II 

Calendar No. 623 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2485 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on Future Multilateral 

Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon 

on September 28, 2007. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2014 

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

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 8, 2014 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, without amendment 

A BILL 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on Future 

Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon 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 Commission is 

26 designated’’; 


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

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

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

6 SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 

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

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

10 and inserting ‘‘A Representative may’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘described in subsection 

12 (b)(1) or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in para13 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b)’’; and 

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

15 and inserting ‘‘the Representative has’’; 

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

17 and inserting ‘‘VII(10)(b)’’; and 

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

19 and inserting ‘‘VII(11)’’. 

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE WITH RE21 SPECT TO CONVENTION. 

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

23 ‘‘Fisheries Commission’’ each place it appears and insert24 ing ‘‘Commission consistent with the procedures detailed 

25 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 Act, 

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 by striking 

14 ‘‘fish’’ wherever it appears and inserting ‘‘fishery re15 sources’’. 

16 SEC. 7. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. 

17 Section 208 (16 U.S.C. 5607) is amended by striking 

18 ‘‘General Council or the Fisheries’’ wherever it appears. 

19 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

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

21 follows— 

22 ‘‘SEC. 210. DEFINITIONS. 

23 ‘‘In this Act— 

24 ‘‘(1) 1982 CONVENTION.—The term ‘1982 Con25 vention’ means the United Nations Convention on 

26 the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

2 The term ‘authorized enforcement officer’ means a 

3 person authorized to enforce this Act, any regulation 

4 issued under this Act, or any measure that is legally 

5 binding on the United States under the Convention. 

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

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

8 XIV, and XV of the Convention. 

9 ‘‘(4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis10 sioner’ means a United States Commissioner to the 

11 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization appointed 

12 under section 202. 

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

14 means the Convention on Cooperation in the North15 west Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon on 

16 September 28, 2007. 

17 ‘‘(6) CONVENTION AREA.—The term ‘Conven18 tion Area’ means the waters of the Northwest Atlan19 tic Ocean north of 35°00’ N and west of a line ex20 tending due north from 35°00’ N and 42°00’ W to 

21 59°00’ N, thence due west to 44°00’ W, and thence 

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

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

24 Bay south of 78°10’ N. 


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

2 New England Fishery Management Council or the 

3 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 

4 ‘‘(8) FISHERY RESOURCES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishery re6 sources’ means all fish, mollusks, and crusta7 ceans within the Convention Area. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishery re9 sources’ does not include— 

10 ‘‘(i) sedentary species over which 

11 coastal States may exercise sovereign 

12 rights consistent with Article 77 of the 

13 1982 Convention; or 

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

15 under other international treaties, anad16 romous and catadromous stocks and highly 

17 migratory species listed in Annex I of the 

18 1982 Convention. 

19 ‘‘(9) FISHING ACTIVITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ac21 tivities’ means harvesting or processing fishery 

22 resources, or transhipping of fishery resources 

23 or products derived from fishery resources, or 

24 any other activity in preparation for, in support 


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1 of, or related to the harvesting of fishery re2 sources. 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac4 tivities’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) the actual or attempted searching 

6 for or catching or taking of fishery re7 sources; 

8 ‘‘(ii) any activity that can reasonably 

9 be expected to result in locating, catching, 

10 taking, or harvesting of fishery resources 

11 for any purpose; and 

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

13 of, or in preparation for, any activity de14 scribed in this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac16 tivities’ does not include any operation related 

17 to emergencies involving the health and safety 

18 of crew members or the safety of a vessel. 

19 ‘‘(10) FISHING VESSEL.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ves21 sel’ means a vessel that is or has been engaged 

22 in fishing activities. 

23 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ves24 sel’ includes a fish processing vessel or a vessel 

25 engaged in transshipment or any other activity 


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1 in preparation for or related to fishing activi2 ties, or in experimental or exploratory fishing 

3 activities. 

4 ‘‘(11) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Organiza5 tion’ means the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Orga6 nization provided for by Article V of the Convention. 

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

8 individual (whether or not a citizen or national of 

9 the United States), and any corporation, partner10 ship, association, or other entity (whether or not or11 ganized or existing under the laws of any State). 

12 ‘‘(13) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘Rep13 resentative’ means a United States Representative to 

14 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Scientific Council 

15 appointed under section 202. 

16 ‘‘(14) SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL.—The term ‘Sci17 entific Council’ means the Scientific Council pro18 vided for by Articles V, VI, and VII of the Conven19 tion. 

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

21 means the Secretary of Commerce. 

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

23 the several States of the United States, the District 

24 of Columbia, and any other commonwealth, terri25 tory, or possession of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(17) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans2 shipment’ means the unloading of all or any of the 

3 fishery resources on board a fishing vessel to an4 other fishing vessel either at sea or in port.’’. 

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

9 SEC. 10. QUOTA ALLOCATION PRACTICE. 

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


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Calendar No. 623 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2485 

A BILL 

To implement the Amendment to the Convention on 

September 28, 2007. west Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the NorthDECEMBER 8, 2014 

Reported without amendment 


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