**WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF**

**JAMES W. BALSIGER, PH.D**

**NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE**

**NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE**

**INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES: MANAGEMENT AND ENFORCEMENT**

**BEFORE**

**SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION**

**April 3, 2008**

**Introduction**

Good morning, I am Jim Balsiger, the Acting Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. Thank you, Chairman Inouye, and
members of the Senate Commerce Committee for the opportunity to discuss
the many challenges of international fisheries management. In my years
working on fisheries issues in the Alaska region, I have been directly
engaged in addressing our international goals for fishery management and
the conservation of protected species. As the U.S. Federal Commissioner
for the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and other international
management bodies, I am pleased to see the increased attention focused
on this critical aspect of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service's
(NMFS) mission.

Thanks to the efforts of this Committee, Congress adopted and the
President signed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Reauthorization Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) into law in
January 2007. This Act contains several new provisions that will
significantly shape the focus of fisheries management including
reinforcing NOAA's mandate for international activities. Congress has
tasked the Department of Commerce, working with our partners at the
State Department, Coast Guard, and other agencies, to work
multilaterally to address multiple aspects in international stewardship
of living marine resources. Fulfilling this mandate has been a high
priority for the agency.

My testimony will cover a number of topics, with a particular focus on
illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing is
estimated to generate some \$4-\$9 billion in landings gross revenues
each year. This illegal fishing can undermine our domestic fishery
management practices and has implications for sustainable international
fisheries management which benefit the world's marine ecosystems, the
U.S. fishing industry, and the American seafood consumer. As a major
consumer of seafood, the United States has an obligation to avoid the
importation of illegal seafood product. With a multi-agency approach and
with new technologies, the United States continues to work with our
country partners bilaterally and multilaterally to address the
challenges of IUU fishing.

**Global IUU-related Activities**

In the global context, the United Nations General Assembly has drawn
attention to the negative impacts of IUU fishing and called for its
elimination in every annual resolution on fisheries since 1998. This
created the impetus for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) to begin its program on IUU fishing, starting in
2001 with the development of its International Plan of Action to
Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate IUU Fishing. This Plan called on FAO
members to develop corresponding national plans of action in the
following two years, a task completed by the United States in 2004. FAO
is the premiere international organization addressing global fishing
issues. While the State Department typically has the lead in these
issues, NOAA provides technical expertise for issues addressed by FAO.

The FAO has continued its work on IUU fishing by developing tools to
eliminate this destructive fishing practice. Beginning in 2002, the FAO
began to develop a voluntary model scheme on Port State measures to
combat IUU fishing. This project was completed and adopted in 2004. At
the 2007 meeting of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), there was
agreement to organize and negotiate a binding agreement which would set
minimum standards for the in-port inspection of fishing vessels, and the
denial of certain port services to vessels suspected or confirmed to
have engaged in IUU fishing. This is an exciting new development. Up to
now, the focus has been on developing rules and applying pressure to
flag states to eliminate IUU fishing. This initiative strikes directly
at IUU fishing vessels by making it more difficult and costly for them
to land their illicit catches. Also launched by COFI in 2007 was the
development of a global record of all fishing vessels which includes
information on the vessels' past activities and beneficial owners. The
development of this database is essential because currently there is no
comprehensive fishing vessel database.

The FAO is working with the International Maritime Organization to
promote the entry into force of the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993, an
instrument that would set international safety standards for fishing
vessels. This protocol would address some of the crew safety concerns
associated with IUU fishing. NMFS will continue to work to combat IUU
fishing in the global forums.

**Regional Fishery Management Organization (RFMO) Actions**

Many of our target fish stocks and protected species also occupy waters
under the jurisdiction of other countries and on the high seas. By their
very nature, these resources require an international approach to
science and management in order to be effective. In most cases, it is
necessary to collaboratively manage these species. This collaboration
ranges from a simple bilateral agreement (such as the International
Pacific Halbut Commission) to the most complex, multinational Regional
Fishery Management Organization (RFMO), such as the three tuna RFMOs of
which the United States is a member. NMFS is taking a leadership role in
a number of RFMOs, which are key to combating IUU fishing in the
multilateral context. Next I will highlight the type of measures taken
by RFMOs.

[Catch/Trade Documentation Schemes]{.underline}

Catch and trade documentation schemes in the Convention for the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the
International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
illustrate multilateral efforts to combat IUU fishing. CCAMLR adopted a
Catch Documentation Scheme in 1999 designed to prevent illegal harvests
of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish from entering markets in CCAMLR
member countries. The Scheme monitors international trade, identifies
the origin of imports, determines if imports caught in the Convention
Area are consistent with CCAMLR conservation measures, and provides
catch data for stock assessments. NMFS has fully implemented the Catch
Documentation Scheme in the United States and recently went a step
further by implementing an electronic reporting system that will greatly
enhance the integrity of the Scheme. This electronic reporting system
serves as a model for other RFMO catch and trade tracking programs.

In the early 1990s, ICCAT adopted a trade tracking program for both
fresh and frozen bluefin tuna in response to concerns about the status
of the resource and suspected high levels of IUU fishing. Subsequently,
statistical document programs were adopted for swordfish (fresh and
frozen) and bigeye tuna (frozen). The programs track the trade of
product and provide information on the flag state and name of the
harvesting vessel, the location of harvest, the point of export, a
description of the fish in the shipment and a variety of other
identification information. Information from these programs assists with
catch data verification for both ICCAT members and non-members and is
used as important input into ICCAT's process for evaluating fishery
activities under its Trade Measures Recommendation, which can lead to
the adoption of restrictive trade measures against countries.

ICCAT also overhauled its bluefin tuna statistical document program in
2007 to create a Bluefin Tuna Catch Documentation Scheme. Like the
CCAMLR Catch Documentation Scheme, this program tracks product from the
point of capture through its final market. This Scheme, which requires
documentation when harvest occurs rather than only at export, will
capture the large portion of bluefin tuna product that stays within a
country and never enters international trade. The program was
specifically developed to provide more direct control of the eastern
Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery given pervasive quota
compliance and data reporting problems. A United States proposal to
implement ICCAT's catch and trade documentation programs electronically
was adopted by ICCAT in 2006, and the United States is working towards
electronic implementation with a view to improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of these programs.

[Compliance Committees/Sanctions]{.underline}

ICCAT was the first RFMO to adopt a trade-related instrument to promote
compliance with conservation measures. The organization's Bluefin Tuna
Action Plan, agreed upon in 1994, established a multilateral process for
evaluating fishing activities and recommending restrictions on trade
against countries that diminished the effectiveness of ICCAT's bluefin
tuna measures. The approach taken to help reduce IUU fishing and protect
overfished bluefin tuna was expanded to address the swordfish fishery
and, more generally, all unregulated and unreported catches in the mid-
and late 1990s.

By 2003, ICCAT had identified and adopted a comprehensive trade measure
instrument which applied equally to all ICCAT fisheries and all parties
(both member and non-member). This made the process for the application
of trade restrictive measures more transparent, employed comparable
standards for evaluating fishery related activities, and allowed for
swift re-imposition of trade sanctions. This comprehensive approach has
bolstered ICCAT's already significant efforts to eliminate IUU fishing
in the Atlantic Ocean. This has led to a number of countries to take
action to rectify non-compliant activity. Additionally, this has
provided the incentive for countries to join the Commission in order to
directly assist in conservation programs.

In addition to trade related approaches, ICCAT has adopted a suite of
monitoring, control, surveillance and quota compliance measures. The
latter approach requires parties to repay quota overharvests, including
a penalty for repeated incidences. With respect to the swordfish and
bluefin tuna fisheries, extreme cases of quota non-compliance can lead
to trade penalties. Full implementation of ICCAT's quota compliance
regime by the organization has been slow and the United States continues
to work toward improving this situation.

Another notable example of improved compliance is the Northwest Atlantic
Fisheries Organization's (NAFO) adoption in 1997 of its \"Scheme to
Promote Compliance by Non‑Contracting Party Vessels with the
Conservation and Enforcement Measures Established by NAFO." The
development of this Scheme was led by the United States. In brief, the
Scheme presumes that any non-Contracting Party vessel sighted engaging
in fishing activities in the NAFO Regulatory Area is undermining NAFO
conservation and enforcement measures and, unless this presumption is
rebutted, the vessel may not land its catch in the port of any NAFO
member. The NAFO Scheme marked a significant achievement in RFMO efforts
to deal with non-Contracting party fishing activities and facilitated
the adoption of similar programs by other regional fishery conservation
and management organizations throughout the world.

[IUU Vessel Lists]{.underline}

As a tool to combat IUU fishing activities, an increasing number of
RFMOs have adopted procedures for listing vessels that have engaged in
IUU fishing. These lists have been created to attach certain penalties
to vessels, including restriction on port access, unloading
prohibitions, and product marketing. The United States has played a
leading role in ensuring that such lists are compiled in a transparent
manner and provide due process to listed vessels. NMFS is designing a
system that will implement U.S. obligations to apply these RFMO
decisions in our ports to vessels that have been included on IUU vessel
lists. The United States is also developing a robust outreach program to
enhance IUU awareness among the public and private sectors. NMFS has
posted links on its webpage to RFMO IUU vessel lists in order to provide
the public with a single source where IUU lists can be found. NMFS
intends to further enhance our IUU outreach activities to create further
economic disincentives for IUU fishing, including limits on access of
IUU product into the significant United States market.

[Bycatch Reduction]{.underline}

The United States plays a leadership role in the adoption of RFMO
measures designed to reduce bycatch of seabirds, sea turtles, and
sharks.

*Seabirds:* The United States has taken a leadership role in addressing
seabird bycatch in a number of RFMOs by promoting the development of
individual National Plans of Action by RFMO members and by stressing the
need for RFMOs to scientifically assess seabird/fisheries interactions
and take appropriate steps to mitigate them. Due in part to United
States leadership, seabird bycatch mitigation measures have been adopted
in ICCAT, CCAMLR and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries
Commission (WCPFC). Additional efforts are currently underway to address
seabird bycatch in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
Many of the measures adopted by these RFMOs are comparable to those
already required in U.S. fisheries. Additionally, the United States is
promoting international seabird conservation by participating in the
activities of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and
Petrels (ACAP).  ACAP entered into force in 2004, and its objective is
to achieve and maintain a favorable conservation status for albatrosses
and petrels.  The Administration is currently reviewing ACAP for
possible submission to the Senate.

*Sea turtles:* The United States led negotiations resulting in the FAO
Guidelines to Reduce Sea Turtle Mortality in Fishing Operations in 2005.
The United States has subsequently led successful efforts to adopt the
FAO Guidelines in the IATTC, WCPFC, and NAFO. Additionally, the United
States took a leadership role in negotiating the Inter-American
Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (the only
binding international sea turtle treaty) and participates in Indian
Ocean-Southeast Asia Marine Turtle Memorandum of Understanding, and the
Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Conservation Measures for Marine
Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa. All three measures have
provisions requiring or urging participant countries to use bycatch
reduction devices such as Turtle Excluder Devices and circle hooks. The
United States continues to work bilaterally and multilaterally to urge
countries to implement measures comparable to the United States to
reduce sea turtle bycatch and injury. The United States has also worked
successfully with nations that export shrimp to the United States to
help them develop Turtle Excluder Device programs comparable to the
United States program. Finally, the United States has hosted one
international workshop on circle hooks for the longline fisheries, and
will host another in 2008. The workshops, when coupled with a
coordinated strategy among the U.S. delegations to RFMOs, have increased
U.S. effectiveness in pushing for binding RFMO measures to reduce sea
turtle bycatch and mortality.

*Sharks*: The United States has been a leader in calling on the
international community to improve the conservation and management and
reduce bycatch of shark populations. The Shark Finning Prohibition Act
was enacted in 2000 with the intent of drastically reducing the number
of sharks finned and carcasses discarded at sea. The Shark Finning
Prohibition Act directed the United States to seek agreement on
international bans on shark finning and other fishing practices
adversely affecting these species through the United Nations, FAO and
RFMOs. The adoption of shark finning bans and five percent fin to
carcass ratio requirements by many of the world's RFMOs is due in part
to U.S. leadership internationally, pursuant to Congressional direction
in the Shark Finning Prohibition Act. The Shark Finning Prohibition Act
also directs the United States to urge other governments to prepare and
submit National Plan of Actions for sharks under the FAO's International
Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. The United
States worked to ensure that the December 2007 United Nations General
Assembly Fisheries Resolution contains a strong mandate for improved
global efforts relating to shark conservation and management.

**NOAA Activities and Initiatives**

[Fisheries Enforcement Activities]{.underline}

NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement includes 148 sworn federal agents. The
officers work closely with international, federal and state law
enforcement partners in an effort to detect, apprehend and prosecute
those involved in the illegal importation of IUU products into the
United States and its territories and to stop the global trade of IUU
fisheries products. These efforts include NOAA's coordination with the
U.S. Coast Guard sea and air patrols in the North Pacific Ocean to
detect illegal large-scale high seas driftnet fishing. The Office of Law
Enforcement also works closely with Customs and Border Protection to
detect illegal fisheries products being imported into the United States.

NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is routinely engaged in international
investigations that involve efforts to terminate unscrupulous business
operations that are multi-national in scope.  Such efforts typically
involve the application of the Lacey Act and have resulted in blocking
importation of illegally harvested and processed marine products
trafficked on a world wide scale. In recent years the Office of Law
Enforcement has been able to identify a number of multi-million dollar
IUU operations engaged in the trafficking of IUU fish and fish products
through investigative operations that have resulted in successful
prosecution and ultimately the termination of these operations.  Such
cases have resulted in the elimination of activities that have caused or
that are causing harm to marine resources throughout the world.

The Office of Law Enforcement has also initiated an effort to enhance
our ability to investigate and respond to IUU fishing activity as well
as other growing international responsibilities. Creation of an
intelligence analysis capability within the Office of Law Enforcement is
one critical need being addressed which will require further expansion
in the future. Developing a capability to access, evaluate, and analyze
fisheries-related intelligence and then to create intelligence-driven
products to assist in focusing limited enforcement resources is critical
to meet our obligations to respond to IUU fishing issues and to the flow
of IUU product around the globe and into the United States.

[Leadership of the International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance
Network]{.underline}

In 2001**,** the United States joined other countries to establish the
International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Network (Network),
which works multilaterally to exchange fisheries and enforcement
information, including information related to IUU fishing. The Network
was established to provide a mechanism for fisheries law enforcement
professionals to share information and experiences as they monitor the
increasingly complex harvesting and marketing of fish around the world.
The rise in illegal activities that has accompanied globalization
underscores the need for cooperative law enforcement across national
borders.

In 2006, the High Seas Task Force project on global IUU fishing
recommended enhancement of the Network as a key initiative to combat IUU
fishing. NOAA has taken the lead to improve the Network through
implementation of an enhancement project and by serving as Chair of the
Network. Funding for the enhancement has been provided by several
partners, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United
Kingdom.

[International Trade Data System Project]{.underline}

One important development that will improve NOAA's ability to detect IUU
fish being imported into the United States is the International Trade
Data System currently under development by the Department of Homeland
Security. International Trade Data System is an integrated,
government-wide system for the electronic collection, use, and
dissemination of trade data. The Safe Ports Act of 2006 made
International Trade Data System mandatory for all federal agencies that
have a role in determining the admissibility of imports to the United
States market and NMFS has taken steps to become a participating
government agency in this system. International Trade Data System will
significantly improve the capability of NMFS to enforce trade measures
and documentation requirements of these programs. Currently, the Office
of Law Enforcement is informed of permitting, documentation and
reporting violations long after they occur, which makes investigation
and forfeiture of product difficult or impossible. This system will
allow screening and targeting of inbound shipments, potentially on a
pre-arrival basis. Such capability will place NOAA staff in a position
to approve entries or to place holds on shipments when
permits/documentation are missing. Close interagency coordination will
ensure effective and consistent application of import regulations as
well as detection of potential IUU shipments of fish and fish products.

**Newly Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act**

The newly reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act contains several new
provisions that will significantly shape the focus of fisheries
management in the coming years. Importantly, the Magnuson-Stevens Act
pays an unprecedented level of attention to international fisheries, and
the overarching approach of this legislation is a call for the Secretary
of Commerce to work multilaterally, through RFMOs and other forums, to
combat IUU fishing.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act amends the High Seas Driftnet Fishing
Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act) to require the
Secretary of Commerce to produce a biennial report to Congress that
lists countries which the United States has identified as having vessels
engaged in IUU fishing or bycatch of protected living marine resources.
Under the Act, the United States is directed to consult with and
encourage identified nations to take appropriate corrective action to
address the IUU fishing and bycatch activity outlined in the biennial
report.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires the Secretary of Commerce to
develop rulemaking to implement certification procedures for nations
that have been identified in the biennial report. If these nations do
not take steps to address the problems of IUU fishing or bycatch, the
United States is authorized to prohibit the importation of certain fish
and fish products from such nations into the United States and take
other measures.

NMFS has been actively working to implement the international provisions
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to help combat IUU fishing. In January of
this year, NMFS produced a report on the status of progress towards
implementation of the international provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, which highlights the work that has been undertaken to date. I will
briefly describe for the Committee where we are with respect to
implementation and outreach on the international provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act.

[Magnuson-Stevens Act Implementation and Outreach]{.underline}

The first step that NMFS took to implement the international
requirements in the newly reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act was to
promulgate a final rule to define IUU fishing. This definition mirrors
the definition of IUU fishing that was included in the reauthorized
Magnuson-Stevens Act.

In fulfillment of its obligations under Magnuson-Stevens Act, the United
States is seeking to strengthen international fishery management
agreements to address IUU fishing through negotiation of their
underlying agreements or negotiation of new protocols. With substantial
United States involvement, international fishery management
organizations have taken action towards the adoption and sharing of IUU
vessel lists, use of observers and technologies to monitor compliance,
and promotion and use of centralized vessel monitoring systems. As
previously noted, the United States has also worked with these
organizations to adopt trade tracking and documentation schemes, prevent
trade or import of IUU-caught fish, and protect vulnerable marine
ecosystems.

Most RFMOs operate on the basis of catch data that are far less complete
than necessary. Systems that would improve data shortcomings and serve
as a basis for improved management, such as observer programs and vessel
monitoring systems, are not universal. There are clear cases of RFMO
members who are capable of providing complete data but fail to do so.
Some developing country RFMO members lack the capability and resources
to collect and share this information, and the world has been slow to
realize that assistance to these countries for the purpose of improving
international fisheries management is in everyone's interest.

This Committee and the Congress as a whole have recognized this gap and
provided authorization through the Magnuson-Stevens Act and initial
funding to allow us to reach out and assist other countries to improve
their contributions to international fisheries management. We are
enthusiastic about this new authority and the prospects that, with it,
we can help improve the situation in ways that were not available to us
previously. In cooperation with its federal partners, NMFS has assisted
other nations in addressing IUU fishing and bycatch of protected
resources. We have hosted and supported workshops on techniques and
tools to strengthen enforcement; methods to prevent and mitigate the
incidental take of marine turtles, mammals, seabirds, and other
resources; and response to marine mammal strandings. NMFS has also
provided technical and other assistance to developing countries to
improve their monitoring, control, and surveillance capabilities and has
sought to promote the development of effective fisheries observer
programs in other countries.

Although not funded with Magnuson-Stevens Act funding, a similar
initiative called the Coral Triangle Initiative is going forward with
support from NOAA and the Department of State. The Initiative is
bringing together Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands, and Timor--Leste, who are cooperating in a wide range
of marine projects, including sustainable fisheries, IUU fishing,
fishing overcapacity, and destructive fishing practices.

In addition, NMFS is developing a proposed rule to establish procedures
for the identification and certification of nations whose vessels are
engaged in IUU fishing or bycatch of protected living marine resources.
In preparation for development of these procedures, NMFS held three
public meetings to solicit comments from the public on an advance notice
of proposed rulemaking.

Finally, in preparation for the first biennial report, which is due to
Congress in January 2009, NMFS is soliciting information from the
public, including other nations, as well as from appropriate federal
agencies that can be used in the identification of nations whose vessels
are engaged in IUU fishing or bycatch of protected living marine
resources. NMFS has also developed an internal process for the
compilation, review, and analysis of all appropriate information and
NMFS will be collaborating with our federal partners, such as the Coast
Guard and the State Department, in the verification of such information.
The United States plans to conduct consultations with nations that have
been identified as having vessels engaged in IUU fishing activity to
promote corrective action. NMFS will keep the Committee apprised of
progress implementing the international portions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act.

**Conclusion**

While the United States takes pride in what has been accomplished
through RFMOs and other fora, much work remains to be done. NMFS is
actively working to implement the international provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act and is vigorously engaged through various RFMOs to
combat IUU Fishing. We strive to work in a cooperative and transparent
manner towards achieving these goals. With the tools and support this
Committee has supplied to this complex endeavor, NOAA will create the
incentives for sustainable international fisheries management to benefit
the world's marine ecosystems, the U.S. fishing industry, and the
American seafood consumer.

As a matter of outstanding business, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna
Commission adopted a new treaty, known as the Antigua Convention, to
provide it with a comprehensive mandate that incorporates modern
standards for international fisheries management. Let me state our
agreement with Ambassador Balton's urging quick Congressional action on
implementing legislation for the Antigua Convention.

Chairman Inouye and members of the Committee, that concludes my
statement. The Department of Commerce and NOAA look forward to working
with you, the public, the fishing industry, and our international
counterparts on these important fisheries issues. I will be happy to
answer any questions.