[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 82 (Monday, May 19, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4067-H4068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MANAGING FISH STOCKS IN ARCTIC OCEAN

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate joint resolution (S.J. Res. 17) 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.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate joint resolution.
  The text of the Senate joint resolution is as follows:

                              S.J. 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;
       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 House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America 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

[[Page H4068]]

     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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Senate Joint Resolution 17 directs the United States to initiate 
international discussions and take necessary steps with other nations 
to negotiate an agreement to manage migratory and transboundary fish 
stocks in the Arctic Ocean.
  It is important that any new or expanded fishing by the United States 
and other countries be conducted in a sustainable manner with science-
based limits on catch as well as effective enforcement and monitoring 
systems. So to that end, it is important for the United States to begin 
the process to negotiate agreements with other Arctic nations to manage 
migratory, transboundary, and straddling fish stocks in the Arctic 
Ocean before any overfishing or overdevelopment of these fisheries can 
occur.
  I urge the support of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I too rise in support of Senate Joint Resolution 17, introduced by 
Senator Ted Stevens. Clearly, he knows firsthand the importance of 
fishing to the United States, to the State of Alaska, and to the world. 
He also has seen, in his tenure in the Congress, firsthand the effects 
of overfishing.
  As one after another worldwide fleets begin deploying to our shores 
when their own shores have been overfished, we will have and will see a 
reduction in our domestic catches. For that reason I believe this 
resolution sends a strong statement of America's policy to manage 
scientifically our fisheries both onshore and offshore, and I join with 
the gentlewoman from Guam in support of this resolution and urge its 
success.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge all of my colleagues to 
support the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate joint resolution, S.J. Res. 17.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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