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H.R. 3718 comprehensively reauthorizes and modernizes the nation's fisheries management framework by integrating climate resilience, expanding community participation, and strengthening scientific oversight of fish stocks and marine habitats. The bill establishes new protections for subsistence fishing and working waterfronts, creates grant and loan programs to preserve fishing infrastructure in coastal communities, and requires regional fishery management councils to incorporate climate adaptation into their planning while improving transparency through expanded tribal representation, public access to council meetings, and workplace conduct standards. Key provisions mandate electronic monitoring systems to supplement traditional observer programs, establish a national bycatch reduction strategy, strengthen protections for forage fish and essential fish habitats, and create new requirements for managing overfished stocks and preventing overfishing. The legislation authorizes approximately $698 million to $765 million annually from 2026-2030 to implement these reforms, with major funding mechanisms including a $5 million annual climate adaptation program, $50 million annually for the Working Waterfronts Grant Program, and expanded cooperative research initiatives addressing fishery management priorities.

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