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 regard-
ing actions to stop the poaching of valuable marine re-
sources 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 re-
turning to their spawning streams;
Whereas United States and Russian fisheries enforcement
personnel have intercepted and seized fishing vessels fish-
ing illegally in United States and Russian waters;
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Whereas United States fisheries enforcement personnel spot-
ted 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 enforce-
ment personnel detected and pursued the Chinese-flagged
vessel TAI SHENG for fishing using illegal driftnets esti-
mated to be more than 9 miles long;
Whereas on June 1, 1998, United States fisheries enforce-
ment personnel intercepted and boarded the Chinese-
flagged 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 at-
tempted 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 thou-
sands of valuable fish;
Whereas upon boarding the vessel ZONG LONG–37, the
Russians seized 50 tons of illegally caught fish and con-
fiscated nearly 60 miles of driftnet;
Whereas these driftnets, or ‘‘walls of death’’, are nearly invis-
ible, miles-long monofilament nets that are placed just
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below the surface of the open seas for the purpose of en-
tangling fish and other marine resources;
Whereas the best scientific data indicates large-scale high
seas driftnets have incidentally killed thousands of endan-
gered sea turtles, hundreds of thousands of marine mam-
mals, 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
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the United States and Russian fisheries en-
forcement agencies and personnel should be com-
mended for maintaining an enforcement presence in
the Bering Sea, and for taking the necessary action
to stop the poaching of valuable marine resources
and use of illegal high seas driftnets in the Bering
Sea; and
(2) this action will send a strong signal to the
fishermen of the People’s Republic of China and
other nations that the illegal use of high seas
driftnets will not be tolerated and must stop.
Æ