I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 541

To reauthorize the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 17, 1995

Mr. SAXTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To reauthorize the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975,

and for other purposes.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Atlantic Tunas Con5 vention Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. RESEARCH AND MONITORING ACTIVITIES.

7 (a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of Com8 merce shall, within 90 days after the date of enactment

9 of this Act, submit a report to the Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
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1 Committee on Resources of the House of Representa2 tives—

3 (1) identifying current governmental and non4 governmental research and monitoring activities on

5 Atlantic bluefin tuna and other highly migratory

6 species;

7 (2) describing the personnel and budgetary re8 sources allocated to such activities; and

9 (3) explaining how each activity contributes to

10 the conservation and management of Atlantic bluefin

11 tuna and other highly migratory species.

12 (b) RESEARCH AND MONITORING PROGRAM.—Sec13 tion 3 of the Act of September 4, 1980 (16 U.S.C. 971i)

14 is amended—

15 (1) by amending the section heading to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY

18 SPECIES.’’;

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) BIENNIAL REPORT ON

20 BLUEFIN TUNA.—’’ before ‘‘The Secretary of Com21 merce shall’’; and

22 (3) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(b) HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES RESEARCH AND

24 MONITORING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Within 6 months after the date of enact2 ment of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Authoriza3 tion Act of 1995, the Secretary of Commerce, in co4 operation with the advisory committee established

5 under section 4 of the Atlantic Tunas Convention

6 Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971b) and in consultation

7 with the United States Commissioners on the Inter8 national Commission for the Conservation of Atlan9 tic Tunas (referred to in this section as the ‘Com10 mission’) and the Secretary of State, shall develop

11 and implement a comprehensive research and mon12 itoring program to support the conservation and

13 management of Atlantic bluefin tuna and other high14 ly migratory species, that shall—

15 ‘‘(A) identify and define the range of

16 stocks of highly migratory species in the Atlan17 tic Ocean, including Atlantic bluefin tuna; and

18 ‘‘(B) provide for appropriate participation

19 by nations which are members of the Commis20 sion.

21 ‘‘(2) The program shall provide for, but not be

22 limited to—

23 ‘‘(A) statistically designed cooperative tag24 ging studies;
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1 ‘‘(B) genetic and biochemical stock analy2 ses;

3 ‘‘(C) population censuses carried out

4 through aerial surveys of fishing grounds;

5 ‘‘(D) adequate observer coverage and port

6 sampling of commercial and recreational fishing

7 activity;

8 ‘‘(E) collection of comparable real-time

9 data on commercial and recreational catches

10 and landings through the use of permits,

11 logbooks, landing reports for charter operations

12 and fishing tournaments, and programs to pro13 vide reliable reporting of the catch by private

14 anglers;

15 ‘‘(F) studies of the life history parameters

16 of Atlantic bluefin tuna and other highly migra17 tory species;

18 ‘‘(G) integration of data from all sources

19 and the preparation of data bases to support

20 management decisions; and

21 ‘‘(H) other research as necessary.

22 ‘‘(3) In developing a program under this sec23 tion, the Secretary shall provide for comparable

24 monitoring of all United States fishermen to which

25 the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act applies with re-
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1 spect to effort and species composition of catch and

2 discards. The Secretary through the Secretary of

3 State shall encourage other member nations to adopt

4 a similar program.’’.

5 SEC. 3. ADVISORY COMMITTEE PROCEDURES.

6 Section 4 of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of

7 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971b) is amended—

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘There’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b)(1) A majority of the members of the advisory

11 committee shall constitute a quorum, but one or more such

12 members designated by the advisory committee may hold

13 meetings to provide for public participation and to discuss

14 measures relating to the United States implementation of

15 Commission recommendations.

16 ‘‘(2) The advisory committee shall elect a Chairman

17 for a 2-year term from among its members.

18 ‘‘(3) The advisory committee shall meet at appro19 priate times and places at least twice a year, at the call

20 of the Chairman or upon the request of the majority of

21 its voting members, the United States Commissioners, the

22 Secretary, or the Secretary of State.

23 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall provide to the advisory

24 committee in a timely manner such administrative and
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1 technical support services as are necessary for the effective

2 functioning of the committee.

3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary and the Secretary of State shall

4 furnish the advisory committee with relevant information

5 concerning fisheries and international fishery agreements.

6 ‘‘(5) The advisory committee shall determine its orga7 nization, and prescribe its practices and procedures for

8 carrying out its functions under this Act, the Magnuson

9 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.

10 1801 et seq.), and the Convention. The advisory commit11 tee shall publish and make available to the public a state12 ment of its organization, practices, and procedures.

13 ‘‘(6) The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.

14 App.) shall not apply to the advisory committee.’’.

15 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

16 Section 6(c)(3) of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act

17 of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971d(c)(3)) is amended by adding ‘‘or

18 fishery mortality level’’ after ‘‘quota of fish’’ in the last

19 sentence.

20 SEC. 5. FINES AND PERMIT SANCTIONS.

21 Section 7(e) of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act

22 of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971(e)) is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(e) The civil penalty and permit sanctions of section

24 308 of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Manage25 ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1858) are hereby made applicable
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1 to violations of this section as if they were violations of

2 section 307 of that Act.’’.

3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 Section 10 of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of

5 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971h) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

7 ‘‘SEC. 10. There are authorized to be appropriated

8 to carry out this Act, including use for payment of the

9 United States share of the joint expenses of the Commis10 sion as provided in article X of the Convention, the follow11 ing sums:

12 ‘‘(1) For fiscal year 1996, $2,750,000, of which

13 $50,000 are authorized in the aggregate for the ad14 visory committee established under section 4 and the

15 species working groups established under section 4A,

16 and $1,500,000 are authorized for research activities

17 under this Act.

18 ‘‘(2) For fiscal year 1997, $4,000,000 of which

19 $62,000 are authorized in the aggregate for such

20 advisory committee and such working groups, and

21 $2,500,000 are authorized for such research activi22 ties.

23 ‘‘(3) For fiscal year 1998, $4,000,000, of which

24 $75,000 are authorized in the aggregate for such

25 advisory committee and such working groups, and
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1 $2,500,000 are authorized for such research activi2 ties.’’.

3 SEC. 7. REPORT AND CERTIFICATION.

4 The Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16

5 U.S.C. 971 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end there6 of the following:

7 ‘‘ANNUAL REPORT

8 ‘‘SEC. 11. Not later than April 1, 1996, and annually

9 thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and transmit to the

10 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

11 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor12 tation of the Senate a report, that—

13 ‘‘(1) details for the previous 10-year period the

14 catches and exports to the United States of highly

15 migratory species (including tunas, swordfish, mar16 lin, and sharks) from nations fishing on Atlantic

17 stocks of such species that are subject to manage18 ment by the Commission;

19 ‘‘(2) identifies those fishing nations whose har20 vests are inconsistent with conservation and manage21 ment recommendations of the Commission;

22 ‘‘(3) describes reporting requirements estab23 lished by the Secretary to ensure that imported fish

24 products are in compliance with all international

25 management measures, including minimum size re26 quirements, established by the Commission and
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1 other international fishery organizations to which

2 the United States is a party; and

3 ‘‘(4) describes actions taken by the Secretary

4 under section 12.

5 ‘‘CERTIFICATION

6 ‘‘SEC. 12. (a) If the Secretary determines that vessels

7 of any nation are harvesting fish which are subject to reg8 ulation pursuant to a recommendation of the Commission

9 and which were taken from the convention area in a man10 ner or under circumstances which would tend to diminish

11 the effectiveness of the conservation recommendations of

12 the Commission, the Secretary shall certify such fact to

13 the President.

14 ‘‘(b) Such certification shall be deemed to be a certifi15 cation for the purposes of section 8 of the Fishermen’s

16 Protective Act (22 U.S.C. 1978).

17 ‘‘(c) Upon certification under subsection (a), the Sec18 retary shall promulgate regulations under section 6(c)(4)

19 with respect to a nation so certified.’’.

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