Incidental harvest research

Within nine months after October 11, 1996, the Secretary shall, after consultation with the Gulf Council and South Atlantic Council, conclude the collection of information in the program to assess the impact on fishery resources of incidental harvest by the shrimp trawl fishery within the authority of such Councils. Within the same time period, the Secretary shall make available to the public aggregated summaries of information collected prior to June 30, 1994 under such program. The program concluded pursuant to subsection (a) shall provide for the identification of stocks of fish which are subject to significant incidental harvest in the course of normal shrimp trawl fishing activity. For stocks of fish identified pursuant to subsection (b), with priority given to stocks which (based upon the best available scientific information) are considered to be overfished, the Secretary shall conduct— Not later than 12 months after October 11, 1996, the Secretary shall, in cooperation with affected interests, and based upon the best scientific information available, complete a program to— The Secretary shall, within one year of completing the programs required by this section, submit a detailed report on the results of such programs to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives. To the extent practicable, any conservation and management measure implemented under this chapter to reduce the incidental mortality of bycatch in the course of shrimp trawl fishing shall be consistent with—