II 

Calendar No. 200 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1251 

[Report No. 114–120] 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on Future Multilateral 

Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon, 

Portugal on September 28, 2007. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

AUGUST 28, 2015 

Reported, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 5, 2015, by 

Mr. THUNE, without amendment 

A BILL 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on Future 

Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon, Portugal on September 28, 

2007. 

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

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO THE NORTH2 WEST ATLANTIC FISHERIES CONVENTION 

3 ACT OF 1995. 

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

5 ‘‘Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Amendments 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) REFERENCES TO THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC

8 FISHERIES CONVENTION ACT OF 1995.—Except as other9 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend10 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 

11 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 

12 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi13 sion of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act 

14 of 1995 (16 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.). 

15 SEC. 2. REPRESENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER 

16 CONVENTION. 

17 Section 202 (16 U.S.C. 5601) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘General 

19 Council and the Fisheries’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘at a meet21 ing of the General Council or the Fisheries Commis22 sion’’; 

23 (3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘, at any 

24 meeting of the General Council or the Fisheries 

25 Commission for which the Alternate Commissioner is 

26 designated’’; 

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1 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘at a meet2 ing of the Scientific Council’’; 

3 (5) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘, at any 

4 meeting of the Scientific Council for which the Alter5 native Representative is designated’’; and 

6 (6) in subsection (f)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘Magnu7 son Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

8 Conservation and Management Act’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 

10 Section 203 (16 U.S.C. 5602) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘The Representatives may’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘A Representative may’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘described in subsection 

15 (b)(1) or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in para16 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b)’’; and 

17 (C) by striking ‘‘the Representatives have’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘the Representative has’’; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘VII(1)’’ each place it appears 

20 and inserting ‘‘VII(10)(b)’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘VIII(2)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘VII(11)’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE WITH RE2 SPECT TO CONVENTION. 

3 Section 204 (16 U.S.C. 5603) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘Fisheries Commission’’ each place it appears and insert5 ing ‘‘Commission consistent with the procedures detailed 

6 in Articles XIV and XV of the Convention’’. 

7 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION. 

8 Section 205(a) (16 U.S.C. 5604(a)) is amended to 

9 read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—In car11 rying out the provisions of the Convention and this title, 

12 the Secretary may arrange for cooperation with— 

13 ‘‘(1) any department, agency, or instrumen14 tality of the United States; 

15 ‘‘(2) a State; 

16 ‘‘(3) a Council; or 

17 ‘‘(4) a private institution or an organization.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES. 

19 Section 207 (16 U.S.C. 5606) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Magnuson Act’’ each place it 

21 appears and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

22 Conservation and Management Act’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘fish’’ each place it appears and 

24 inserting ‘‘fishery resources’’. 

25 SEC. 7. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. 

26 Section 208 (16 U.S.C. 5607) is amended— 

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1 (1) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘two’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘2’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘General 

4 Council or the Fisheries’’ each place it appears. 

5 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

6 Section 210 (16 U.S.C. 5609) is amended to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 210. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this title: 

10 ‘‘(1) 1982 CONVENTION.—The term ‘1982 Con11 vention’ means the United Nations Convention on 

12 the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

14 The term ‘authorized enforcement officer’ means a 

15 person authorized to enforce this title, any regula16 tion issued under this title, or any measure that is 

17 legally binding on the United States under the Con18 vention. 

19 ‘‘(3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

20 means the body provided for by Articles V, VI, XIII, 

21 XIV, and XV of the Convention. 

22 ‘‘(4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis23 sioner’ means a United States Commissioner to the 

24 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization appointed 

25 under section 202. 

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1 ‘‘(5) CONVENTION.—The term ‘Convention’ 

2 means the Convention on Future Multilateral Co3 operation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, done 

4 at Ottawa on October 24, 1978, and as amended on 

5 September 28, 2007. 

6 ‘‘(6) CONVENTION AREA.—The term ‘Conven7 tion Area’ means the waters of the Northwest Atlan8 tic Ocean north of 35°00′ N and west of a line ex9 tending due north from 35°00′ N and 42°00′ W to 

10 59°00′ N, thence due west to 44°00′ W, and thence 

11 due north to the coast of Greenland, and the waters 

12 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Davis Strait and Baffin 

13 Bay south of 78°10′ N. 

14 ‘‘(7) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 

15 New England Fishery Management Council or the 

16 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 

17 ‘‘(8) FISHERY RESOURCES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishery re19 sources’ means all fish, mollusks, and crusta20 ceans within the Convention Area. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishery re22 sources’ does not include— 

23 ‘‘(i) sedentary species over which 

24 coastal States may exercise sovereign 

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1 rights consistent with Article 77 of the 

2 1982 Convention; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in so far as they are managed 

4 under other international treaties, anad5 romous and catadromous stocks and highly 

6 migratory species listed in Annex I of the 

7 1982 Convention. 

8 ‘‘(9) FISHING ACTIVITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ac10 tivities’ means harvesting or processing fishery 

11 resources, or transhipping of fishery resources 

12 or products derived from fishery resources, or 

13 any other activity in preparation for, in support 

14 of, or related to the harvesting of fishery re15 sources. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac17 tivities’ includes— 

18 ‘‘(i) the actual or attempted searching 

19 for or catching or taking of fishery re20 sources; 

21 ‘‘(ii) any activity that can reasonably 

22 be expected to result in locating, catching, 

23 taking, or harvesting of fishery resources 

24 for any purpose; and 

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1 ‘‘(iii) any operation at sea in support 

2 of, or in preparation for, any activity de3 scribed in this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac5 tivities’ does not include any operation related 

6 to emergencies involving the health and safety 

7 of crew members or the safety of a vessel. 

8 ‘‘(10) FISHING VESSEL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ves10 sel’ means a vessel that is or has been engaged 

11 in fishing activities. 

12 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ves13 sel’ includes a fish processing vessel or a vessel 

14 engaged in transshipment or any other activity 

15 in preparation for or related to fishing activi16 ties, or in experimental or exploratory fishing 

17 activities. 

18 ‘‘(11) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Organiza19 tion’ means the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Orga20 nization provided for by Article V of the Convention. 

21 ‘‘(12) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ means any 

22 individual (whether or not a citizen or national of 

23 the United States), and any corporation, partner24 ship, association, or other entity (whether or not or25 ganized or existing under the laws of any State). 

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1 ‘‘(13) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘Rep2 resentative’ means a United States Representative to 

3 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Scientific Council 

4 appointed under section 202. 

5 ‘‘(14) SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL.—The term ‘Sci6 entific Council’ means the Scientific Council pro7 vided for by Articles V, VI, and VII of the Conven8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

10 means the Secretary of Commerce. 

11 ‘‘(16) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

12 the several States of the United States, the District 

13 of Columbia, and any other commonwealth, terri14 tory, or possession of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(17) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans16 shipment’ means the unloading of all or any of the 

17 fishery resources on board a fishing vessel to an18 other fishing vessel either at sea or in port.’’. 

19 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 Section 211 (16 U.S.C. 5610) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘XVI’’ and inserting ‘‘IX’’; and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘through fiscal year 2012’’. 

23 SEC. 10. QUOTA ALLOCATION PRACTICE. 

24 Section 213 (16 U.S.C. 5612) is repealed. 

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Calendar No. 200 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1251 

[Report No. 114–120] 

A BILL 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on 

Portugal on September 28, 2007. west Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon, Future Multilateral Cooperation in the NorthAUGUST 28, 2015 

Reported without amendment 

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