IV

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 295

To express the sense of the Congress of the United States that the United

States should actively seek compliance by all countries with the conservation and management measures for Atlantic bluefin tuna adopted by

the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 22, 1994

Mr. STUDDS (for himself, Mr. MANTON, Mr. ANDREWS of Maine, and Mr.

YOUNG of Alaska) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which

was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

To express the sense of the Congress of the United States

that the United States should actively seek compliance

by all countries with the conservation and management

measures for Atlantic bluefin tuna adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic

Tunas.

Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and

recreational fishery of the United States;

Whereas many other countries also harvest Atlantic bluefin

tuna in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;

Whereas the International Commission for the Conservation

of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred to as the Commission), was established in 1969 to develop conservation
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HCON 295 IH

and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin

tuna and other highly migratory species in the Atlantic

Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;

Whereas the Commission adopted conservation and management recommendations in 1974 to ensure the recovery

and sustainability of Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the

Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;

Whereas in 1981, the Commission adopted a management

strategy for Atlantic bluefin tuna predicated on a hypothesis that two stocks of the fish existed: a western stock

found in the Atlantic west of 45 degrees west longitude

(hereinafter referred to as the 45 degree line), and an

eastern stock found in the Atlantic Ocean east of the 45

degree line and in the Mediterranean Sea;

Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional,

more restrictive conservation and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin tuna for countries that

harvest bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line, including

a 25 percent quota reduction since 1991 with an additional 40 percent quota reduction scheduled for 1995;

Whereas the United States and other Commission members

that harvest bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line have

implemented all conservation and management recommendations adopted by the Commission for Atlantic

bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line;

Whereas many other Commission members do not comply

with the conservation and management recommendations

adopted by the Commission for Atlantic bluefin tuna east

of the 45 degree line;

Whereas a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) review of the scientific data used by the Commission con-
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HCON 295 IH

cluded that the available data supports a one stock management strategy for bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic;

Whereas the NAS review also found that abundance of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic has remained stable since 1988, in contrast to the roughly 50 percent decline in abundance reported by the Commission;

Whereas the continued unrestricted harvesting of Atlantic

bluefin tuna east of the 45 degree line and in the Mediterranean Sea will undermine the Commission’s recommendations being implemented west of the line to rebuild Atlantic bluefin tuna; and

Whereas, in order to successfully rebuild the Atlantic bluefin

tuna stock, conservation and management recommendations must be adopted and implemented throughout the

Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) the United States and the International

4 Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

5 (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) should

6 continue to promote the conservation and manage7 ment of Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlan8 tic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and develop a pro9 gram to rebuild Atlantic bluefin tuna that requires

10 the participation of all nations that harvest this spe11 cies;
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1 (2) the United States should ensure that the

2 scientific findings and recommendations of the Na3 tional Academy of Sciences Atlantic bluefin tuna re4 view panel are made available to and included in the

5 considerations of the Commission’s scientific advi6 sory panel;

7 (3) the United States should oppose any further

8 quota reductions for nations harvesting Atlantic

9 bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line until the im10 pacts of recent conservation measures can be deter11 mined, and until all nations harvesting Atlantic

12 bluefin tuna west and east of the 45 degree line

13 share equally in conservation and rebuilding efforts

14 for the Atlantic bluefin tuna resources;

15 (4) the continued harvesting by fishermen from

16 any country which is a member of the Commission

17 and which does not comply with the conservation

18 and management recommendations of the Commis19 sion will be considered by the Congress to diminish

20 the effectiveness of an international fishery con21 servation program and, as such, will be considered

22 by the Congress to be subject to the embargo provi23 sion in section 6 of the Atlantic Tunas Convention

24 Act;
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1 (5) the United States should encourage other

2 nations with significant markets for Atlantic bluefin

3 tuna to prohibit the importation of that species from

4 harvesting nations which do not comply with the

5 conservation and management recommendations

6 adopted by the Commission; and

7 (6) the United States should encourage the

8 Commission to adopt recommendations authorizing

9 the use of discretionary trade actions as enforcement

10 measures when the actions of a nation are under11 mining the effectiveness of conservation and man12 agement recommendations of the Commission.

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