H. Con. Res. 169
Agreed to November 16, 1993
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and rec-
reational fishery of the United States;
Whereas many countries, including the United States, fish for
Atlantic bluefin tuna and other highly migratory species in the
Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’),
is the international entity established to adopt recommendations
and develop international agreements for the conservation and
management of Atlantic bluefin tuna and other highly migratory
species in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas in the last 25 years Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks have
declined from historic levels;
Whereas, for management purposes, the Commission has adopted
a working hypothesis of 2 stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna: a
western stock found in the Atlantic Ocean west of 45 degrees
west longitude (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘45 degree line’’),
and an eastern stock found in the Atlantic Ocean east of the
45 degree line and in the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas the existing scientific evidence is inconclusive with respect
to the working hypothesis of 2 stocks, the extent to which each
of the hypothesized stocks migrates across the 45 degree line
is unknown, and the 45 degree line is considered to be arbitrary;
Whereas the Commission adopted conservation and management
recommendations in 1974 to ensure the recovery and sustain-
ability of all Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlantic Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas, in recent years, the Commission has adopted additional,
more restrictive conservation and management recommendations
for Atlantic bluefin tuna, for countries that fish for Atlantic
bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line;
Whereas the United States and other countries that are members
of the Commission and that fish west of the 45 degree line
have implemented all conservation and management rec-
ommendations for Atlantic bluefin tuna adopted by the Commis-
sion that apply west of the 45 degree line;
Whereas many other countries that are members of the Commission
do not comply with conservation and management recommenda-
tions for Atlantic bluefin tuna adopted by the Commission that
apply east of the 45 degree line and in the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas this continuing failure to comply east of the 45 degree
line and in the Mediterranean Sea by countries that are members
of the Commission will undermine the recovery of Atlantic bluefin
tuna stocks;
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H. Con. Res. 169—2
Whereas recent large increases in the catch of Atlantic bluefin
tuna within 100 miles east of the 45 degree line by countries
that are members of the Commission could be having a negative
impact on the recovery of Atlantic bluefin tuna and probably
do not comply with recommendations of the Commission; and
Whereas countries that are not members of the Commission are
having a negative impact on the recovery of Atlantic bluefin
tuna stocks by fishing throughout the Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea without regard for conservation and manage-
ment recommendations adopted by the Commission: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the United States and the International Commission
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred
to as the ‘‘Commission’’) should continue to promote the con-
servation and management of highly migratory species, includ-
ing Atlantic bluefin tuna, throughout the Atlantic Ocean and
the Mediterranean Sea;
(2) the United States should obtain commitments through
the Commission, from all countries that are signatories to the
International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas and that are not in compliance with all of the conserva-
tion and management recommendations and agreements for
Atlantic bluefin tuna and other highly migratory species that
have been adopted by the Commission, that those countries
will immediately comply with those recommendations and
agreements;
(3) the United States should continue to encourage all
other countries that fish for Atlantic bluefin tuna or other
highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterra-
nean Sea to comply with the conservation and management
recommendations and agreements adopted for those species
by the Commission;
(4) if a country fishes in the Atlantic Ocean or the Medi-
terranean Sea for Atlantic bluefin tuna or another highly migra-
tory species without complying with the conservation and
management recommendations and agreements adopted by the
Commission for that species, such fishing will be considered
by the Congress to diminish the effectiveness of an international
fishery conservation program, and as such will be considered
by the Congress to be certifiable under section 8(a)(1) of the
Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1978(a)(1));
(5) the United States should encourage countries that have
significant markets for Atlantic bluefin tuna to prohibit the
importation of that species from other countries that fish for
that species without regard for the conservation and manage-
ment recommendations and agreements adopted by the
Commission;
(6) the United States should continue to explore, through
the Commission, the appropriateness of working hypotheses
of the Commission that stocks of highly migratory species in
the Atlantic Ocean can be delineated by lines of latitude or
longitude, including specifically that there are 2 stocks of Atlan-
tic bluefin tuna delineated by the line 45 degrees west lon-
gitude; and
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H. Con. Res. 169—3
(7) the United States should seek, through the Commission,
an agreement to ensure that if the Commission uses any line
to divide the stock of Atlantic bluefin tuna for management
purposes and adopts for that stock any conservation and
management recommendation or agreement for one side of
the line that is more restrictive than the conservation and
management recommendations and agreements adopted by the
Commission for that stock for the other side of the line, then
any fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna within 10 degrees of the
line shall be conducted in compliance with that more restrictive
recommendation or agreement.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.
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