**WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF**

**DR. REBECCA LENT**

**NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE**

**NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE**

**ON**

**illegal, unreported and unregulated FISHING AND THE CONSERVATION OF
SHARKS**

**BEFORE**

**COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES**

**SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE AND OCEANS**

**U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES**

**April 16, 2008**

**Introduction**

Good morning, I am Rebecca Lent, Director of the Office of International
Affairs for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of
Commerce. Thank you, Chairwoman Bordallo, Representative Brown, and
members of the Committee for the opportunity to discuss the importance
of shark conservation and the many challenges of international fisheries
management. My testimony will focus on NOAA's activities in four areas:

-   Progress in implementing the international provisions of the
    reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
    Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

-   Multilateral work with Regional Fishery Management Organizations.

-   Law enforcement capabilities and international fishery enforcement
    challenges.

-   Efforts to conserve sharks in U.S. waters and internationally.

**International Provisions of the Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act**

Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the reauthorized
Magnuson-Stevens Act in January 2007. The Act contains several new
provisions that will significantly shape fisheries management, including
reinforcing NOAA's mandate to work with our partners at the Department
of State, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other agencies to address
international stewardship of living marine resources. Fulfilling this
mandate is a high priority for NOAA.

Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to
generate \$4 to \$9 billion in gross revenues each year. This can
undermine our domestic fishery management practices, and has
implications for sustainable international fisheries that benefit the
world's marine ecosystems, the U.S. fishing industry, and the American
seafood consumer.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the Secretary of Commerce to produce a
biennial report, which identifies nations whose vessels are engaged, or
have been engaged, in IUU fishing activities or bycatch of protected
living marine resources. The United States is then directed to consult
with and encourage "identified" nations to take appropriate corrective
action to address the IUU fishing and bycatch activities outlined in the
report. If the nations do not take steps to address the problems, the
Secretary of Commerce must issue a negative certification for such
nations. Subsequently, the United States may prohibit the importation of
certain fish and fish products from negatively certified nations and
take other measures against such nations. The Secretary of Commerce is
currently developing rulemaking on the procedures for identifying and
certifying nations under this Act.

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

NOAA has been working to implement the international provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act to help combat IUU fishing. The first step NOAA
completed was in promulgating a final rule to define IUU fishing that
mirrors the definition as articulated in the international provisions of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In January 2008, in preparation for the first
biennial report due to Congress in January 2009, NOAA produced a status
report regarding progress made toward implementing the international
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act since its enactment.

NOAA is also soliciting information from the public, other nations, and
appropriate federal agencies to identify nations whose vessels are
engaged in IUU fishing or bycatch of protected species. NOAA has
developed an internal process for the compilation, review, and analysis
of all appropriate information and will collaborate with federal
partners, including Coast Guard and the Department of State, in
verifying the information gathered. Wherever possible, consultations
will be conducted with identified nations to promote corrective action.
We will continue to keep the Committee apprised of progress toward
implementing these international provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The United States is currently seeking to strengthen international
efforts to address IUU fishing by adopting multilateral measures or
negotiating new agreements or protocols. With substantial U.S.
involvement, international fishery management organizations have taken
action toward adopting and sharing IUU vessel lists, using fishery
observers, and promoting and using centralized vessel monitoring systems
(VMS). The United States has also worked with these international
organizations to adopt trade tracking and catch documentation schemes to
prevent trade in illegally caught fish.

Although meaningful progress has been made within the Regional Fishery
Management Organizations (RFMOs) with respect to combating IUU fishing,
many challenges remain. Most RFMOs operate on the basis of catch data
that are woefully incomplete. Systems such as observer programs and VMS
would improve data collection, but these systems have not been adopted
universally. In some cases, RFMO members have the capacity to provide
complete data, but still fail to do so. Meanwhile, some developing
country RFMO members lack the capability and resources to collect and
share this information, and the world has been slow to respond with
assistance that could improve international fisheries management.

Recognizing these gaps, through the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Congress
authorized NOAA to cooperate and provide assistance to other countries
to help them improve fisheries management, address IUU fishing, and
reduce bycatch.  The Agency is enthusiastic about this new authority and
its potential to address gaps in data management and enforcement
capacity. In cooperation with federal partners, NOAA has hosted and
supported workshops on techniques and tools to strengthen enforcement,
mitigate incidental take of marine resources, and respond to marine
mammal strandings. NOAA has also provided 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.

One example is the Coral Triangle Initiative, which is progressing with
the support of NOAA and the Department of State. In this initiative,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and
Timor--Leste are cooperating in a wide range of marine projects,
including sustainable fisheries, IUU fishing, fishing overcapacity, and
destructive fishing practices.

The FY 2009 President's budget request includes a total request of \$2.6
million for activities to combat IUU fishing. Included in the request is
an increase of \$1.1 million to support the Magnuson-Stevens Act
requirement to strengthen international fisheries enforcement. This
increase will provide for additional infrastructure and personnel to
monitor U.S. IUU imports and support partnerships with other federal
agencies and countries involved in IUU.

**Multilateral Work with RFMOs**

The Magnuson-Stevens Act calls upon NOAA to work multilaterally to
address international fisheries management and enforcement for shared
target fish stocks and protected species, and in most cases, this is
done through bilateral or multilateral organizations. This collaboration
ranges from a two-country (bilateral) agreement (such as the one
establishing the International Pacific Halibut Commission) to complex,
multinational RFMOs (e.g., the three tuna RFMOs of which the United
States is a member). NOAA is taking a leadership role in a number of
RFMOs that are key to combating IUU fishing in the multilateral context.

RFMOs have adopted an array of measures to address IUU fishing and
bycatch. For example,

-   As part of efforts to deter IUU fishing activities, several RFMOs
    have adopted catch/trade documentation schemes. These schemes
    monitor international trade, identify the origin of imports,
    determine whether imports caught in the respective Convention Area
    are consistent with conservation measures, and provide catch data
    for stock assessments.

-   Compliance regimes and sanctions, including reduced quotas for
    overfishing, have been adopted by various RFMOs.

-   Some RFMOs have adopted multilateral trade-related measures, such as
    import prohibitions, to deter IUU fishing.

-   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 and
    unloading prohibitions. The United States has played a leading role
    in ensuring that such lists are compiled transparently and provide
    due process to listed vessels.

-   The United States has also taken a leadership role in adopting
    measures to reduce bycatch of seabirds and sea turtles in RFMOs, and
    has worked effectively outside of RFMOs by participating in the
    activities of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and
    Petrels and by taking a leadership role in negotiating the
    Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea
    Turtles (the only binding international sea turtle treaty).

Despite the adoption of these measures by RFMOs, some countries still do
not comply with these international obligations. In some cases,
non-compliance is due to a lack of infrastructure and/or funding; in
other cases the reasons are not clear. The United States consistently
works via the RFMOs to address issues of non-compliance. However,
consensus to take measures against another member of a RFMO can be
difficult, particularly since that member can participate in the
discussions and, if the RFMO operates by consensus, prevent any action.
This is one of the biggest challenges the United States faces with
regard to multilateral action against IUU fishing. NOAA, with partners
at the Department of State, continues to work to improve the
effectiveness of RFMOs in this regard. Recent efforts to conduct
performance reviews of RFMOs, particularly those being conducted by
independent experts, will help identify structural and other changes
that may be needed. Centralized reporting requirements, such as for VMS,
can also improve RFMOs' ability to respond to issues of non-compliance.

[Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems]{.underline}

In 2006 a Presidential directive called upon the Departments of State
and Commerce to work with other countries to establish new RFMOs, or
other cooperative institutional arrangements, to protect ecosystems in
high seas areas where no competent RFMO exists, including calling on all
nations to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems by prohibiting their
vessels from engaging in destructive fishing practices on the high seas.
To that end, NOAA has been actively participating in discussions on the
establishment of new management arrangements for non--highly migratory
species in the high seas areas of both the South Pacific and the
Northwest Pacific. These arrangements will fill a gap in the
international fisheries management regime and help ensure the long-term
conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources.

The United States government is also involved in technical consultations
with other nations at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to
develop new Technical Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea
Fisheries in the High Seas. These guidelines are anticipated to include
standards and criteria for identifying vulnerable marine ecosystems and
significant adverse impacts due to fishing on vulnerable marine
ecosystems in the high seas, as well as other elements to govern the
management of deep sea fisheries on the high seas.

[Modernization of Inter-American-Tropical-Tuna-Commission
Convention]{.underline}

In 2003, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) adopted and
signed a new treaty known as the Antigua Convention to provide the
Commission with a comprehensive mandate that incorporates modern
standards for international fisheries management in the Inter-American
region. NOAA strongly agrees with the Department of State in urging
quick Congressional action on implementing legislation for the Antigua
Convention.

**Law Enforcement Capabilities and International Fishery Enforcement
Challenges**

A critical aspect of international fisheries management is effective law
enforcement. NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement includes 148 sworn
federal agents. The Agents work closely with international, federal, and
state law enforcement partners 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 for Law Enforcement
also works closely with Customs and Border Protection to detect illegal
fisheries products being imported into the United States.

NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement is routinely engaged in international
investigations targeting unscrupulous multi-national business operations
engaged in the international trade of IUU fish and fish products, as
well as trafficking in protected living marine resources.  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 global scale.

Despite these efforts, several gaps in our enforcement capabilities
hamper our ability to effectively combat IUU fishing:

-   Under many statutes, civil penalty limits hinder the Office for Law
    Enforcement's ability to deter illegal importation of fish products
    into the United States. Increasing the civil penalties to a level
    beyond a "cost of doing business" is essential to addressing illegal
    imports. Additionally, allowing the option of criminal prosecution
    of substantive violations will significantly enhance the deterrent
    effect of enforcement actions.

-   Enhanced sharing of data and information among and between
    governments and regional fishery management organizations would
    strengthen NOAA's ability to work collaboratively with other
    governments to track IUU products and conduct joint enforcement
    operations.

-   The authority to inspect conveyances, facilities, and records
    involving the trade of fish and fish products would aid the U.S.
    Government's ability to respond to the global trade in IUU products.
    Additional tools, such as administrative subpoena authority, would
    also significantly enhance the U.S. Government's ability to
    investigate the legality of fish and fish products in international
    trade.

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

To facilitate cooperation of law enforcement across borders, in
2001**,** the United States joined other countries to establish the
voluntary International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Network,
which works multilaterally to exchange fisheries and enforcement
information, including information related to IUU fishing. The Network
allows 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 this type of
information sharing across 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 my implementing
an enhancement project and continuing to serve 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}

An important tool that will help NOAA detect IUU products being imported
into the United States is the International Trade Data System currently
under development by the Department of Homeland Security. The system is
an integrated, government-wide system for the electronic collection,
use, and dissemination of trade data. The Safe Ports Act of 2006 made
the system mandatory for all federal agencies that have a role in
determining the admissibility of imports to the United States market,
and NOAA has taken steps to become a participating government agency in
this system. Currently, the Office for Law Enforcement is not informed
of permitting, documentation, and reporting violations until 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. NOAA staff
will then be 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.

**Efforts to Conserve Sharks in U.S. Waters and Internationally**

The United States continues to be a leader in calling on the
international community to improve shark conservation and management
efforts, end the practice of shark finning, and reduce the bycatch of
sharks in international fisheries. Shark finning in this context is the
practice of removing the fin or fins from a shark and discarding the
remainder of the shark at sea. The reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act and
the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 (SFPA) contain many mandates
relating to shark conservation and management both in U.S. waters and
internationally.

[Domestic Shark Conservation and Management]{.underline}

Progressive leadership on domestic shark conservation and management is
in the nation's best interests for the purposes of long-term
sustainability of harvests and the financial health of our fisheries
sector, and is a necessary foundation for the nation's leadership role
within the international community.

In the United States, development of shark fishery management plans is
performed by the regional fishery management councils, with the
exception of management plans for Atlantic highly migratory species
including Atlantic sharks, billfish, and tuna. Since 1990, management of
these species in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico,
and Caribbean Sea has been under the direct authority of the Secretary
of Commerce.

With this authority NOAA finalized an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) on April 11, 2008, which analyzes ways to improve enforcement of
the prohibition on shark finning in Atlantic coast shark fisheries, to
end overfishing, and to rebuild shark stocks/populations. The preferred
alternative identified in the EIS would amend the existing Atlantic
Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan to require that
fishermen keep shark fins naturally attached to the shark carcasses
until they are unloaded from the fishing vessel. For Atlantic coast
shark fisheries, the proposed requirement would improve the ability of
law enforcement personnel to correctly identify shark species and thus
significantly improve the enforceability of regulations aimed at shark
conservation.

NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement investigates violations of the SFPA
and its implementing regulations. The majority of these violations have
been detected, investigated, and prosecuted in the Southeast and Pacific
Islands Enforcement Divisions. Violations have included illegal shark
finning, possession of prohibited shark species, and unauthorized
offloading of shark fins into U.S. ports. There is not currently a
regulatory proposal to adopt a "fins attached" requirement similar to
what has been proposed for Atlantic sharks for Pacific coast shark
species. Absent this requirement, NOAA's Office for Law Enforcement and
U.S. Coast Guard personnel rely in part on the SFPA requirement that the
total weight of shark fins landed not exceed 5 percent of the total
landed shark weight. NOAA looks forward to working with the Committee to
continue to explore ways to improve enforcement of shark conservation
measures off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

[International Shark Conservation and Management]{.underline}

Since 2000, many of NOAA's international efforts in shark conservation
have been guided by the SFPA. The SFPA banned the practice of shark
finning in U.S. fisheries and established a rebuttable presumption that
any vessel landing shark fins with a total weight greater than 5 percent
of the total weight of the shark carcasses is in violation of the
finning prohibition. The SFPA called upon the Secretary of Commerce,
acting through the Secretary of State, to pursue international bans on
shark finning and to seek comparable measures for shark conservation in
the fisheries management organizations of which the United States is a
member. As a result of U.S. leadership on shark conservation, finning
bans have been adopted by IATTC, the International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Commission, and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization.
Also, the United States has successfully advocated for measures at the
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to
prevent exploitation of sharks.

The SFPA also called upon the Departments of Commerce and State to work
together to urge governments to prepare and submit National Plans of
Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, as set forth in
the FAO's International Plan of Action for the Conservation and
Management of Sharks. Unfortunately, despite repeated calls to action,
nations have been slow to develop and implement national plans of
action. Of the 20 top shark fishing nations and entities, only Taiwan,
Mexico, the United States, Japan, and Malaysia have adopted plans
covering sharks, and the European Commission released a draft plan of
action for comment in December 2007. (A detailed accounting of the
efforts NOAA is undertaking for sharks on both the domestic and
international fronts pursuant to the SFPA can be found in the annual
Shark Finning Report to Congress, delivered to Congress on January 15,
2008.)

To encourage other fishing nations in their duties regarding shark
conservation, NOAA and the Department of State played an important role
in developing language for the 2007 United Nations General Assembly's
annual Sustainable Fisheries Resolution. This Resolution contains a
strong mandate for improved global shark conservation and management. It
calls upon states to urgently adopt measures to implement the FAO
International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of
Sharks and to implement measures such as limits on catch or fishing
effort; collection and regular reporting of data on shark harvest,
discards, and landings; comprehensive stock assessments of sharks; and
reductions of shark by-catch and by-catch mortality. Where scientific
information is uncertain or inadequate, nations are called upon to not
increase fishing effort in directed shark fisheries until measures have
been established to ensure the long-term conservation, management, and
sustainable use of shark stocks and to prevent further declines of
vulnerable or threatened shark stocks. Nations are directed to take
immediate action to improve compliance with existing RFMO conservation
and management measures for sharks---particularly those measures banning
or restricting finning---and to consider, as appropriate, requiring
sharks be landed with fins naturally attached.

As reflected in the 2007 Resolution, some of the bigger international
challenges lie in improving fisheries management through the collection
of species-specific catch and bycatch data, conducting regular and
comprehensive stock assessments, and implementing management measures
sufficient to provide for the long-term sustainability of shark
populations.

The existing international provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
provide NOAA with some effective tools to help achieve conservation and
management goals for sharks in international fisheries. However, some
developing or recently developed nations lack the institutional or
financial capacity to effectively implement and enforce appropriate
vessel and port-based shark conservation and management measures. For
international shark conservation and management efforts to succeed over
the long term, each fishing nation must be able to collect and report
fisheries data, implement effective domestic regulatory programs, and
enforce regulations once they are in force. So, although enforcement
actions and trade sanctions may help attain shark conservation goals,
offers of technical and financial assistance to build administrative,
regulatory, and enforcement capacity may provide the greatest return in
terms of conservation value for living marine resources, including
sharks.

NOAA thanks this Subcommittee for its efforts regarding H. R. 5741, the
Shark Conservation Act of 2008. The bill highlights your interest and
commitment to shark conservation, and your willingness to ensure that
NOAA and other relevant agencies have the tools they need to continue to
pursue effective shark conservation, management, and enforcement. NOAA
is carefully reviewing the Shark Conservation Act of 2008 and we hope to
work with you further to ensure we fully understand the intent of the
bill and to refine the language to ensure the mandates can be properly
enforced.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, NOAA is working to implement the international provisions
of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act and is vigorously engaged
through various RFMOs to combat IUU fishing. With the tools and support
this Congress has supplied for 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.

Chairwoman Bordallo, Representative Brown, and members of the Committee,
this 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.