[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 167 (Monday, November 9, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11293-S11294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


SENATE RESOLUTION 346--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT, AT THE 
      21ST REGULAR MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE 
CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC TUNAS, THE UNITED STATES SHOULD SEEK TO ENSURE 
   MANAGEMENT OF THE EASTERN ATLANTIC AND MEDITERRANEAN BLUEFIN TUNA 
   FISHERY ADHERES TO THE SCIENTIFIC ADVICE PROVIDED BY THE STANDING 
  COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH AND STATISTICS AND HAS A HIGH PROBABILITY OF 
   ACHIEVING THE ESTABLISHED REBUILDING TARGET, PURSUE STRENGTHENED 
 PROTECTIONS FOR SPAWNING BLUEFIN POPULATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA 
    TO FACILITATE THE RECOVERY OF THE ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA, PURSUE 
   IMPOSITION OF MORE STRINGENT MEASURES TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE BY ALL 
   MEMBERS WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF 
    ATLANTIC TUNAS' CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 
ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA AND OTHER SPECIES, AND ENSURE THAT UNITED STATES' 
QUOTAS OF TUNA AND SWORDFISH ARE NOT REALLOCATED TO OTHER NATIONS, AND 
                           FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
Whitehouse, and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following resolution; which 
was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 346

       Whereas Atlantic bluefin tuna and Atlantic swordfish are 
     valuable historical commercial and recreational fisheries 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, Atlantic 
     swordfish and other Atlantic highly migratory species in the 
     Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent seas, including the 
     Mediterranean Sea;
       Whereas the United States has established for its fisheries 
     a strict regime of conservation, management and compliance 
     for Atlantic highly migratory species and protected living 
     marine resources caught incidentally to such fisheries that 
     is unmatched by other fishing nations;
       Whereas the reallocation of United States quotas of 
     Atlantic bluefin tuna and Atlantic swordfish to other nations 
     will cause severe economic impacts, including a loss of 
     United States jobs, and undermine the conservation of 
     populations of protected living marine resources such as 
     Atlantic billfish species, endangered sea turtles, sea birds 
     and marine mammals caught incidentally in the fisheries of 
     other nations;
       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;
       Whereas in 1981, for management purposes, the Commission 
     adopted a working hypothesis of 2 Atlantic bluefin 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 advice intended to prevent 
     overfishing, rebuild and maintain bluefin tuna populations at 
     levels that will permit the maximum sustainable yield, and 
     ensure the future sustainability of the stocks, the total 
     allowable catch quotas have consistently been set at levels 
     significantly higher than the recommended levels for the 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock;
       Whereas despite the establishment by the Commission of 
     minimum sizes for Atlantic bluefin tuna with which the United 
     States has fully complied, the Standing Committee on Research 
     and Statistics has repeatedly expressed grave concerns that 
     the flagrant lack of compliance with such size limits by 
     Members fishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean is 
     seriously undermining the effectiveness of the Commission's 
     bluefin tuna recovery plans;
       Whereas despite the ongoing establishment by the Commission 
     of fishing quotas for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean 
     bluefin tuna fishery that surpass scientific recommendations, 
     compliance with such quotas by parties to the Convention that 
     harvest that stock has been extremely poor, with harvests 
     exceeding the scientific advice by more than 50 percent in 
     recent years as reported by the Standing Committee on 
     Research and Statistics and other independent sources 
     monitoring the fishery;
       Whereas insufficient data reporting in combination with 
     unreliable national catch statistics resulting from 
     inadequate or non-existent catch monitoring and observer 
     programs has frequently undermined efforts by the Commission 
     to determine the levels of overharvests by specific 
     countries;
       Whereas the failure of many Commission members fishing for 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna 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 it is widely recognized that some fishing vessels, 
     in particular those participating in illegal, unregulated, 
     and unreported fishing, have little incentive to cease these 
     infractions due to a lack of adequate sanctions;
       Whereas the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and 
     Statistics noted in its 2008 stock assessment that the 
     fishing mortality rate for the eastern Atlantic and 
     Mediterranean stock was more than 3 times the level that 
     would permit the stock to stabilize at the maximum 
     sustainable catch level and that unless fishing mortality 
     rates are substantially reduced in the near future, further 
     reduction in spawning stock biomass is likely to occur 
     leading to a risk of fisheries and stock collapse;
       Whereas the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and 
     Statistics has recommended that the annual harvest levels for 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna be reduced to 
     levels between 15,000 and 8,500 metric tons to halt the 
     decline of the resource and initiate rebuilding, and 
     indicated that a total allowable catch of 8,500 has a higher 
     probability of rebuilding the stock within the Commission's 
     established time frame;
       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'' (Recommendation 06-05), which was amended in 
     2008, containing a wide range of management, monitoring, and 
     control measures designed to facilitate the recovery of the 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock by the 
     year 2023;
       Whereas the Recovery Plan is inadequate and allows 
     overfishing and stock decline to continue, and continuing 
     information and repeated warnings by the Standing Committee 
     on Research and Statistics indicate that current 
     implementation of the plan is unlikely to achieve its goals;
       Whereas the Principality of Monaco has submitted a petition 
     to list Atlantic bluefin tuna under Appendix I of the 
     Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
     Fauna and Flora, and while the United States did not 
     cosponsor this petition, the Administration has expressed its 
     support for this petition unless the Commission ``adopts 
     significantly strengthened management and compliance 
     measures'' for countries fishing on the eastern Atlantic and 
     Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock;
       Whereas since 1981, the Commission has adopted additional 
     and more restrictive conservation and management 
     recommendations for the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock, 
     including a closure to directed fishing in the spawning 
     grounds of the Gulf of Mexico, and these recommendations have 
     been fully implemented by Nations fishing west of 45 degrees 
     west longitude;
       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, especially for the United States;
       Whereas scientific evidence now provides indisputable 
     evidence from electronic tagging studies and other scientific 
     research that mixing of the eastern and western Atlantic 
     bluefin tuna stocks occurs throughout the Atlantic ocean on 
     feeding and fishing grounds, and the poor management and 
     noncompliance with the Commission's Recovery Plan for the 
     eastern Atlantic stock is having an adverse impact on the 
     western Atlantic stock and United States fisheries;
       Whereas additional research on stock mixing will improve 
     the understanding of the relationship between eastern and 
     western bluefin tuna stocks, which will assist in the 
     conservation, recovery, and management of the species 
     throughout its range;
       Whereas a 2008 Independent Review of the Commission 
     concluded that the Commission's management of bluefin tuna in 
     the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean has been ``widely 
     regarded as an international disgrace'': Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United States delegation to the 21st Regular Meeting of the 
     International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic 
     Tunas, should--
       (1) seek the adoption of all revisions to the Recovery Plan 
     for eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna that will 
     conform the Plan to the scientific advice provided by the 
     Standing Committee on Research and Statistics and has a high 
     probability of achieving the established rebuilding target 
     within the established time frame, including a strict penalty 
     regime and other appropriate mechanisms to verify and ensure 
     compliance;

[[Page S11294]]

       (2) seek to expand time and area closures of spawning areas 
     in the Mediterranean in full conformity with the scientific 
     advice provided by the Standing Committee on Research and 
     Statistics;
       (3) pursue the continued aggressive review and assessment 
     by the Commission's Committee on Compliance of compliance 
     with conservation and management measures, including data 
     collection and reporting requirements, adopted by the 
     Commission and in effect for the 2009 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;
       (4) aggressively seek to address noncompliance with such 
     measures by all parties to the Convention through all 
     appropriate actions;
       (5) pursue the commitment by the Commission and its parties 
     to fund additional research on both the western Atlantic and 
     eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks 
     including but not limited to the extent to which the stocks 
     mix; and
       (6) strenuously defend the interests of United States with 
     regard to Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic swordfish, and 
     other species managed by the Commission, including the 
     protection of U.S. quota shares.

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