[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 368 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
S. RES. 368

Expressing the sense of the Senate that, at the 20th Regular Meeting of 
the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the 
 United States should pursue a moratorium on the eastern Atlantic and 
Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery to ensure control of the fishery and 
     further facilitate recovery of the stock, pursue strengthened 
conservation and management measures to facilitate the recovery of the 
 Atlantic bluefin tuna, and seek a review of compliance by all Nations 
  with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic 
Tunas' conservation and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin 
            tuna and other species, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 6, 2007

   Mr. Kerry (for himself, Ms. Snowe, and Mr. Stevens) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that, at the 20th Regular Meeting of 
the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the 
 United States should pursue a moratorium on the eastern Atlantic and 
Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery to ensure control of the fishery and 
     further facilitate recovery of the stock, pursue strengthened 
conservation and management measures to facilitate the recovery of the 
 Atlantic bluefin tuna, and seek a review of compliance by all Nations 
  with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic 
Tunas' conservation and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin 
            tuna and other species, and for other purposes.

    Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and 
            recreational fishery of the United States and many other 
            countries;
    Whereas the International Convention for the Conservation of 
            Atlantic Tunas entered into force on March 21, 1969;
    Whereas the Convention established the International Commission for 
            the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to coordinate 
            international research and develop, implement, and enforce 
            compliance of the conservation and management 
            recommendations on the Atlantic bluefin tuna and other 
            highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean and the 
            adjacent seas, including the Mediterranean Sea;
    Whereas in 1974, the Commission adopted its first conservation and 
            management recommendation to ensure the sustainability of 
            Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout the Atlantic Ocean and 
            Mediterranean Sea, while allowing for the maximum 
            sustainable catch for food and other purposes;
    Whereas in 1981, for management purposes, the Commission adopted a 
            working hypothesis of 2 Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks, with 
            1 occurring west of 45 degrees west longitude (hereinafter 
            referred to as the ``western Atlantic stock'') and the 
            other occurring east of 45 degrees west longitude 
            (hereinafter referred to as the ``eastern Atlantic and 
            Mediterranean stock'');
    Whereas, despite scientific recommendations intended to maintain 
            bluefin tuna populations at levels that will permit the 
            maximum sustainable yield and ensure the future of the 
            stocks, the total allowable catch quotas have been 
            consistently set at levels significantly higher than the 
            recommended levels for the eastern Atlantic and 
            Mediterranean stock;
    Whereas despite the establishment by the Commission of fishing 
            quotas based on total allowable catch levels for the 
            eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery 
            that exceed scientific recommendations, compliance with 
            such quotas by parties to the Convention that harvest that 
            stock has been extremely poor, most recently with harvests 
            exceeding such total allowable catch levels by more than 50 
            percent for each of the last 4 years;
    Whereas insufficient data reporting in combination with unreliable 
            national catch statistics has frequently undermined efforts 
            by the Commission to assign quota overharvests to specific 
            countries;
    Whereas the failure of many Commission members fishing east of 45 
            degrees west longitude to comply with other Commission 
            recommendations to conserve and control the overfished 
            eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock has 
            been an ongoing problem;
    Whereas the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and 
            Statistics noted in its 2006 report that the fishing 
            mortality rate for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
            stock may be more than 3 times the level that would permit 
            the stock to stabilize at the maximum sustainable catch 
            level, and continuing to fish at the level of recent years 
            ``is expected to drive the spawning biomass to a very low 
            level'' giving ``rise to a high risk of fishery and stock 
            collapse'';
    Whereas the Standing Committee has recommended that the annual 
            harvest levels for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
            bluefin tuna be reduced from 32,000 metric tons to 
            approximately 15,000 metric tons to halt decline of the 
            resource and initiate rebuilding, and the United States 
            supported this recommendation at the 2006 Commission 
            meeting;
    Whereas in 2006, the Commission adopted the ``Recommendation by 
            ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin 
            Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean'' containing 
            a wide range of management, monitoring, and control 
            measures designed to facilitate the recovery of the eastern 
            Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock;
    Whereas the Recovery Plan is inadequate and allows overfishing and 
            stock decline to continue, and initial information 
            indicates that implementation of the plan in 2007 by many 
            eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna harvesting 
            countries has been poor;
    Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional and more 
            restrictive conservation and management recommendations for 
            the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock, and these 
            recommendations have been implemented by Nations fishing 
            west of 45 degrees west longitude, including the United 
            States;
    Whereas despite adopting, fully implementing, and complying with a 
            science-based rebuilding program for the western Atlantic 
            bluefin tuna stock by countries fishing west of 45 degrees 
            west longitude, catches and catch rates remain very low;
    Whereas many scientists believe that mixing occurs between the 
            western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock and the eastern 
            Atlantic and Mediterranean stock, and as such, poor 
            management and noncompliance with recommendations for one 
            stock are likely to have an adverse effect on the other 
            stock; and
    Whereas additional research on stock mixing will improve the 
            understanding of the relationship between eastern and 
            western bluefin tuna stocks and other fisheries, which will 
            assist in the conservation, recovery, and management of the 
            species throughout its range: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the United States 
delegation to the 20th Regular Meeting of the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, should--
            (1) seek the adoption of a harvesting moratorium, which 
        includes appropriate mechanisms to ensure compliance, on the 
        eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery of 
        sufficient duration to begin the process of stock recovery and 
        allow for the development and implementation of an effective 
        program of monitoring and control on the fishery when the 
        moratorium ends;
            (2) seek to strengthen the conservation and management of 
        the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna by making 
        recommendations to halt the decline of the stock and begin to 
        rebuild it;
            (3) reevaluate the implementation, effectiveness, and 
        relevance of the Commission recommendation entitled 
        ``Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual Recovery 
        Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and 
        Mediterranean'' (Recommendation 06-05), and seek from 
        Commission members that have failed to fully implement the 
        terms of the recommendations detailed justification for their 
        lack of compliance;
            (4) pursue a review and assessment of compliance with 
        conservation and management measures adopted by the Commission 
        and in effect for the 2006 eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
        bluefin tuna fishery, occurring east of 45 degrees west 
        longitude, and other fisheries that are subject to the 
        jurisdiction of the Commission, including data collection and 
        reporting requirements;
            (5) seek to address noncompliance by parties to the 
        Convention with such measures through appropriate actions, 
        including, as appropriate, deducting a portion of a future 
        quota for a party to compensate for such party exceeding its 
        quota in prior years; and
            (6) pursue additional research on the relationship between 
        the western Atlantic and eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
        bluefin tuna stocks and the extent to which the populations 
        intermingle.
                                 <all>