II 

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 

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, 

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 Commission is 

20 designated’’; 

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

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

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

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1 SEC. 3. REQUESTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE. 

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

3 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

5 and inserting ‘‘A Representative may’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘described in subsection 

7 (b)(1) or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘described in para8 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b)’’; and 

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

10 and inserting ‘‘the Representative has’’; 

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

12 and inserting ‘‘VII(10)(b)’’; and 

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

14 and inserting ‘‘VII(11)’’. 

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY OF STATE WITH RE16 SPECT TO CONVENTION. 

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

18 ‘‘Fisheries Commission’’ each place it appears and insert19 ing ‘‘Commission consistent with the procedures detailed 

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

21 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION. 

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

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—In car25 rying out the provisions of the Convention and this Act, 

26 the Secretary may arrange for cooperation with— 

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1 ‘‘(1) any department, agency, or instrumen2 tality of the United States; 

3 ‘‘(2) a State; 

4 ‘‘(3) a Council; or 

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

6 SEC. 6. PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES. 

7 Section 207 (16 U.S.C. 5606) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘fish’’ wherever it appears and inserting ‘‘fishery re9 sources’’. 

10 SEC. 7. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. 

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

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

13 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

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

15 follows— 

16 ‘‘SEC. 210. DEFINITIONS. 

17 ‘‘In this Act— 

18 ‘‘(1) 1982 CONVENTION.—The term ‘1982 Con19 vention’ means the United Nations Convention on 

20 the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. 

21 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 

22 The term ‘authorized enforcement officer’ means a 

23 person authorized to enforce this Act, any regulation 

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

25 binding on the United States under the Convention. 

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

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

3 XIV, and XV of the Convention. 

4 ‘‘(4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis5 sioner’ means a United States Commissioner to the 

6 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization appointed 

7 under section 202. 

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

9 means the Convention on Cooperation in the North10 west Atlantic Fisheries, as adopted at Lisbon on 

11 September 28, 2007. 

12 ‘‘(6) CONVENTION AREA.—The term ‘Conven13 tion Area’ means the waters of the Northwest Atlan14 tic Ocean north of 35°00’ N and west of a line ex15 tending due north from 35°00’ N and 42°00’ W to 

16 59°00’ N, thence due west to 44°00’ W, and thence 

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

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

19 Bay south of 78°10’ N. 

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

21 New England Fishery Management Council or the 

22 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 

23 ‘‘(8) FISHERY RESOURCES.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishery re2 sources’ means all fish, mollusks, and crusta3 ceans within the Convention Area. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishery re5 sources’ does not include— 

6 ‘‘(i) sedentary species over which 

7 coastal States may exercise sovereign 

8 rights consistent with Article 77 of the 

9 1982 Convention; or 

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

11 under other international treaties, anad12 romous and catadromous stocks and highly 

13 migratory species listed in Annex I of the 

14 1982 Convention. 

15 ‘‘(9) FISHING ACTIVITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ac17 tivities’ means harvesting or processing fishery 

18 resources, or transhipping of fishery resources 

19 or products derived from fishery resources, or 

20 any other activity in preparation for, in support 

21 of, or related to the harvesting of fishery re22 sources. 

23 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac24 tivities’ includes— 

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1 ‘‘(i) the actual or attempted searching 

2 for or catching or taking of fishery re3 sources; 

4 ‘‘(ii) any activity that can reasonably 

5 be expected to result in locating, catching, 

6 taking, or harvesting of fishery resources 

7 for any purpose; and 

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

9 of, or in preparation for, any activity de10 scribed in this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ac12 tivities’ does not include any operation related 

13 to emergencies involving the health and safety 

14 of crew members or the safety of a vessel. 

15 ‘‘(10) FISHING VESSEL.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fishing ves17 sel’ means a vessel that is or has been engaged 

18 in fishing activities. 

19 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fishing ves20 sel’ includes a fish processing vessel or a vessel 

21 engaged in transshipment or any other activity 

22 in preparation for or related to fishing activi23 ties, or in experimental or exploratory fishing 

24 activities. 

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1 ‘‘(11) ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Organiza2 tion’ means the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Orga3 nization provided for by Article V of the Convention. 

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

5 individual (whether or not a citizen or national of 

6 the United States), and any corporation, partner7 ship, association, or other entity (whether or not or8 ganized or existing under the laws of any State). 

9 ‘‘(13) REPRESENTATIVE.—The term ‘Rep10 resentative’ means a United States Representative to 

11 the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Scientific Council 

12 appointed under section 202. 

13 ‘‘(14) SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL.—The term ‘Sci14 entific Council’ means the Scientific Council pro15 vided for by Articles V, VI, and VII of the Conven16 tion. 

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

18 means the Secretary of Commerce. 

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

20 the several States of the United States, the District 

21 of Columbia, and any other commonwealth, terri22 tory, or possession of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(17) TRANSSHIPMENT.—The term ‘trans24 shipment’ means the unloading of all or any of the 

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1 fishery resources on board a fishing vessel to an2 other fishing vessel either at sea or in port.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

7 SEC. 10. QUOTA ALLOCATION PRACTICE. 

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

Æ 

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