[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 82 (Thursday, May 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6358-S6359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ENCOURAGING THE ELIMINATION OF HARMFUL FISHING SUBSIDIES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 208.

[[Page S6359]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 208) encouraging the elimination of 
     harmful fishing subsidies that contribute to overcapacity in 
     the world's commercial fishing fleet and lead to the 
     overfishing of global fish stocks.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to discuss the 
overcapitalization of the world's fishing fleets, which is being fueled 
by the subsidies foreign governments direct to their fishing 
industries. The problems caused by these subsidies affect not only our 
global fisheries resources, but also the coastal communities which 
depend upon them. I introduced a Senate resolution condemning these 
subsidies and the unsustainable fishing practices they enable.
  Fisheries resources--especially large predatory species and other 
commercially valuable fish stocks--have been overexploited by foreign 
industrial fishing fleets for years. As a result, these stocks have 
declined precipitously. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization 
of the United Nations estimates that one-quarter of global fish stocks 
are overexploited, depleted, or recovering from overexploitation.
  To a significant extent, the decline of fisheries resources around 
the world is intensified by the outdated and mistaken assumption--still 
held by many nations--that our oceans' productivity is infinite and 
that fish stocks can be harvested without consequence.
  In the United States, we know this is not the case. While we once 
used subsidies to increase our harvesting capacity, we have since 
eliminated this practice. Today, we have developed a fisheries 
management system which respects and conforms to the requirements of 
fisheries conservation. The Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the 
amendments added in January, continues to ensure our harvests are 
guided by science-based catch limits. These controls prevent 
overfishing and provide managers with the tools they need to limit 
entry and prevent overcapitalization.
  Unfortunately, sustainable fishing policies are not the norm among 
all fishing nations. Many countries with subsidized industrial fishing 
fleets have sought to exploit not only their own waters, but also the 
high seas. Fisheries in international waters are largely unregulated, 
but even where international management bodies do exist, these damaging 
practices are carried out in defiance of international quotas and other 
harvest limits. Not surprisingly, those countries engaged in illegal, 
unregulated, and unreported--or ``IUU'' fishing--are often the same 
ones that use subsidies to expand their fleets.
  These subsidies, and the IUU fishing associated with them, must end. 
Today, the capacity of the global fishing fleet is far greater than 
what is needed to catch the oceans' sustainable level of production. 
Subsidies also create an uneven playing field among fish trading 
countries by masking the true cost of fishing. To the economic 
detriment of the U.S. and other nonsubsidizing nations, up to one-
quarter of global fish trade is currently generated by subsidized 
fisheries. Ultimately, if nations are allowed to stay on this 
unsustainable path, fish stocks in the global ocean commons will be 
reduced even further.
  The United States, with the support of other countries opposed to 
subsidies, is now leading an international initiative against harmful 
fisheries subsidies. Last month, the United States Trade Representative 
presented a proposal to the World Trade Organization which would 
eliminate this type of subsidy among WTO members. This proposal, being 
negotiated in the Doha Development Round, holds great promise for 
ending those subsidies which distort trade, weaken economic conditions 
in fishing communities, and lead to IUU fishing and other unsustainable 
harvesting practices.
  This resolution condemns these harmful foreign fishing subsidies, and 
I urge each of my colleagues to give it their full support.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 208) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 208

       Whereas 2.6 billion people in the world get at least 20 
     percent of their total dietary animal protein intake from 
     fish;
       Whereas the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 
     Nations has found that 25 percent of the world's fish 
     population are currently overexploited, depleted, or 
     recovering from overexploitation;
       Whereas scientists have estimated that populations of many 
     large predator fish such as tuna, marlin, and swordfish have 
     been overfished by foreign industrial fishing fleets;
       Whereas the global fishing fleet capacity is estimated to 
     be considerably greater than is needed to catch what the 
     ocean can sustainably produce;
       Whereas the United States Congress recognized the threat of 
     overfishing to our oceans and economy and therefore included 
     the requirement to end overfishing in United States 
     commercial fisheries by 2011 in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
     Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 
     (Public Law 109-479);
       Whereas the United States Commission on Ocean Policy and 
     the Pew Oceans Commission identified overcapitalization of 
     the global commercial fishing fleets as a major contributor 
     to the decline of economically important fish populations;
       Whereas harmful foreign fishing subsidies encourage 
     overcapitalization and overfishing, support destructive 
     fishing practices that would not otherwise be economically 
     viable, and amount to $10 to $15 billion annually, an amount 
     equivalent to 20 to 25 percent of the global commercial trade 
     in fish;
       Whereas such subsidies have also been documented to support 
     illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, which impacts 
     commercial fisheries in the United States and around the 
     world both economically and ecologically;
       Whereas harmful fishing subsidies are concentrated in 
     relatively few countries, putting other fishing countries, 
     including the United States, at an economic disadvantage;
       Whereas the United States is a world leader in advancing 
     policies to eliminate harmful fishing subsidies that support 
     overcapacity and promote overfishing; and
       Whereas members of the World Trade Organization, as part of 
     the Doha Development Agenda (Doha Development Round), are 
     engaged in historic negotiations to end harmful fishing 
     subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate, That the United States should 
     continue to promote the elimination of harmful foreign 
     fishing subsidies that promote overcapitalization, 
     overfishing, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported 
     fishing.

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