[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 135 Reported in House (RH)]
House Calendar No. 109
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 135
[Report No. 103-317]
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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling for the United States to take further steps to establish an
international fishery agreement for conservation and management of
living marine resources in international waters of the Bering Sea known
as the Donut Hole.
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November 2, 1993
Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed
House Calendar No. 109
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 135
[Report No. 103-317]
Calling for the United States to take further steps to establish an
international fishery agreement for conservation and management of
living marine resources in international waters of the Bering Sea known
as the Donut Hole.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 5, 1993
Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself, Mr. Studds, Mr. Manton, Mr. Fields of
Texas, and Mr. Saxton) submitted the following concurrent resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries
November 2, 1993
Additional sponsors: Mrs. Unsoeld, Ms. Furse, Ms. Cantwell, Mr.
Gunderson, Mr. Klug, Mr. Bateman, Mr. Torkildsen, Mr. Taylor of North
Carolina, Mr. Coble, Mr. Hutto, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Weldon, Mr. Ravenel,
Mr. Hughes, Mr. Lancaster, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Laughlin, Mrs. Fowler,
Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Hamburg, Mr. Inhofe, Mr.
Ortiz, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Pickett, Mr. Kingston, Mr.
Ackerman, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Barlow, and Mr. Fish
November 2, 1993
Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling for the United States to take further steps to establish an
international fishery agreement for conservation and management of
living marine resources in international waters of the Bering Sea known
as the Donut Hole.
Whereas there exists a small, central enclave in the Bering Sea known as the
Donut Hole that is more than two hundred nautical miles seaward of the
baselines from which the breadth of the territorial seas of the United
States and the Russian Federation are measured and that encompasses less
than 10 percent of the Bering Sea;
Whereas the Donut Hole and surrounding areas have been part of one of the
world's most productive regions of fishing for important commercial
species;
Whereas one of the most highly valued fisheries is the Aleutian Basin pollock
stock which straddles the United States and Russian exclusive economic
zones and the Donut Hole but spawns only inside the exclusive economic
zones;
Whereas fishing in the Donut Hole for the Aleutian Basin pollock stock began
only in the mid-1980's and does not constitute a traditional high seas
fishery;
Whereas the past productivity of these fishery resources has resulted in their
overuse and their subsequent dramatic declines exemplified by the
harvest of Aleutian Basin pollock by fishermen from distant-water
fishing nations which has recently plummeted from a peak of
approximately one million four hundred thousand metric tons in 1989 to a
low of appoximately ten thousand metric tons in 1992;
Whereas in an effort to prevent the commercial extinction of the Aleutian Basin
pollock stock, the Russian Federation and the United States
substantially reduced, then suspended, domestic fisheries inside their
respective exclusive economic zones;
Whereas conservation of the fishery resources in the exclusive economic zones
has little success if similar conservation measures are not achieved in
the Donut Hole;
Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation have made significant
efforts with the distant-water fishing nations to negotiate effective
conservation and management arrangements for the Donut Hole;
Whereas the distant-water fishing nations refused to suspend operations until
the fishery collapsed and was no longer economically viable;
Whereas international law attempts to balance freedom of fishing in
international waters with the interests of the coastal states in
conserving and developing fish stocks within their own exclusive
economic zones and the interests of all nations in conserving the living
marine resources, but these efforts may not succeed due to the inherent
difficulty associated with establishing effective conservation,
management, and enforcement controls in international waters;
Whereas international negotiations have not yet succeeded in reaching a
permanent means to control fishing in the Donut Hole despite continuing
attempts to resolve the issues since the 1980's;
Whereas on April 4, 1993, at the Vancouver Summit, the Presidents of the United
States and the Russian Federation agreed, inter alia, ``to develop
bilateral fisheries cooperation in the Bering Sea, the North Pacific,
and the Sea of Okhotsk for the purpose of preservation and reproduction
of living marine resources and of monitoring the ecosystem of the North
Pacific Ocean'';
Whereas the Congress of the United States has passed the Central Bering Sea
Fisheries Enforcement Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-582) which denies port
privileges to those vessels that violate international agreements
concerning Central Bering Sea fishery resources;
Whereas the collaborative conservation efforts of the United States, Russian
Federation, and distant-water fishing nations will provide enhanced
fishery resources;
Whereas delegates from the People's Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of
Korea, the Republic of Poland, the Russian Federation, and the United
States signed a joint resolution at the Fifth Conference on the
Conservation and Management of the Living Marine Resources of the
Central Bering Sea on August 14, 1992, which provided for a temporary
suspension of all commercial fishing in the Donut Hole during 1993 and
1994;
Whereas these delegations met most recently in Tokyo in June, 1993, to negotiate
a long-term management agreement for the Donut Hole and were not able to
finalize such an agreement; and
Whereas delegates from each of these nations have expressed their consensus
concerns for the long-term conservation and management of the fishery
resources of the Donut Hole: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the United States should take appropriate measures to
conserve the resources of the Donut Hole;
(2) the United States should continue its pursuit of an
international agreement, consistent with its rights as a
coastal state, to ensure proper management for future
commercial viability of these natural resources;
(3) the United States, working closely with the Russian
Federation should, in accordance with international law and
through multilateral consultations or through other means,
promote effective international programs for the implementation
and enforcement of regulations of the fisheries by those
nations that fish in the Donut Hole;
(4) the United States nonetheless should be mindful of its
management responsibility in this regard and of its rights in
accordance with international law to fully utilize the stock
within its own exclusive economic zone;
(5) the United States should accept as an urgent duty the
need to conserve for future generations the Aleutian Basin
pollock stock and should carry out that duty by taking all
necessary measures, in accordance with international law; and
(6) the United States should foster further multilateral
cooperation leading to international consensus on management of
the Donut Hole resources through the fullest use of diplomatic
channels and appropriate domestic and international law and
should explore all other available options and means for
conservation and management of these living marine resources.