[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10936-S10937]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Snowe, 
        Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Collins, 
        Mrs. Murray, and Mrs. Boxer):
  S.J. Res. 17. A joint resolution directing the United States to 
initiate international discussions and take necessary steps with other 
Nations to negotiate an agreement for managing migratory and 
transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean; to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce a Senate joint 
resolution directing the United States to initiate efforts with other 
Nations to negotiate international agreements for managing migratory 
and transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean. As we have seen in 
far too many cases around the world, fish stocks can easily become 
depleted when the international community fails to develop effective, 
science based agreements for conserving and managing shared fish 
stocks. The goal of this resolution is to ensure that we do not repeat 
that same mistake with any commercial fisheries that develop in the 
Arctic Ocean.
  In many ways, the Arctic Ocean is the final frontier into which the 
world's commercial fisheries may expand. Currently, industrial fishing 
in this ocean has been limited by the distribution of fish habitat and 
the short duration of favorable fishing conditions, but that may change 
in the coming years. Scientific evidence suggests that as the world's 
climate changes, ocean temperature regimes may shift and cause many 
fish stocks to colonize new habitats in the Arctic Ocean.
  Similarly, fishing vessels may gain greater access to previously 
inhospitable areas of the Arctic.
  Taken together, these potential shifts may create favorable 
conditions for expanding commercial fisheries in the United States, 
Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and other nations that have access to 
the remote arctic waters.
  Having seen the fish stock declines that come when multiple nations 
target the same stocks without effective coordinated management, it is 
vital that these nations work together to prevent this outcome.
  Given the benefit of foresight and our ability to anticipate the need 
for international fisheries management systems in the Arctic, we must 
now begin the process of creating such a system before commercial 
fisheries become firmly established there.
  The North Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, the body 
that manages U.S. fisheries in the North Pacific, recognizes the need 
to develop an effective management plan for Arctic Ocean fishing before 
significant fishing activity occurs. In June 2007, the council approved 
a proposal to close all Federal waters in the Arctic Ocean to fishing 
until they develop and implement a fisheries management plan. This 
action should serve as a signal to the rest of the United States and to 
all nations interested in Arctic Ocean fishing that sound conservation 
and management plans should be our top priority before moving forward 
to develop commercial fisheries there.
  This Senate joint resolution builds upon the efforts of the North 
Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council and takes it a step 
further by calling on the United States to lead international efforts 
to develop international fisheries management agreements for the Arctic 
Ocean. Such agreements should promote management systems for member 
nations that emphasize science-based limits on harvests, timely and 
accurate reporting of catch-and-trade data, equitable allocation and 
access systems, and effective monitoring and enforcement. These 
fisheries management principles are consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Amendments Act that was 
enacted last January and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement. Such 
principles are vital for preventing proliferation of illegal, 
unreported, and unregulated--what we call IUU--fishing which 
unfortunately continues to plague and undermine other international 
fisheries.
  This resolution contains other important provisions as well. While 
negotiating any agreements for the arctic fisheries, the United States 
should consult with the North Pacific Regional Fishery Management 
Council and Alaska Native subsistence communities in the Arctic. And, 
of course, consistent with the President's October 2006 Memorandum on 
Promoting Sustainable Fisheries and Ending Destructive Fishing 
Practices, this resolution calls on the United States to support 
international efforts to halt the expansion of commercial fisheries on 
the high seas of the Arctic Ocean until effective international 
agreements are enforced.
  On behalf of Alaska's subsistence and commercial fishing communities 
and the organizations that work to sustain our fisheries, I thank the 
many cosponsors of this resolution for sharing our great concern for 
sound fisheries management.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
placed in the Record, as follows:

                            S. Joint Res. 17

       Whereas the decline of several commercially valuable fish 
     stocks throughout the world's oceans highlights the need for 
     fishing nations to conserve fish stocks and develop 
     management systems that promote fisheries sustainability;
       Whereas fish stocks are migratory throughout their 
     habitats, and changing ocean conditions can restructure 
     marine habitats and redistribute the species dependent on 
     those habitats;
       Whereas changing global climate regimes may increase ocean 
     water temperature, creating suitable new habitats in areas 
     previously too cold to support certain fish stocks, such as 
     the Arctic Ocean;
       Whereas habitat expansion and migration of fish stocks into 
     the Arctic Ocean and the potential for vessel docking and 
     navigation in the Arctic Ocean could create conditions 
     favorable for establishing and expanding commercial fisheries 
     in the future;
       Whereas commercial fishing has occurred in several regions 
     of the Arctic Ocean, including the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, 
     Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Greenland Sea, although 
     fisheries scientists have only limited data on current and 
     projected future fish stock abundance and distribution 
     patterns throughout the Arctic Ocean;
       Whereas remote indigenous communities in all nations that 
     border the Arctic Ocean engage in limited, small scale 
     subsistence fishing and must maintain access to and 
     sustainability of this fishing in order to survive;
       Whereas many of these communities depend on a variety of 
     other marine life for social, cultural and subsistence 
     purposes, including marine mammals and seabirds that may be 
     adversely affected by climate change, and emerging fisheries 
     in the Arctic should take into account the social, economic, 
     cultural and subsistence needs of these small coastal 
     communities;
       Whereas managing for fisheries sustainability requires that 
     all commercial fishing be conducted in accordance with 
     science-based limits on harvest, timely and accurate 
     reporting of catch data, equitable allocation and access 
     systems, and effective monitoring and enforcement systems;
       Whereas migratory fish stocks traverse international 
     boundaries between the exclusive economic zones of fishing 
     nations and the high seas, and ensuring sustainability of 
     fisheries targeting these stocks requires management systems 
     based on international coordination and cooperation;

[[Page S10937]]

       Whereas international fishing treaties and agreements 
     provide a framework for establishing rules to guide 
     sustainable fishing activities among those nations that are 
     parties to the agreement, and regional fisheries management 
     organizations provide international fora for implementing 
     these agreements and facilitating international cooperation 
     and collaboration;
       Whereas under its authorities in the Magnuson-Stevens 
     Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the North Pacific 
     Fishery Management Council has proposed that the United 
     States close all Federal waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort 
     Seas to commercial fishing until a fisheries management plan 
     is fully developed; and
       Whereas future commercial fishing and fisheries management 
     activities in the Arctic Ocean should be developed through a 
     coordinated international framework, as provided by 
     international treaties or regional fisheries management 
     organizations, and this framework should be implemented 
     before significant commercial fishing activity expands to the 
     high seas: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, by the Senate and the House of Representatives in 
     Congress assembled That--
       (1) the United States should initiate international 
     discussions and take necessary steps with other Arctic 
     nations to negotiate an agreement or agreements for managing 
     migratory, transboundary, and straddling fish stocks in the 
     Arctic Ocean and establishing a new international fisheries 
     management organization or organizations for the region;
       (2) the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant to 
     paragraph (1) should conform to the requirements of the 
     United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and contain mechanisms, 
     inter alia, for establishing catch and bycatch limits, 
     harvest allocations, observers, monitoring, data collection 
     and reporting, enforcement, and other elements necessary for 
     sustaining future Arctic fish stocks;
       (3) as international fisheries agreements are negotiated 
     and implemented, the United States should consult with the 
     North Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and Alaska 
     Native subsistence communities of the Arctic; and
       (4) until the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant 
     to paragraph (1) come into force and measures consistent with 
     the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement are in effect, the 
     United States should support international efforts to halt 
     the expansion of commercial fishing activities in the high 
     seas of the Arctic Ocean.

     

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