[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.