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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 346 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 346

Expressing the sense of the Senate that, at the 21st Regular Meeting of 
the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the 
United States should seek to ensure management of the eastern Atlantic 
and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery adheres to the scientific advice 
provided by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics and has a 
high probability of achieving the established rebuilding target, pursue 
   strengthened protections for spawning bluefin populations in the 
 Mediterranean Sea to facilitate the recovery of the Atlantic bluefin 
tuna, pursue imposition of more stringent measures to ensure compliance 
 by all Members with the International Commission for the Conservation 
  of Atlantic Tunas' conservation and management recommendations for 
Atlantic bluefin tuna and other species, and ensure that United States' 
quotas of tuna and swordfish are not reallocated to other nations, and 
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 9, 2009

Ms. Snowe (for herself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Reed, Mr. Whitehouse, 
    and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that, at the 21st Regular Meeting of 
the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the 
United States should seek to ensure management of the eastern Atlantic 
and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery adheres to the scientific advice 
provided by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics and has a 
high probability of achieving the established rebuilding target, pursue 
   strengthened protections for spawning bluefin populations in the 
 Mediterranean Sea to facilitate the recovery of the Atlantic bluefin 
tuna, pursue imposition of more stringent measures to ensure compliance 
 by all Members with the International Commission for the Conservation 
  of Atlantic Tunas' conservation and management recommendations for 
Atlantic bluefin tuna and other species, and ensure that United States' 
quotas of tuna and swordfish are not reallocated to other nations, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna and Atlantic swordfish are valuable 
            historical commercial and recreational fisheries of 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, Atlantic 
            swordfish and other Atlantic highly migratory species in 
            the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent seas, including the 
            Mediterranean Sea;
    Whereas the United States has established for its fisheries a 
            strict regime of conservation, management and compliance 
            for Atlantic highly migratory species and protected living 
            marine resources caught incidentally to such fisheries that 
            is unmatched by other fishing nations;
    Whereas the reallocation of United States quotas of Atlantic 
            bluefin tuna and Atlantic swordfish to other nations will 
            cause severe economic impacts, including a loss of United 
            States jobs, and undermine the conservation of populations 
            of protected living marine resources such as Atlantic 
            billfish species, endangered sea turtles, sea birds and 
            marine mammals caught incidentally in the fisheries of 
            other nations;
    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 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 advice intended to prevent overfishing, 
            rebuild and maintain bluefin tuna populations at levels 
            that will permit the maximum sustainable yield, and ensure 
            the future sustainability of the stocks, the total 
            allowable catch quotas have consistently been set at levels 
            significantly higher than the recommended levels for the 
            eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock;
    Whereas despite the establishment by the Commission of minimum 
            sizes for Atlantic bluefin tuna with which the United 
            States has fully complied, the Standing Committee on 
            Research and Statistics has repeatedly expressed grave 
            concerns that the flagrant lack of compliance with such 
            size limits by Members fishing in the eastern Atlantic and 
            Mediterranean is seriously undermining the effectiveness of 
            the Commission's bluefin tuna recovery plans;
    Whereas despite the ongoing establishment by the Commission of 
            fishing quotas for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
            bluefin tuna fishery that surpass scientific 
            recommendations, compliance with such quotas by parties to 
            the Convention that harvest that stock has been extremely 
            poor, with harvests exceeding the scientific advice by more 
            than 50 percent in recent years as reported by the Standing 
            Committee on Research and Statistics and other independent 
            sources monitoring the fishery;
    Whereas insufficient data reporting in combination with unreliable 
            national catch statistics resulting from inadequate or non-
            existent catch monitoring and observer programs has 
            frequently undermined efforts by the Commission to 
            determine the levels of overharvests by specific countries;
    Whereas the failure of many Commission members fishing for eastern 
            Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna 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 it is widely recognized that some fishing vessels, in 
            particular those participating in illegal, unregulated, and 
            unreported fishing, have little incentive to cease these 
            infractions due to a lack of adequate sanctions;
    Whereas the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and 
            Statistics noted in its 2008 stock assessment that the 
            fishing mortality rate for the eastern Atlantic and 
            Mediterranean stock was more than 3 times the level that 
            would permit the stock to stabilize at the maximum 
            sustainable catch level and that unless fishing mortality 
            rates are substantially reduced in the near future, further 
            reduction in spawning stock biomass is likely to occur 
            leading to a risk of fisheries and stock collapse;
    Whereas the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and 
            Statistics has recommended that the annual harvest levels 
            for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna be 
            reduced to levels between 15,000 and 8,500 metric tons to 
            halt the decline of the resource and initiate rebuilding, 
            and indicated that a total allowable catch of 8,500 has a 
            higher probability of rebuilding the stock within the 
            Commission's established time frame;
    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'' 
            (Recommendation 06-05), which was amended in 2008, 
            containing a wide range of management, monitoring, and 
            control measures designed to facilitate the recovery of the 
            eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock by 
            the year 2023;
    Whereas the Recovery Plan is inadequate and allows overfishing and 
            stock decline to continue, and continuing information and 
            repeated warnings by the Standing Committee on Research and 
            Statistics indicate that current implementation of the plan 
            is unlikely to achieve its goals;
    Whereas the Principality of Monaco has submitted a petition to list 
            Atlantic bluefin tuna under Appendix I of the Convention on 
            International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and 
            Flora, and while the United States did not cosponsor this 
            petition, the Administration has expressed its support for 
            this petition unless the Commission ``adopts significantly 
            strengthened management and compliance measures'' for 
            countries fishing on the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
            bluefin tuna stock;
    Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional and more 
            restrictive conservation and management recommendations for 
            the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock, including a 
            closure to directed fishing in the spawning grounds of the 
            Gulf of Mexico, and these recommendations have been fully 
            implemented by Nations fishing west of 45 degrees west 
            longitude;
    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, 
            especially for the United States;
    Whereas scientific evidence now provides indisputable evidence from 
            electronic tagging studies and other scientific research 
            that mixing of the eastern and western Atlantic bluefin 
            tuna stocks occurs throughout the Atlantic ocean on feeding 
            and fishing grounds, and the poor management and 
            noncompliance with the Commission's Recovery Plan for the 
            eastern Atlantic stock is having an adverse impact on the 
            western Atlantic stock and United States fisheries;
    Whereas additional research on stock mixing will improve the 
            understanding of the relationship between eastern and 
            western bluefin tuna stocks, which will assist in the 
            conservation, recovery, and management of the species 
            throughout its range;
    Whereas a 2008 Independent Review of the Commission concluded that 
            the Commission's management of bluefin tuna in the eastern 
            Atlantic and Mediterranean has been ``widely regarded as an 
            international disgrace'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the United States 
delegation to the 21st Regular Meeting of the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, should--
            (1) seek the adoption of all revisions to the Recovery Plan 
        for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna that will 
        conform the Plan to the scientific advice provided by the 
        Standing Committee on Research and Statistics and has a high 
        probability of achieving the established rebuilding target 
        within the established time frame, including a strict penalty 
        regime and other appropriate mechanisms to verify and ensure 
        compliance;
            (2) seek to expand time and area closures of spawning areas 
        in the Mediterranean in full conformity with the scientific 
        advice provided by the Standing Committee on Research and 
        Statistics;
            (3) pursue the continued aggressive review and assessment 
        by the Commission's Committee on Compliance of compliance with 
        conservation and management measures, including data collection 
        and reporting requirements, adopted by the Commission and in 
        effect for the 2009 eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin 
        tuna fishery, occurring east of 45 degrees west longitude, and 
        other fisheries that are subject to the jurisdiction of the 
        Commission;
            (4) aggressively seek to address noncompliance with such 
        measures by all parties to the Convention through all 
        appropriate actions;
            (5) pursue the commitment by the Commission and its parties 
        to fund additional research on both the western Atlantic and 
        eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks 
        including but not limited to the extent to which the stocks 
        mix; and
            (6) strenuously defend the interests of United States with 
        regard to Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic swordfish, and other 
        species managed by the Commission, including the protection of 
        U.S. quota shares.
                                 <all>
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