[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 169 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        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 recreational 
  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 sustainability 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 recommendations for Atlantic bluefin 
  tuna adopted by the Commission 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 recommendations 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;
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 management recommendations adopted 
  by the Commission: 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 and the International Commission for the 
    Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter referred to as the 
    ``Commission'') should continue to promote the conservation and 
    management of highly migratory species, including 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 conservation 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 Mediterranean 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 
    Mediterranean Sea for Atlantic bluefin tuna or another highly 
    migratory 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 management 
    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 Atlantic bluefin tuna 
    delineated by the line 45 degrees west longitude; and
        (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.