[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 17 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.J.Res.17

                       One Hundred Tenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and eight


                            Joint Resolution


 
 Directing the United States to initiate international discussions and 
 take necessary steps with other Nations to negotiate an agreement for 
  managing migratory and transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean.

Whereas the decline of several commercially valuable fish stocks 
  throughout the world's oceans highlights the need for fishing nations 
  to conserve fish stocks and develop management systems that promote 
  fisheries sustainability;
Whereas fish stocks are migratory throughout their habitats, and 
  changing ocean conditions can restructure marine habitats and 
  redistribute the species dependent on those habitats;
Whereas changing global climate regimes may increase ocean water 
  temperature, creating suitable new habitats in areas previously too 
  cold to support certain fish stocks, such as the Arctic Ocean;
Whereas habitat expansion and migration of fish stocks into the Arctic 
  Ocean and the potential for vessel docking and navigation in the 
  Arctic Ocean could create conditions favorable for establishing and 
  expanding commercial fisheries in the future;
Whereas commercial fishing has occurred in several regions of the 
  Arctic Ocean, including the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Beaufort Sea, 
  Chukchi Sea, and Greenland Sea, although fisheries scientists have 
  only limited data on current and projected future fish stock 
  abundance and distribution patterns throughout the Arctic Ocean;
Whereas remote indigenous communities in all nations that border the 
  Arctic Ocean engage in limited, small scale subsistence fishing and 
  must maintain access to and sustainability of this fishing in order 
  to survive;
Whereas many of these communities depend on a variety of other marine 
  life for social, cultural and subsistence purposes, including marine 
  mammals and seabirds that may be adversely affected by climate 
  change, and emerging fisheries in the Arctic should take into account 
  the social, economic, cultural and subsistence needs of these small 
  coastal communities;
Whereas managing for fisheries sustainability requires that all 
  commercial fishing be conducted in accordance with science-based 
  limits on harvest, timely and accurate reporting of catch data, 
  equitable allocation and access systems, and effective monitoring and 
  enforcement systems;
Whereas migratory fish stocks traverse international boundaries between 
  the exclusive economic zones of fishing nations and the high seas, 
  and ensuring sustainability of fisheries targeting these stocks 
  requires management systems based on international coordination and 
  cooperation;
Whereas international fishing treaties and agreements provide a 
  framework for establishing rules to guide sustainable fishing 
  activities among those nations that are parties to the agreement, and 
  regional fisheries management organizations provide international 
  fora for implementing these agreements and facilitating international 
  cooperation and collaboration;
Whereas under its authorities in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
  Conservation and Management Act, the North Pacific Fishery Management 
  Council has proposed that the United States close all Federal waters 
  in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to commercial fishing until a 
  fisheries management plan is fully developed; and
Whereas future commercial fishing and fisheries management activities 
  in the Arctic Ocean should be developed through a coordinated 
  international framework, as provided by international treaties or 
  regional fisheries management organizations, and this framework 
  should be implemented before significant commercial fishing activity 
  expands to the high seas: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That
        (1) the United States should initiate international discussions 
    and take necessary steps with other Arctic nations to negotiate an 
    agreement or agreements for managing migratory, transboundary, and 
    straddling fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean and establishing a new 
    international fisheries management organization or organizations 
    for the region;
        (2) the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant to 
    paragraph (1) should conform to the requirements of the United 
    Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and contain mechanisms, inter alia, 
    for establishing catch and bycatch limits, harvest allocations, 
    observers, monitoring, data collection and reporting, enforcement, 
    and other elements necessary for sustaining future Arctic fish 
    stocks;
        (3) as international fisheries agreements are negotiated and 
    implemented, the United States should consult with the North 
    Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and Alaska Native 
    subsistence communities of the Arctic; and
        (4) until the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant to 
    paragraph (1) come into force and measures consistent with the 
    United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement are in effect, the United 
    States should support international efforts to halt the expansion 
    of commercial fishing activities in the high seas of the Arctic 
    Ocean.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.