I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2179

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to support the International Dolphin Conservation Program in the eastern tropical Pacific

Ocean, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 3, 1995

Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. HUNTER, and Mr. PACKARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to

support the International Dolphin Conservation Program

in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘International Dolphin Conservation Act Amendments of

6 1995’’.

7 (b) REFERENCES TO MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION

8 ACT.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever
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1 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

2 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi3 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

4 section or other provision of the Marine Mammal Protec5 tion Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.).

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are the following:

8 (1) To recognize the achievements of, and sup9 port continued implementation of, the International

10 Dolphin Conservation Program administered by the

11 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.

12 (2) To modify and strengthen the embargo pro13 visions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of

14 1972 to assure compliance with that program.

15 (3) To authorize participation by United States

16 tuna fishing vessels in the yellowfin tuna fishery of

17 the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean in accordance

18 with that program.

19 (4) To ensure a viable and ecologically sound

20 tuna fishery in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean,

21 including by avoidance of bycatch of nontargeted

22 marine species, maintenance of healthy stocks of

23 tuna, and protection of marine mammal populations.

24 (5) To otherwise strengthen and improve inter25 national efforts to reduce incidental dolphin mortal-
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1 ity to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortal2 ity and serious injury rate as required by the Marine

3 Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

4 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF INTERNATIONAL DOLPHIN CON5 SERVATION ACT.

6 Title III of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of

7 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1411–1418) is amended to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘TITLE III—INTERNATIONAL

10 DOLPHIN CONSERVATION

11 PROGRAM

12 ‘‘SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

13 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

14 ‘‘(1) Although in past years the yellowfin tuna

15 fishery of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean has re16 sulted in excessive incidental mortality to dolphins,

17 efforts by tuna fishermen operating under United

18 States and international conservation programs have

19 reduced this incidental mortality to levels that are

20 approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate

21 in accordance with section 101(a)(2).

22 ‘‘(2) Support of the International Dolphin Con23 servation Program is necessary to assure that these

24 low levels of dolphin mortality are maintained and

25 eventually eliminated, if possible.
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1 ‘‘(3) United States tuna fishing vessels have led

2 the world in the development of fishing methods to

3 reduce dolphin mortalities in the eastern tropical Pa4 cific Ocean and should be allowed to fish in that re5 gion on an equal basis with foreign fleets.

6 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States

7 to—

8 ‘‘(1) continue the progress made in reducing

9 the incidental mortality of dolphins in the yellowfin

10 tuna fishery in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean;

11 ‘‘(2) support the International Dolphin Con12 servation Program; and

13 ‘‘(3) authorize the participation of United

14 States tuna fishing vessels in the yellowfin tuna fish15 ery of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean in a man16 ner consistent with the International Dolphin Con17 servation Program and the requirements of this Act.

18 ‘‘SEC. 302. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

19 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue regu20 lations to govern the incidental taking of marine mammals

21 in the course of commercial purse seine fishing for yellow22 fin tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Any such

23 regulations shall be consistent with the requirements of

24 the International Dolphin Conservation Program and with

25 the goal of reducing the incidental mortality or serious in-
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1 jury of marine mammals occurring in the yellowfin tuna

2 fishery in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean to insignifi3 cant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury

4 rate.

5 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing any regulation

6 under this section, the Secretary shall consult with the

7 Secretary of State and the United States Commissioners

8 to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission ap9 pointed under section 3 of the Tuna Conventions Act of

10 1950 (16 U.S.C. 952).

11 ‘‘SEC. 303. OBSERVERS.

12 ‘‘All vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United

13 States engaged in commercial purse seine fishing for yel14 lowfin tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean shall

15 carry an observer certified by the Secretary or by the

16 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission for the pur17 pose of conducting research and observing fishing oper18 ations unless, for reasons beyond the control of the Sec19 retary, an observer is not available for such purpose.

20 ‘‘SEC. 304. PROHIBITIONS, PENALTIES, AND CIVIL FORFEIT21 URES.

22 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITIONS.—It is unlawful—

23 ‘‘(1) for any person to violate any regulation

24 promulgated under this title;
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1 ‘‘(2) for any person to refuse to allow any duly

2 authorized officer to board a vessel subject to that

3 person’s control for purposes of conducting any

4 search or inspection in connection with the enforce5 ment of this title;

6 ‘‘(3) for any person to assault, resist, oppose,

7 impede, intimidate, or interfere with any such au8 thorized officer in the conduct of any search or in9 spection described in paragraph (2); and

10 ‘‘(4) for any person or vessel subject to the ju11 risdiction of the United States intentionally to set a

12 purse seine net on or to encircle any marine mam13 mal in the course of tuna fishing operations in the

14 eastern tropical Pacific Ocean except in accordance

15 with the International Dolphin Conservation Pro16 gram.

17 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—

18 ‘‘(1) CIVIL PENALTY.—A person that knowingly

19 and willfully violates subsection (a)(1), (2), or (4)

20 shall be subject to a civil penalty under section

21 105(a).

22 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—A person that

23 knowingly and willfully violates subsection (a)(3)

24 shall be subject to a criminal penalty under section

25 105(b).
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1 ‘‘(c) CIVIL FORFEITURES.—Any vessel (including its

2 fishing gear, appurtenances, stores, and cargo) used, and

3 any fish (or its fair market value) taken or retained, in

4 any manner, in connection with or as a result of the com5 mission of any act prohibited by this section shall be sub6 ject to forfeiture to the United States in the manner pro7 vided in section 310 of the Magnuson Fishery Conserva8 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1860).

9 ‘‘(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con10 tents in the first section of the Marine Mammal Protection

11 Act of 1972 is amended by striking the items relating to

12 title III and inserting the following:

‘‘TITLE III—INTERNATIONAL DOLPHIN CONSERVATION PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 301. Findings and policy.

‘‘Sec. 302. Authority of Secretary.

‘‘Sec. 303. Observers.

‘‘Sec. 304. Prohibitions, penalties, and civil forfeitures.’’.

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

14 Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding

15 at the end the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(28) The term ‘International Dolphin Con17 servation Program’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) the international program established

19 by the agreement signed in La Jolla, California,

20 in June, 1992, and administered by the Inter21 American Tropical Tuna Commission; or
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1 ‘‘(B) an equivalent successor program

2 agreed to by the United States.’’.

3 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT OF EMBARGO PROVISIONS.

4 Section 101(a)(2)(B) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(2)(B)) is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of yellowfin tuna harvested

7 with purse seine nets in the eastern tropical Pacific

8 Ocean, and products therefrom, to be exported to

9 the United States, shall require that the government

10 of the exporting nation provide documentary evi11 dence that the fishing vessels of the exporting nation

12 participate in the International Dolphin Conserva13 tion Program. Such participation in the Inter14 national Dolphin Conservation Program shall be

15 deemed as establishing that such nation’s regulatory

16 program is comparable to, and not in excess of,

17 United States standards if—

18 ‘‘(i) dolphin mortality under the Inter19 national Dolphin Conservation Program is with20 in the potential biological removal level for each

21 affected stock;

22 ‘‘(ii) the fishing vessels of the exporting

23 nation are subject to 100 percent observer cov24 erage by observers approved by the Inter-Amer25 ican Tropical Tuna Commission;
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1 ‘‘(iii) the government of the exporting na2 tion authorizes the Inter-American Tropical

3 Tuna Commission to release sufficient informa4 tion to the Secretary to establish participation

5 in the International Dolphin Conservation Pro6 gram;

7 ‘‘(iv) the government of the exporting na8 tion complies with all reasonable requests for

9 cooperation in carrying out the scientific re10 search program required by section 117; and

11 ‘‘(v) responsible officials administering the

12 International Dolphin Conservation Program

13 have not determined that any fishing vessel of

14 the exporting nation is failing to participate in

15 such program.’’.

16 SEC. 6. FURTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND17 MENTS.

18 (a) MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS TO TITLE I.—

19 (1) Section 101(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)) is

20 amended in the second sentence by striking the

21 semicolon and all that follows through ‘‘practicable’’.

22 (2) Section 104(a) (16 U.S.C. 1374(a)) is

23 amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘, or

24 subsection (h) of this section’’.
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1 (3) Section 104 (16 U.S.C. 1374) is amended

2 by striking subsection (h).

3 (4) Section 118(a)(3) (16 U.S.C. 1387(a)(3)) is

4 amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(3) Title III, and not this section, shall govern the

6 taking of marine mammals in the course of commercial

7 purse seine fishing for yellowfin tuna in the eastern tropi8 cal Pacific Ocean.’’.

9 (b) CITIZENS ON FOREIGN VESSELS.—Section 101

10 (16 U.S.C. 1371) is amended by adding at the end the

11 following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(d) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the

13 taking of marine mammals during fishing operations by

14 a citizen of the United States when such citizen is em15 ployed on a foreign fishing vessel that is participating in

16 the International Dolphin Conservation Program.’’.

17 (c) TUNA CONVENTIONS ACT.—Section 3(c) of the

18 Tuna Conventions Act of 1950 (16 U.S.C. 952(c)) is

19 amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(c) at least one shall be either the Director, or

21 an appropriate regional director of the National Ma22 rine Fisheries Service; and’’.
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1 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF MARKETPLACE LABELING REQUIRE2 MENTS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Dolphin Protection

4 Consumer Information Act (16 U.S.C. 1385) is repealed.

5 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this

6 section shall in any way affect, or be construed to affect,

7 requirements for the protection and management of ma8 rine mammals under the Driftnet Impact Monitoring, As9 sessment, and Control Act of 1987 (16 U.S.C. 1822 note),

10 the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C.

11 1361 et seq.), or any other applicable law.

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