III
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 295
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
OCTOBER 6 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994
Received
OCTOBER 8 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To express the sense of the Congress of the United States
that the United States should actively seek compliance
by all countries with the conservation and management
measures for Atlantic bluefin tuna adopted by the Inter-
national Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas.
Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and
recreational fishery of the United States;
Whereas many other countries also harvest Atlantic bluefin
tuna in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;
Whereas the International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred to as the Commis-
sion), was established in 1969 to develop conservation
and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin
tuna and other highly migratory species in the Atlantic
Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea;
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Whereas the NAS review also found that abundance of Atlan-
tic bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic has remained sta-
ble since 1988, in contrast to the roughly 50 percent de-
cline in abundance reported by the Commission;
Whereas the continued unrestricted harvesting of Atlantic
bluefin tuna east of the 45 degree line and in the Medi-
terranean Sea will undermine the Commission’s rec-
ommendations being implemented west of the line to re-
build Atlantic bluefin tuna; and
Whereas, in order to successfully rebuild the Atlantic bluefin
tuna stock, conservation and management recommenda-
tions must be adopted and implemented throughout the
Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), 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 conservation and manage-
ment of Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlan-
tic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and develop a pro-
gram to rebuild Atlantic bluefin tuna that requires
the participation of all nations that harvest this
species;
(2) the United States should ensure that the
scientific findings and recommendations of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences Atlantic bluefin tuna re-
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view panel are made available to and included in the
considerations of the Commission’s scientific advi-
sory panel;
(3) the United States should oppose any further
quota reductions for nations harvesting Atlantic
bluefin tuna west of the 45 degree line and insist
that all nations harvesting Atlantic bluefin tuna west
and east of the 45 degree line implement comparable
conservation and rebuilding programs for the Atlan-
tic bluefin tuna resource;
(4) the continued harvesting by fishermen from
any country which is a member of the Commission
and which does not comply with the conservation
and management recommendations of the Commis-
sion will be considered by the Congress to diminish
the effectiveness of an international fishery con-
servation program and, as such, will be considered
by the Congress to be subject to the embargo provi-
sion in Section 6 of the Atlantic Tunas Convention
Act;
(5) the United States should encourage other
nations with significant markets for Atlantic bluefin
tuna to prohibit the importation of that species from
harvesting nations which do not comply with the
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conservation and management recommendations
adopted by the Commission; and
(6) the United States should encourage the
Commission to adopt recommendations authorizing
the use of discretionary trade actions as enforcement
measures when the actions of a nation are under-
mining the effectiveness of conservation and man-
agement recommendations of the Commission.
Passed the House of Representatives October 5,
1994.
Attest:
DONNALD K. ANDERSON,
Clerk.