III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 709 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should pursue 

the adoption of bluefin tuna conservation and management measures 

at the 16th Special Meeting of the International Commission on the 

Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. 

REED) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States 

should pursue the adoption of bluefin tuna conservation 

and management measures at the 16th Special Meeting 

of the International Commission on the Conservation 

of Atlantic Tunas. 

Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery is valuable commercially and recreationally in the United States and many 

other countries; 

Whereas the International Convention for the Conservation of 

Atlantic Tunas entered into force on March 21, 1969; 

Whereas the Convention established the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to coordinate international research and develop, implement, and 


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•SRES 709 IS 

enforce compliance of the conservation and management 

recommendations on the Atlantic bluefin tuna and other 

highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean and the 

adjacent seas, including the Mediterranean Sea; 

Whereas in 1974, the Commission adopted its first conservation and management recommendation to ensure the sustainability of Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, while allowing for the 

maximum sustainable catch for food and other purposes; 

Whereas in 1981, for management purposes, the Commission 

adopted a working hypothesis of 2 Atlantic bluefin tuna 

stocks, with 1 occurring west of 45 degrees west longitude (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘western Atlantic 

stock’’) and the other occurring east of 45 degrees west 

longitude (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘eastern Atlantic 

and Mediterranean stock’’); 

Whereas, despite scientific recommendations intended to 

maintain bluefin tuna populations at levels that will permit the maximum sustainable yield and ensure the future 

of the stocks, the total allowable catch quotas have been 

consistently set at levels significantly higher than the recommended levels for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock; 

Whereas despite the establishment by the Commission of fishing quotas based on total allowable catch levels for the 

eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery 

that exceed scientific recommendations, compliance with 

such quotas by parties to the Convention that harvest 

that stock has been extremely poor, most recently with 

harvests exceeding such total allowable catch levels by 

more than 50 percent for each of the last 4 years; 


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•SRES 709 IS 

Whereas insufficient data reporting in combination with unreliable national catch statistics has frequently undermined 

efforts by the Commission to assign quota overharvests 

to specific countries; 

Whereas the failure of many Commission members fishing 

east of 45 degrees west longitude to comply with other 

Commission recommendations to conserve and control the 

overfished eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin 

tuna stock has been an ongoing problem; 

Whereas the Commission’s Standing Committee on Research 

and Statistics noted in its 2006 report that the fishing 

mortality rate for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 

stock may be more than 3 times the level that would permit the stock to stabilize at the maximum sustainable 

catch level, and continuing to fish at the level of recent 

years ‘‘is expected to drive the spawning biomass to a 

very low level’’ giving ‘‘rise to a high risk of fishery and 

stock collapse’’; 

Whereas the Standing Committee’s 2008 report recommended that the annual harvest levels for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna be reduced from 

32,000 metric tons to 15,000 metric tons or less to halt 

decline of the resource and initiate rebuilding; 

Whereas the Standing Committee has stated that time and 

area closures could greatly facilitate the implementation 

and monitoring of rebuilding strategies and recommended 

a closure of the Mediterranean Sea in May, June, and 

July, as well as a minimum size limit of 25 kilograms; 

Whereas in 2006, the Commission adopted the ‘‘Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and 


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•SRES 709 IS 

Mediterranean’’ containing a wide range of management, 

monitoring, and control measures designed to facilitate 

the recovery of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 

bluefin tuna stock; 

Whereas the Recovery Plan is inadequate and allows overfishing and stock decline to continue, and initial information indicates that implementation of the plan in 2007 by 

many eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna 

harvesting countries has been poor; 

Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional 

and more restrictive conservation and management recommendations for the western Atlantic bluefin tuna 

stock, and these recommendations have been implemented by Nations fishing west of 45 degrees west longitude, including the United States; 

Whereas despite adopting, fully implementing, and complying 

with a science-based rebuilding program for the western 

Atlantic bluefin tuna stock by countries fishing west of 

45 degrees west longitude, catches and catch rates remain very low; 

Whereas many scientists believe that mixing occurs between 

the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock and the eastern 

Atlantic and Mediterranean stock, and as such, poor 

management and noncompliance with recommendations 

for one stock are likely to have an adverse effect on the 

other stock; and 

Whereas additional research on stock mixing will improve the 

understanding of the relationship between eastern and 

western bluefin tuna stocks and other fisheries, which 

will assist in the conservation, recovery, and management 

of the species throughout its range: Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 709 IS 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 United States delegation to the 16th Special Meeting of 

3 the International Commission for the Conservation of At4 lantic Tunas, should— 

5 (1) pursue a meaningful assessment of Commis6 sion member compliance with the ‘‘Recommendation 

7 by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery 

8 Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and 

9 Mediterranean’’ (Recommendation 06–05), including 

10 seeking detailed explanations from Commission 

11 members that have failed to effectively implement 

12 the terms of the recommendation; 

13 (2) pursue the adoption by the Commission of 

14 measures designed to eliminate non-compliance, in15 cluding, as appropriate, deducting a portion of a fu16 ture quota for a party to compensate for such party 

17 exceeding its quota in prior years, and where appro18 priate, steps should be taken to link non-compliance 

19 with reductions in fishery or market access; 

20 (3) seek a temporary suspension of the eastern 

21 Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, in22 cluding all trade, if significant progress toward es23 tablishing science-based management measures, im24 proving monitoring and control measures, and adVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:38 Nov 20, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR709.IS SR709

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1 dressing compliance issues is not made at the Com2 mission this year; 

3 (4) seek to strengthen the conservation and 

4 management of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterra5 nean bluefin tuna by making recommendations to 

6 halt the decline of the stock and begin to rebuild it, 

7 including reducing annual harvest levels so that they 

8 do not exceed recommendations of the Standing 

9 Committee and expanding the time and area closure 

10 for the Mediterranean purse seine fleet to include 

11 May, June, and July; and 

12 (5) pursue additional research on the relation13 ship between the western Atlantic and eastern At14 lantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks and 

15 the extent to which the populations intermingle. 

Æ 


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