H.R. 5453

Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act

This bill revises the Fisheries Resource Disaster Relief Program and repeals or revises certain reporting requirements.

The bill revises the procedures and process for determining whether there has been a commercial fishery failure as a result of a fishery resource disaster because of natural, man-made, or undetermined causes.

The Department of Commerce shall have the sole authority to determine the existence, extent, and beginning and end dates of a fishery resource disaster. Additionally, Commerce must include in its budget justification materials submitted to Congress in support of the budget of Commerce for each fiscal year, (as submitted with the President's budget) a separate statement of the amount requested to be appropriated for that fiscal year for outstanding unfunded fishery resource disasters.

The bill repeals a program that provides disaster relief assistance to fishermen, charter fishing operators, and others affected by a catastrophic regional fishery disaster, known as the regional coastal disaster assistance, transition, and recovery program.

With respect to reporting requirements, the bill requires (1) biennial rather than annual reports (under current law, annual reports) relating to the recovery of Klamath River Coho salmon, and (2) inclusion of additional information in the biennial reports on international compliance regarding the conservation of living marine resources.

The bill also repeals the requirement for annual reporting to Congress on bycatch reduction agreements.