II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1251 

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 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO THE NORTH4 WEST ATLANTIC FISHERIES CONVENTION 

5 ACT OF 1995. 

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

7 ‘‘Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Amendments 

8 Act’’. 

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1 (b) REFERENCES TO THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC

2 FISHERIES CONVENTION ACT OF 1995.—Except as other3 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend4 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 

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

6 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi7 sion of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Act 

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

9 SEC. 2. REPRESENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER 

10 CONVENTION. 

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

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

13 Council and the Fisheries’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘at a meet15 ing of the General Council or the Fisheries Commis16 sion’’; 

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

18 meeting of the General Council or the Fisheries 

19 Commission for which the Alternate Commissioner is 

20 designated’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘at a meet22 ing of the Scientific Council’’; 

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

24 meeting of the Scientific Council for which the Alter25 native Representative is designated’’; and 

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1 (6) in subsection (f)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘Magnu2 son Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

3 Conservation and Management Act’’. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 

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

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

8 and inserting ‘‘A Representative may’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘described in subsection 

10 (b)(1) or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in para11 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b)’’; and 

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

13 and inserting ‘‘the Representative has’’; 

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

15 and inserting ‘‘VII(10)(b)’’; and 

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

17 and inserting ‘‘VII(11)’’. 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE WITH RE19 SPECT TO CONVENTION. 

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

21 ‘‘Fisheries Commission’’ each place it appears and insert22 ing ‘‘Commission consistent with the procedures detailed 

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

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1 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION. 

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

3 read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—In car5 rying out the provisions of the Convention and this title, 

6 the Secretary may arrange for cooperation with— 

7 ‘‘(1) any department, agency, or instrumen8 tality of the United States; 

9 ‘‘(2) a State; 

10 ‘‘(3) a Council; or 

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

12 SEC. 6. PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES. 

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

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

15 appears and inserting ‘‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

16 Conservation and Management Act’’; and 

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

18 inserting ‘‘fishery resources’’. 

19 SEC. 7. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. 

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

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

22 inserting ‘‘2’’; and 

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

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

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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

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

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 210. DEFINITIONS. 

5 ‘‘In this title: 

6 ‘‘(1) 1982 CONVENTION.—The term ‘1982 Con7 vention’ means the United Nations Convention on 

8 the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. 

9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

10 The term ‘authorized enforcement officer’ means a 

11 person authorized to enforce this title, any regula12 tion issued under this title, or any measure that is 

13 legally binding on the United States under the Con14 vention. 

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

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

17 XIV, and XV of the Convention. 

18 ‘‘(4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis19 sioner’ means a United States Commissioner to the 

20 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization appointed 

21 under section 202. 

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

23 means the Convention on Future Multilateral Co24 operation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, done 

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

26 September 28, 2007. 

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1 ‘‘(6) CONVENTION AREA.—The term ‘Conven2 tion Area’ means the waters of the Northwest Atlan3 tic Ocean north of 35°00′ N and west of a line ex4 tending due north from 35°00′ N and 42°00′ W to 

5 59°00′ N, thence due west to 44°00′ W, and thence 

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

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

8 Bay south of 78°10′ N. 

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

10 New England Fishery Management Council or the 

11 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 

12 ‘‘(8) FISHERY RESOURCES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishery re14 sources’ means all fish, mollusks, and crusta15 ceans within the Convention Area. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishery re17 sources’ does not include— 

18 ‘‘(i) sedentary species over which 

19 coastal States may exercise sovereign 

20 rights consistent with Article 77 of the 

21 1982 Convention; or 

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

23 under other international treaties, anad24 romous and catadromous stocks and highly 

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1 migratory species listed in Annex I of the 

2 1982 Convention. 

3 ‘‘(9) FISHING ACTIVITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ac5 tivities’ means harvesting or processing fishery 

6 resources, or transhipping of fishery resources 

7 or products derived from fishery resources, or 

8 any other activity in preparation for, in support 

9 of, or related to the harvesting of fishery re10 sources. 

11 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac12 tivities’ includes— 

13 ‘‘(i) the actual or attempted searching 

14 for or catching or taking of fishery re15 sources; 

16 ‘‘(ii) any activity that can reasonably 

17 be expected to result in locating, catching, 

18 taking, or harvesting of fishery resources 

19 for any purpose; and 

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

21 of, or in preparation for, any activity de22 scribed in this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac24 tivities’ does not include any operation related 

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1 to emergencies involving the health and safety 

2 of crew members or the safety of a vessel. 

3 ‘‘(10) FISHING VESSEL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ves5 sel’ means a vessel that is or has been engaged 

6 in fishing activities. 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ves8 sel’ includes a fish processing vessel or a vessel 

9 engaged in transshipment or any other activity 

10 in preparation for or related to fishing activi11 ties, or in experimental or exploratory fishing 

12 activities. 

13 ‘‘(11) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Organiza14 tion’ means the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Orga15 nization provided for by Article V of the Convention. 

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

17 individual (whether or not a citizen or national of 

18 the United States), and any corporation, partner19 ship, association, or other entity (whether or not or20 ganized or existing under the laws of any State). 

21 ‘‘(13) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘Rep22 resentative’ means a United States Representative to 

23 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Scientific Council 

24 appointed under section 202. 

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1 ‘‘(14) SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL.—The term ‘Sci2 entific Council’ means the Scientific Council pro3 vided for by Articles V, VI, and VII of the Conven4 tion. 

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

6 means the Secretary of Commerce. 

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

8 the several States of the United States, the District 

9 of Columbia, and any other commonwealth, terri10 tory, or possession of the United States. 

11 ‘‘(17) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans12 shipment’ means the unloading of all or any of the 

13 fishery resources on board a fishing vessel to an14 other fishing vessel either at sea or in port.’’. 

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

19 SEC. 10. QUOTA ALLOCATION PRACTICE. 

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

Æ 

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