IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 470

To express the sense of the House of Representatives regarding actions

to stop the poaching of valuable marine resources and use of illegal

high seas driftnets in the Bering Sea.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 15, 1998

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska submitted the following resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on Resources

RESOLUTION

To express the sense of the House of Representatives regarding actions to stop the poaching of valuable marine resources and use of illegal high seas driftnets in the

Bering Sea.

Whereas the number of vessels detected using illegal high

seas driftnets has been increasing in recent years;

Whereas salmon fishermen fishing off the coast of Alaska in

1997 noticed an unusual number of net-marked fish returning to their spawning streams;

Whereas United States and Russian fisheries enforcement

personnel have intercepted and seized fishing vessels fishing illegally in United States and Russian waters;
2

HRES 470 IH

Whereas United States fisheries enforcement personnel spotted as many as 5 vessels fishing with illegal gear or in

territorial waters of Russia without authorization;

Whereas on May 28, 1998, United States fisheries enforcement personnel detected and pursued the Chinese-flagged

vessel TAI SHENG for fishing using illegal driftnets estimated to be more than 9 miles long;

Whereas on June 1, 1998, United States fisheries enforcement personnel intercepted and boarded the Chineseflagged vessel SHAN YU–16 for illegally using driftnets

for harvesting salmon;

Whereas on May 26, 1998, fisheries enforcement personnel

from the Russian Federal Border Guard Service attempted to inspect and detain a Chinese-flagged fishing

vessel, ZONG LONG–37, for illegally harvesting fish

using high seas driftnets within Russian waters in the

Bering Sea;

Whereas the fisheries enforcement personnel of the Russian

Federal Border Guard Service made repeated efforts to

stop the vessel ZONG LONG–37 for inspection off the

Kamchatka Peninsula and those efforts were ignored by

the 26-member Chinese crew;

Whereas illegal fishing practices have occurred in the strait

separating Russia and the People’s Republic of China on

many occasions, causing the irreplaceable loss of thousands of valuable fish;

Whereas upon boarding the vessel ZONG LONG–37, the

Russians seized 50 tons of illegally caught fish and confiscated nearly 60 miles of driftnet;

Whereas these driftnets, or ‘‘walls of death’’, are nearly invisible, miles-long monofilament nets that are placed just
3

HRES 470 IH

below the surface of the open seas for the purpose of entangling fish and other marine resources;

Whereas the best scientific data indicates large-scale high

seas driftnets have incidentally killed thousands of endangered sea turtles, hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, and millions of nontargeted fisheries;

Whereas high seas driftnets have been banned on a global

basis since June 30, 1992, with the adoption of United

Nations Resolution 44–225; and

Whereas the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the

actions of their border guards were fully justified in light

of the ‘‘clear infringements of the economic regime and

illegal poaching’’: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that—

3 (1) the United States and Russian fisheries en4 forcement agencies and personnel should be com5 mended for maintaining an enforcement presence in

6 the Bering Sea, and for taking the necessary action

7 to stop the poaching of valuable marine resources

8 and use of illegal high seas driftnets in the Bering

9 Sea; and

10 (2) this action will send a strong signal to the

11 fishermen of the People’s Republic of China and

12 other nations that the illegal use of high seas

13 driftnets will not be tolerated and must stop.

Æ