The Fisheries Data Modernization and Accuracy Act of 2025 aims to significantly reform the National Marine Fisheries Service's Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) to enhance the accuracy and utility of recreational fishing data. The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is required to tailor MRIP reforms to meet the unique needs of individual regions and states, ensuring that existing state programs are not diluted. A key provision establishes a standing committee within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to independently discuss recreational fisheries data collection and management issues.

This standing committee will be consulted when the Percent Standard Error (PSE) for MRIP data in a seasonal fishery reaches or exceeds 30 percent, or if a state petitions for consultation. The consultation will explore options to reduce the PSE or adjust fishery management, potentially using multi-year annual catch limits. Following consultation, NOAA must publish a report detailing considered options and recommendations, which will then be sent to the relevant Regional Fishery Management Council for consideration.

The bill also empowers states to establish their own recreational fishing catch and effort data collection programs for federally managed species, subject to Administrator approval. These state programs must comply with universal standards established by NOAA, which allow for flexibility while ensuring data comparability. Crucially, data collected by approved state programs will be used without calibration to federal programs and will replace MRIP data for management decisions where applicable.

To support these state initiatives, NOAA is directed to establish a grant program within 180 days to help states develop new or improve existing data collection programs. Priority for grants will be given to projects that reduce data uncertainty for economically important species or those at risk of closures. Furthermore, the bill amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to define "stock assessment" and mandates a new stock assessment plan, requiring regular assessments for priority fish stocks.

Finally, the legislation establishes a program for NOAA to contract with independent entities to conduct fishery-independent surveys to estimate fish stock abundance, with their peer-reviewed data incorporated into management decisions. It also enhances transparency by requiring scientific and statistical committees to develop advice in a transparent manner with public involvement, and mandates that councils make meeting webcasts, recordings, or transcripts publicly available online.