[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 76 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SIGNING OF CENTRAL BERING SEA AGREEMENT

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am pleased to announce that an 
international fishing treaty was signed today to protect fishery 
resources in the Central Bering Sea area known as the Doughnut Hole.
  This treaty, called the ``Convention on the Conservation and 
Management of Pollock Resources in the Central Bering Sea,'' was signed 
by the United States, Russia, China, and Korea.
  The State Department informs me that Japan and Poland also intend to 
sign the treaty, but they were not able to be at the ceremony this 
morning.
  The treaty creates a long-term agreement to protect one of the 
world's greatest fish resources, the Aleutian Basin pollock.
  It will also stop foreign fishermen from using the Doughnut as a 
staging area for illegal raids into the U.S. 200-mile zone.
  The treaty is a tremendous precedent-setting agreement.
  It allows the United States and Russia, as the coastal states to the 
Central Bering Sea, to set the harvest levels for an area of 
international waters and to board vessels suspected of violating the 
agreement in these waters.
  My colleagues helped get this process started in 1988 by unanimously 
supporting my resolution calling for a moratorium on fishing in the 
Doughnut Hole.
  My resolution led to the beginning of the negotiations by the nations 
who have now agreed to the treaty.
  In 1992 these six countries agreed to 2-year voluntary moratorium 
after the President signed into law my Central Bering Sea Enforcement 
Act.
  This act provided for automatic sanctions against fishing vessels 
from nations that continued to fish in the Doughnut Hole in the absence 
of an international agreement.
  In 1993, Congress unanimously passed Congressman Young's legislation 
reaffirming our determination to conclude an agreement in the Central 
Bering Sea.
  The State Department will soon submit the signed treaty to the Senate 
for final approval.
  I hope that the Senate will act quickly to approve this treaty, and 
that my colleagues will support me in passing any necessary 
implementing legislation.

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