Fisheries Conservation and Management Fund

The Secretary shall establish and maintain a fund, to be known as the “Fisheries Conservation and Management Fund”, which shall consist of amounts retained and deposited into the Fund under subsection (c). Subject to the allocation of funds described in subsection (d), amounts in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary of Commerce, without appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to disburse as described in subsection (e) for— efforts to improve fishery harvest data collection including— Any amount generated through quota set-asides established by a Council under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and designated by the Council for inclusion in the Fishery Conservation and Management Fund, may be deposited in the Fund. In addition to amounts received pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Fishery Conservation and Management Fund may also receive funds from— The Secretary shall, every 2 years, apportion monies from the Fund among the eight Council regions according to recommendations of the Councils, based on regional priorities identified through the Council process, except that no region shall receive less than 5 percent of the Fund in each allocation period. No amount made available from the Fund may be used to defray the costs of carrying out requirements of this Act or the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) other than those uses identified in this section.