III 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 229 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2007 
Received and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States 
should seek a review of compliance by all nations with 
the International Commission for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas’ conservation and management rec-
ommendations for Atlantic bluefin tuna and other spe-
cies, and should pursue strengthened conservation and 
management measures to facilitate the recovery of the 
Atlantic bluefin tuna, and for other purposes. 
Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and 
recreational fishery of the United States and many other 
countries; 
Whereas the International Convention for the Conservation of 
Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Conven-
tion’’) was signed in 1966; 
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Whereas the Convention established the International Com-
mission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (herein-
after referred to as ‘‘the Commission’’) to coordinate 
international research and develop conservation and man-
agement recommendations on Atlantic bluefin tuna and 
other highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean and 
the adjacent seas, including the Mediterranean Sea; 
Whereas in 1974, the Commission adopted its first conserva-
tion and management recommendation to ensure the sus-
tainability of Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlan-
tic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, while allowing for the 
maximum sustainable catch for food and other purposes; 
Whereas in 1981, for management purposes, the Commission 
adopted a working hypothesis of two Atlantic bluefin 
tuna stocks, with one occurring west of 45 degree west 
longitude (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘western Atlan-
tic stock’’) and the other occurring east of 45 degree west 
longitude (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘eastern Atlantic 
and Mediterranean stock’’); 
Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional 
and more restrictive conservation and management rec-
ommendations for the western Atlantic stock, and these 
recommendations have been implemented by nations fish-
ing west of 45 degree west longitude; 
Whereas despite adoption and full implementation of a 
science-based rebuilding program for the western Atlantic 
stock by countries fishing west of 45 degree west lon-
gitude, catches and catch rates remain very low; 
Whereas in contrast to the conservation and management 
measures implemented for the western Atlantic stock, 
total allowable catches for the eastern Atlantic and Medi-
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terranean stock have been consistently set at levels sig-
nificantly above scientific recommendations intended to 
maintain bluefin tuna populations at levels that will per-
mit the maximum sustainable catch; 
Whereas compliance with eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
stock quotas by parties to the Convention that harvest 
that stock has been very poor, most recently with har-
vests exceeding such total allowable catch levels by over 
50 percent for each of the last 4 years; 
Whereas poor management and compliance with rec-
ommendations for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterra-
nean stock are of grave concern because the condition of 
the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock could ad-
versely affect recovery of the western Atlantic stock due 
to mixing between the two stocks; 
Whereas recent scientific data shows considerable mixing of 
the two stocks and additional research on stock mixing 
will improve the understanding of the relationship be-
tween the two stocks and the fisheries for such stocks, 
which will assist in the management of these species 
throughout their ranges; 
Whereas poor data reporting on eastern Atlantic and Medi-
terranean stock quotas has frequently thwarted efforts by 
the Commission to assign quota overharvests to specific 
countries; 
Whereas many Commission members fishing east of 45 de-
gree west longitude do not comply with other Commission 
recommendations to control eastern Atlantic and Medi-
terranean bluefin tuna fisheries and conserve this over-
fished resource and, more generally, lack of compliance 
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with Commission recommendations is an ongoing prob-
lem; 
Whereas the Commission’s Standing Committee on Research 
and Statistics (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘SCRS’’) noted 
in its 2006 report that the fishing mortality rate for the 
eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock may be more 
than three times the level that would permit the stock to 
stabilize at the maximum sustainable catch level, and 
continuing to fish at the level of recent years ‘‘is expected 
to drive the spawning biomass to a very low level’’ giving 
‘‘rise to a high risk of fishery and stock collapse’’; 
Whereas the SCRS has recommended that the annual harvest 
levels for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin 
tuna be reduced from 32,000 metric tons to approxi-
mately 15,000 metric tons to halt decline of the resource 
and initiate recovery; 
Whereas in 2006, the Commission adopted the ‘‘Rec-
ommendation by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Re-
covery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and 
Mediterranean’’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Recovery 
Plan’’) containing a wide range of management and mon-
itoring and control measures designed to facilitate the re-
covery of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin 
tuna stock; and 
Whereas the Recovery Plan is inadequate and allows over-
fishing and stock decline to continue, and initial informa-
tion indicates that implementation of the plan in 2007 by 
many eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna- 
harvesting countries has been poor, reflecting a business- 
as-usual attitude from the countries harvesting this stock 
that is unacceptable in light of the 2006 SCRS assess-
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ment showing a high risk of a fishery and stock collapse: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the 
United States, through the International Commission for 
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter in this 
concurrent resolution referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’), 
should— 
(1) pursue a review and assessment of compli-
ance with conservation and management measures 
adopted by the Commission and in effect for the 
2006 eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin 
tuna fishery, occurring east of 45 degree west lon-
gitude, and other fisheries that are subject to the ju-
risdiction of the Commission, including data collec-
tion and reporting requirements; 
(2) seek to address noncompliance by nations 
with such measures through appropriate actions, in-
cluding, as appropriate, deducting a proportion of a 
future quota for a country to compensate for such 
country exceeding its quota in prior years; 
(3) pursue a meaningful discussion of the im-
plementation and effectiveness of the Commission 
recommendation 
entitled 
‘‘Recommendation 
by 
ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery Plan 
for Bluefin Tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Medi-
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