16 USC 1881a: Statistical information in fishery management plans.

            
 
          Sec. 1881a. Information collection
(a) Collection programs

                        (1) Council requests

        If a Council determines that additional information would be 
    beneficial for developing, implementing, or revising a fishery 
    management plan or for determining whether a fishery is in need of 
    management, the Council may request that the Secretary implement an 
    information collection program for the fishery which would provide 
    the types of information specified by the Council. The Secretary 
    shall undertake such an information collection program if he 
    determines that the need is justified, and shall promulgate 
    regulations to implement the program within 60 days after such 
    determination is made. If the Secretary determines that the need for 
    an information collection program is not justified, the Secretary 
    shall inform the Council of the reasons for such determination in 
    writing. The determinations of the Secretary under this paragraph 
    regarding a Council request shall be made within a reasonable period 
    of time after receipt of that request.

                     (2) Secretarial initiation

        If the Secretary determines that additional information is 
    necessary for developing, implementing, revising, or monitoring a 
    fishery management plan, or for determining whether a fishery is in 
    need of management, the Secretary may, by regulation, implement an 
    information collection or observer program requiring submission of 
    such additional information for the fishery.
(b) Confidentiality of information

    (1) Any information submitted to the Secretary, a State fishery 
management agency, or a marine fisheries commission by any person in 
compliance with the requirements of this chapter shall be confidential 
and shall not be disclosed except--
        (A) to Federal employees and Council employees who are 
    responsible for fishery management plan development, monitoring, or 
    enforcement;
        (B) to State or Marine Fisheries Commission employees as 
    necessary to further the Department's mission, subject to a 
    confidentiality agreement that prohibits public disclosure of the 
    identity of business of any person;
        (C) to State employees who are responsible for fishery 
    management plan enforcement, if the States employing those employees 
    have entered into a fishery enforcement agreement with the Secretary 
    and the agreement is in effect;
        (D) when required by court order;
        (E) when such information is used by State, Council, or Marine 
    Fisheries Commission employees to verify catch under a limited 
    access program, but only to the extent that such use is consistent 
    with subparagraph (B);
        (F) when the Secretary has obtained written authorization from 
    the person submitting such information to release such information 
    to persons for reasons not otherwise provided for in this 
    subsection, and such release does not violate other requirements of 
    this chapter;
        (G) when such information is required to be submitted to the 
    Secretary for any determination under a limited access program; or
        (H) in support of homeland and national security activities, 
    including the Coast Guard's homeland security missions as defined in 
    section 468(a)(2) of title 6.

    (2) Any observer information shall be confidential and shall not be 
disclosed, except in accordance with the requirements of subparagraphs 
(A) through (H) of paragraph (1), or--
        (A) as authorized by a fishery management plan or regulations 
    under the authority of the North Pacific Council to allow disclosure 
    to the public of weekly summary bycatch information identified by 
    vessel or for haul-specific bycatch information without vessel 
    identification;
        (B) when such information is necessary in proceedings to 
    adjudicate observer certifications; or
        (C) as authorized by any regulations issued under paragraph (3) 
    allowing the collection of observer information, pursuant to a 
    confidentiality agreement between the observers, observer employers, 
    and the Secretary prohibiting disclosure of the information by the 
    observers or observer employers, in order--
            (i) to allow the sharing of observer information among 
        observers and between observers and observer employers as 
        necessary to train and prepare observers for deployments on 
        specific vessels; or
            (ii) to validate the accuracy of the observer information 
        collected.

    (3) The Secretary shall, by regulation, prescribe such procedures as 
may be necessary to preserve the confidentiality of information 
submitted in compliance with any requirement or regulation under this 
chapter, except that the Secretary may release or make public any such 
information in any aggregate or summary form which does not directly or 
indirectly disclose the identity or business of any person who submits 
such information. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted or 
construed to prevent the use for conservation and management purposes by 
the Secretary, or with the approval of the Secretary, the Council, of 
any information submitted in compliance with any requirement or 
regulation under this chapter or the use, release, or publication of 
bycatch information pursuant to paragraph (2)(A).

(c) Restriction on use of certain information

    (1) The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to restrict the use, 
in civil enforcement or criminal proceedings under this chapter, the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and the 
Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), of information 
collected by voluntary fishery data collectors, including sea samplers, 
while aboard any vessel for conservation and management purposes if the 
presence of such a fishery data collector aboard is not required by any 
of such chapter or Acts or regulations thereunder.
    (2) The Secretary may not require the submission of a Federal or 
State income tax return or statement as a prerequisite for issuance of a 
permit until such time as the Secretary has promulgated regulations to 
ensure the confidentiality of information contained in such return or 
statement, to limit the information submitted to that necessary to 
achieve a demonstrated conservation and management purpose, and to 
provide appropriate penalties for violation of such regulations.

(d) Contracting authority

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may 
provide a grant, contract, or other financial assistance on a sole-
source basis to a State, Council, or Marine Fisheries Commission for the 
purpose of carrying out information collection or other programs if--
        (1) the recipient of such a grant, contract, or other financial 
    assistance is specified by statute to be, or has customarily been, 
    such State, Council, or Marine Fisheries Commission; or
        (2) the Secretary has entered into a cooperative agreement with 
    such State, Council, or Marine Fisheries Commission.

(e) Resource assessments

    (1) The Secretary may use the private sector to provide vessels, 
equipment, and services necessary to survey the fishery resources of the 
United States when the arrangement will yield statistically reliable 
results.
    (2) The Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate Council and 
the fishing industry--
        (A) may structure competitive solicitations under paragraph (1) 
    so as to compensate a contractor for a fishery resources survey by 
    allowing the contractor to retain for sale fish harvested during the 
    survey voyage;
        (B) in the case of a survey during which the quantity or quality 
    of fish harvested is not ex
    pected to be adequately compensatory, may structure those 
    solicitations so as to provide that compensation by permitting the 
    contractor to harvest on a subsequent voyage and retain for sale a 
    portion of the allowable catch of the surveyed fishery; and
        (C) may permit fish harvested during such survey to count toward 
    a vessel's catch history under a fishery management plan if such 
    survey was conducted in a manner that precluded a vessel's 
    participation in a fishery that counted under the plan for purposes 
    of determining catch history.

    (3) The Secretary shall undertake efforts to expand annual fishery 
resource assessments in all regions of the Nation.

(Pub. L. 94-265, title IV, Sec. 402, as added Pub. L. 104-297, title II, 
Sec. 203, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3607; amended Pub. L. 109-479, 
Sec. 3(d)(1)(A), title II, Secs. 202, 203(a), Jan. 12, 2007, 120 
Stat. 3578, 3612, 3613.)

                       References in Text

    This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (b)(1), (3) and (c)(1), was in 
the original ``this Act'', meaning Pub. L. 94-265, Apr. 13, 1976, 90 
Stat. 331, as amended, 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.
    The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, referred to in subsec. 
(c)(1), is Pub. L. 92-522, Oct. 21, 1972, 86 Stat. 1027, as amended, 
which is classified generally to chapter 31 (Sec. 1361 et seq.) of this 
title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short 
Title note set out under section 1361 of this title and Tables.
    The Endangered Species Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), probably 
means the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Pub. L. 93-205, Dec. 28, 1973, 
87 Stat. 884, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 35 
(Sec. 1531 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this 
Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1531 of this 
title and Tables.
                            Prior Provisions

    A prior section 402 of Pub. L. 94-265 repealed former sections 1081 
to 1086 and 1091 to 1094 of this title, prior to being amended generally 
by Pub. L. 104-297.
                               Amendments

    2007--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109-479, Sec. 202, substituted 
``Collection programs'' for ``Council requests'' in heading, designated 
existing provisions as par. (1), inserted heading, realigned margins, in 
first sentence, struck out ``(other than information that would disclose 
proprietary or confidential commercial or financial information 
regarding fishing operations or fish processing operations)'' after 
``additional information'' and ``types of information'', in last 
sentence, substituted ``paragraph'' for ``subsection'', and added par. 
(2).
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109-479, Sec. 203(a)(1), (2), added pars. (1) 
and (2), redesignated former par. (2) as (3) and realigned margins, and 
struck out former par. (1) which related to confidentiality of 
information submitted to the Secretary and exceptions.
    Subsec. (b)(1)(D). Pub. L. 109-479, Sec. 3(d)(1)(A), substituted ``a 
limited access privilege'' for ``an individual fishing quota''.
    Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 109-479, Sec. 203(a)(3), substituted 
``(2)(A).'' for ``(1)(E).''