[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 709 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 709

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should pursue 
 the adoption of bluefin tuna conservation and management measures at 
    the 16th Special Meeting of the International Commission on the 
                    Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2008

Mr. Kerry (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Reed, 
  Mr. Inouye, and Mr. Whitehouse) submitted the following resolution; 
     which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

                           November 20, 2008

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should pursue 
 the adoption of bluefin tuna conservation and management measures at 
    the 16th Special Meeting of the International Commission on the 
                    Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery is valuable commercially and 
        recreationally in 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's 2008 report recommended that the annual harvest 
        levels for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna be reduced 
        from 32,000 metric tons to 15,000 metric tons or less to halt decline of 
        the resource and initiate rebuilding;
Whereas the Standing Committee has stated that time and area closures could 
        greatly facilitate the implementation and monitoring of rebuilding 
        strategies and recommended a closure of the Mediterranean Sea in May, 
        June, and July, as well as a minimum size limit of 25 kilograms;
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 16th Special Meeting of the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, should--
            (1) pursue a meaningful assessment of Commission member 
        compliance with the ``Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a 
        Multi-Annual Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern 
        Atlantic and Mediterranean'' (Recommendation 06-05), including 
        seeking detailed explanations from Commission members that have 
        failed to effectively implement the terms of the 
        recommendation;
            (2) pursue the adoption by the Commission of measures 
        designed to eliminate non-compliance, 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 where appropriate, steps should be taken to link 
        non-compliance with reductions in fishery or market access;
            (3) seek a temporary suspension of the eastern Atlantic and 
        Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, including all trade, if 
        significant progress toward establishing science-based 
        management measures, improving monitoring and control measures, 
        and addressing compliance issues is not made at the Commission 
        this year;
            (4) 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, including reducing annual harvest levels so that 
        they do not exceed recommendations of the Standing Committee 
        and expanding the time and area closure for the Mediterranean 
        purse seine fleet to include May, June, and July; and
            (5) 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>