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[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10675-S10676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 709

       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 
     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;
       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;

[[Page S10676]]

       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 
     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
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United States delegation to the 16th Special Meeting of the 
     International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic 
     Tunas, should--
       (1) pursue a meaningful assessment of Commission member 
     compliance with the ``Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a 
     Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern 
     Atlantic and Mediterranean'' (Recommendation 06-05), 
     including seeking detailed explanations from Commission 
     members that have failed to effectively implement the terms 
     of the recommendation;
       (2) pursue the adoption by the Commission of measures 
     designed to eliminate non-compliance, including, as 
     appropriate, deducting a portion of a future quota for a 
     party to compensate for such party exceeding its quota in 
     prior years, and where appropriate, steps should be taken to 
     link non-compliance with reductions in fishery or market 
     access;
       (3) seek a temporary suspension of the eastern Atlantic and 
     Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, including all trade, if 
     significant progress toward establishing science-based 
     management measures, improving monitoring and control 
     measures, and addressing compliance issues is not made at the 
     Commission this year;
       (4) seek to strengthen the conservation and management of 
     the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna by making 
     recommendations to halt the decline of the stock and begin to 
     rebuild it, including reducing annual harvest levels so that 
     they do not exceed recommendations of the Standing Committee 
     and expanding the time and area closure for the Mediterranean 
     purse seine fleet to include May, June, and July; and
       (5) pursue additional research on the relationship between 
     the western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
     bluefin tuna stocks and the extent to which the populations 
     intermingle.

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