[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 17 Referred in House (RFH)]
1st Session
S. J. RES. 17
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 5, 2007
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
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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.
Passed the Senate October 4, 2007.
Attest:
NANCY ERICKSON,
Secretary.