Bycatch Reduction Act

Full Title:
Bycatch Reduction Act

Summary#

This bill, the Bycatch Reduction Act, directs federal fishery managers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to reduce harm from trawl fishing in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. It requires gear performance standards, seafloor contact detection systems, and salmon excluder devices on certain trawl vessels. The bill orders baseline studies and independent reviews (including by the National Academies) of gear impacts, creates research and monitoring programs, improves electronic monitoring and observer data use, and requires more public transparency for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. It also bans imports of seafood from foreign vessels unless the fishery is found comparable to U.S. conservation standards, creates a flume tank and related grant assistance, and establishes a donation-funded Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund.

What it means for you#

  • Certain trawl vessels must install new gear or sensors, such as seafloor contact detectors and salmon excluder devices, within set timeframes (some requirements phase in within 1 year and full compliance within 1–2 years).
  • The North Pacific Fishery Management Council and NOAA must study current gear impacts, publish reports, and use independent reviews to support regulations.
  • The Council must increase public access to meetings, hold recorded roll-call votes, and allow longer public comment periods before meetings.
  • Electronic monitoring and data integration will be modernized, with NOAA asked to create timelines for permitting and to publish strategies for using observer and electronic monitoring data.
  • Seafood imports from foreign vessels may be barred unless the originating fishery meets U.S. conservation comparability; seafood seized under that rule can be taken by the Secretary of Commerce.
  • The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation may accept donations to fund grants for gear improvements and testing; NOAA will support a flume tank and research partnerships.

Expenses#

  • The bill amends the NOAA bycatch reduction program and explicitly authorizes $10,000,000 for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031 to carry out that section.
  • The Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund is a donation account administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; it relies on gifts and does not specify Federal appropriations in the bill text.
  • A Flume Tank Assistance Fund and grants are created or encouraged, but the bill does not specify Federal appropriation amounts for those grants.
  • No publicly available information on total implementation costs, enforcement costs, or other Federal budget impacts beyond the authorization noted above.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill is written to reduce trawl gear impacts on seafloor habitat and to lower unobserved fishing mortality of important species.
  • It aims to set gear-performance standards, require detection technology to verify net clearance from the seafloor, and require salmon excluder devices to reduce salmon bycatch.
  • It calls for independent scientific review, expanded research (including tagging and genetic work), public availability of methods and data, and use of modern analysis tools to inform management.
  • The bill seeks to modernize electronic monitoring, improve observer program transparency, fund gear innovation and testing, and prevent imports from fisheries that do not meet comparable conservation standards.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.