[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 158 (Wednesday, November 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14558-S14559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BREAUX (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Shelby, 
        Mr. Kerry, Mr. Sessions, and Ms. Landrieu):
  S. 1911. A bill to conserve Atlantic highly migratory species of 
fish, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.


                 ATLANTIC HIGHLY MIGRATORY SPECIES ACT

 Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President, I rise today to send to the desk a 
bill that is called the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Act of 1999. 
The legislation cosponsored by Senators Snowe, Hollings, Shelby, Kerry, 
Sessions and Landrieu results from a far reaching conservation 
agreement among four key recreational and commercial fishing 
organizations. These organizations include the Billfish Foundation, the 
Coastal Conservation Association, the American Sportfishing Association 
and the Blue Water Fishermen's Association.
  The legislation will prohibit pelagic long line fishing for 
designated months each year in U.S. waters determined to be swordfish 
nursery and billfish bycatch areas based on extensive analyses of the 
best available science. Based upon the effectiveness of this type of 
management strategy in other U.S. fisheries, I am optimistic about the 
benefits that can come from the legislation.
  Mr. President, the legislation has three major components that I 
would like to briefly outline.
  First, the bill would prohibit pelagic longline fishing for certain 
months each year in U.S. waters where swordfish and billfish are caught 
with other fish. Essentially, more than 160,000 square nautical miles 
in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico would become a conservation 
area to rebuild populations of swordfish, sailfish, tuna, marlin and 
sharks.
  Recognizing the economic impact on commercial fishermen, the 
legislation provides a fair and equitable program for longline vessel 
owners who are adversely impacted by the fishing prohibition. Funding 
of the permit buyback program would come through a partnership of the 
recreational and commercial fishing industries and federal funds.
  The bill also directs the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
conduct a comprehensive research program in cooperation with the U.S. 
longline fleet to identify and test a variety of longline gear 
configurations to determine which are the most effective at reducing 
billfish bycatch in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
  I believe that a true solution to the bycatch issue will require 
international cooperation. Ironically, next week the U.S. Commissioners 
to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 
(ICCAT) will be meeting in Brazil to consider many challenging issues, 
including a rebuilding plan for the north Atlantic stock of swordfish.
  Under the bill we introduce today, we are taking a bold first step to 
address the problems in our own coastal waters. I am confident that 
this first step will serve as an example to the international community 
on focusing much needed attention to this important issue.
 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise today to join my 
colleague, Senator Breaux, in introducing the Atlantic Highly Migratory 
Species Conservation Act of 1999. I am pleased to co-sponsor this 
legislative effort to promote conservation and bycatch reduction of 
small swordfish, billfish, and other highly migratory species.
  The Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Conservation Act would create 
time-area closures for pelagic longline fishing along 160,000 miles of 
the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico coasts. These closures include the 
three major spawning areas where a significant portion of juvenile 
swordfish and billfish bycatch mortality occurs. I am particularly 
pleased to see that these closures encompass the coastal waters of my 
home state of South Carolina and particularly a highly productive 
swordfish spawning and nursery ground, the Charleston Bump. In 
conjunction with the closures, the bill would reduce fishing capacity 
by retiring approximately 68 longline vessels from the commercial 
fishery through a fair and equitable program funded by the federal 
government and the recreational and commercial fishing industries. In 
addition, the Act would establish a research program, in conjunction 
with the National Marine Fisheries Service, to study longline gear and 
potential gear improvements. All too frequently we are forced to make 
fisheries management decisions with too little information; these 
research provisions will provide data crucial for management of highly 
migratory species.
  The current proposal results from arduous work and negotiation among 
commercial and recreational fishing groups including the Coastal 
Conservation Association, the American Sportsfishing Association, the 
Billfish Foundation, and the Blue Water Fisherman's Association. I 
commend these groups for their cooperation in developing this truly 
constructive conservation plan based on extensive analyses of the best 
available science. I also approve of their effort to make this bill 
consistent with the principles governing capacity reduction established 
in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
  The introduction of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species 
Conservation Act of 1999 couldn't come at a better time. Many of the 
highly migratory

[[Page S14559]]

species, including North Atlantic swordfish, are currently overfished. 
The National Marine Fisheries Service reports that billfish and some 
shark and tuna species are at all-time lows in abundance as a result of 
longline fishing bycatch and widespread disregard for international 
rules by commercial fishermen of other nations. The international 
management body for highly migratory species, the International 
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), recently 
expressed concern about the high catches and discards of small 
swordfish and emphasized that future gains in yield could accrue if 
fishing mortality on small fish could be reduced. Further, ICCAT 
encouraged member nations to consider alternative methods such as time/
area closures to aid rebuilding of highly migratory stocks. I commend 
Senator Breaux for attempting to establish such areas domestically, and 
hope that we can serve as a model for other nations.
  While this legislation can result in important conservation 
achievements, we must also employ other means to protect and rebuild 
our highly migratory species such as swordfish. Next week, ICCAT will 
convene in Rio de Janero, Brazil to determine new international 
management measures for Atlantic swordfish. The United States must 
supplement Senator Breaux's proposal by securing an agreement at ICCAT 
that will reduce catches by all member nations sufficient to allow the 
North Atlantic swordfish population to recover within ten years or 
less--a goal that scientists tell us can only be achieved if we count 
discarded dead swordfish against the catch quotas. In addition, I am 
certain that Senator Breaux's effort to reduce bycatch and establish 
time-area closures will serve as a powerful example to the 
international community of a responsible method for sustaining and 
restoring highly migratory species.
  I applaud my colleague and the other architects of this ambitious 
conservation effort and look forward to working with Senator Breaux and 
other cosponsors to ensure that this legislation is part of an 
effective national plan that ensures recovery of the North Atlantic 
swordfish stock within 10 years in a manner consistent with the goals 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I rise today to co-sponsor a bill 
introduced by Mr. Breaux, that is called the Atlantic Highly Migratory 
Species Act of 1999.
  This legislation closes large areas to longline gear, including the 
important spawning areas where juvenile bycatch of swordfish and other 
billfish species are the highest. This legislation will also provide a 
fair and equitable program for longline vessel owners who are adversely 
impacted by the fishing prohibition. Funding of the permit buyback 
program would come through a partnership of the recreational and 
commercial fishing industries and federal funds. Lastly, this 
legislation directs the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct a 
comprehensive research program in cooperation with the U.S. longline 
fleet to identify and test a variety of longline gear configurations to 
determine which are the most effective at reducing billfish bycatch in 
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
  We are introducing this legislation at an important time. It will 
serve as an example to show the international community at next week's 
negotiations in Brazil, at the International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), that the U.S. embraces use of 
time-area closures to help swordfish recover.
  I believe that this legislation will serve as one prong, of a two-
prong U.S. strategy in international negotiations on swordfish quotas 
that ensures the total mortality of swordfish, including discards, is 
limited to levels that will allow the stock to recover in 10 years.
  I look forward to working with Mr. Breaux and other cosponsors of the 
bill to ensure that this legislation is both consistent with the 
principles of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and part of an effective 
national plan to ensure recovery of the North Atlantic swordfish stock 
within 10 years.
                                 ______