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This bill addresses fishing practices in Alaska's waters by requiring changes to reduce unintended catches of fish and damage to ocean habitats. The legislation mandates that fishing vessels using mid-water trawl nets install seafloor detection systems and modify their gear to stay above the ocean floor, while vessels using bottom trawl gear must reduce contact with the seafloor and equip pelagic trawl nets with salmon excluder devices to prevent salmon bycatch. The bill also improves transparency in fishery management by requiring recorded votes at council meetings, publishing meeting recordings online within 30 days, and strengthening conflict-of-interest procedures. Additionally, it prohibits importing seafood from foreign fishing operations that don't meet U.S. conservation standards, establishes a research task force to study salmon and ecosystem health in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, modernizes electronic monitoring systems to track fishing activity, and authorizes $10 million annually through 2031 for bycatch reduction technology. The legislation creates a Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to provide grants helping fishing industry participants purchase cleaner gear and technology. Implementation timelines range from one to three years, with full compliance required within two years for most gear modifications.

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