[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13999-S14000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 368--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT, AT THE 
      20TH REGULAR MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE 
   CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC TUNAS, THE UNITED STATES SHOULD PURSUE A 
   MORATORIUM ON THE EASTERN ATLANTIC AND MEDITERRANEAN BLUEFIN TUNA 
    FISHERY TO ENSURE CONTROL OF THE FISHERY AND FURTHER FACILITATE 
RECOVERY OF THE STOCK, PURSUE STRENGTHENED CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT 
 MEASURES TO FACILITATE THE RECOVERY OF THE ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA, AND 
   SEEK A REVIEW OF COMPLIANCE BY ALL NATIONS WITH THE INTERNATIONAL 
  COMMISSION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC TUNAS' CONSERVATION AND 
MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATION FOR ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA AND OTHER SPECIES, 
                         AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. Snowe, and Mr. Stevens) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation:

                              S. Res. 368

       Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna are a valuable commercial and 
     recreational fishery of 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;

[[Page S14000]]

       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 has recommended that the 
     annual harvest levels for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
     bluefin tuna be reduced from 32,000 metric tons to 
     approximately 15,000 metric tons to halt decline of the 
     resource and initiate rebuilding, and the United States 
     supported this recommendation at the 2006 Commission meeting;
       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;
       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, by the Senate That it is the sense of the Senate 
     that the United States delegation to the 20th Regular Meeting 
     of the International Commission for the Conservation of 
     Atlantic Tunas, should--
       (1) seek the adoption of a harvesting moratorium, which 
     includes appropriate mechanisms to ensure compliance, on the 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery of 
     sufficient duration to begin the process of stock recovery 
     and allow for the development and implementation of an 
     effective program of monitoring and control on the fishery 
     when the moratorium ends;
       (2) 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;
       (3) reevaluate the implementation, effectiveness, and 
     relevance of the Commission recommendation entitled 
     ``Recommendation by ICCAT to Establish a Multi-Annual 
     Recovery Plan for Bluefin Tuna in the eastern Atlantic and 
     Mediterranean'' (Recommendation 06-05), and seek from 
     Commission members that have failed to fully implement the 
     terms of the recommendations detailed justification for their 
     lack of compliance;
       (4) pursue a review and assessment of compliance with 
     conservation and management measures adopted by the 
     Commission and in effect for the 2006 eastern Atlantic and 
     Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, occurring east of 45 
     degrees west longitude, and other fisheries that are subject 
     to the jurisdiction of the Commission, including data 
     collection and reporting requirements;
       (5) seek to address noncompliance by parties to the 
     Convention with such measures through appropriate actions, 
     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
       (6) 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.

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