[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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