in accordance with this subsection, the Secretary shall submit the study and report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives. guidance for minimum standards for quantifying and reporting discards and associated mortality in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan; and a plan to assess and monitor the effectiveness and usage of barotrauma-reducing devices and the impact on discard mortality rates in Gulf of Mexico reef fish fisheries. Not later than 3 years after developing minimum standards and developing the assessment and monitoring plan under subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide a detailed report on implementation to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives.”