[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21642-21643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 610--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 UNITED STATES SHOULD PROMOTE THE ADOPTION OF, AND THE UNITED NATIONS 
SHOULD ADOPT, A RESOLUTION AT ITS OCTOBER MEETING TO PROTECT THE LIVING 
 RESOURCES OF THE HIGH SEAS FROM DESTRUCTIVE, ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND 
                     UNREGULATED FISHING PRACTICES

  Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Warner, Ms. 
Murkowski, Mr. Chafee, Mr. DeMint, Mr. McCain, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Collins, 
Mr. Smith, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Menendez, Ms. 
Cantwell, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Kerry, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted the following resolution; which 
was:

                              S. Res. 610

       Whereas it is of paramount importance to the United States 
     and all nations to ensure the protection, conservation, and 
     sustainable management of high seas living marine resources;
       Whereas fisheries of the high seas annually generate 
     hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity and 
     support thousands of jobs in the United States and its 
     territories as well as nations throughout the world;
       Whereas the high seas constitute a globally significant 
     reservoir of marine biodiversity, and compounds derived from 
     organisms found on the high seas show promise for the 
     treatment of deadly diseases such as cancer and asthma;
       Whereas the United Nations Food and Agriculture 
     Organization reports that a growing number of high seas fish 
     stocks important to the United States and the world are 
     overfished or depleted;
       Whereas the United Nations has called for urgent action to 
     address the impact of high seas fishing practices that have 
     adverse impacts on vulnerable marine species and habitats;
       Whereas destructive, illegal, unreported, and unregulated 
     fishing by vessels flying non-United States flags threatens 
     high seas fisheries and the habitats that support them;
       Whereas nations whose fleets conduct destructive, illegal, 
     unreported, and unregulated high seas fishing enjoy an unfair 
     competitive advantage over United States fishermen, who must 
     comply with the rigorous conservation and management 
     requirements of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
     Management Act and other laws in order to conserve 
     exhaustible natural resources; and Whereas international 
     cooperation is necessary to address destructive, illegal, 
     unreported, and unregulated fishing which harms the 
     sustainability of high seas living marine resources and the 
     United States fishing industry: Now, therefore, be it
         Resolved by the Senate That it is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
         (1) the United States should continue to demonstrate 
     international leadership and responsibility regarding the 
     conservation and sustainable use of high seas living marine 
     resources by vigorously promoting the adoption of a 
     resolution at this year's 61st session of the United Nations 
     General Assembly calling on all nations to protect vulnerable 
     marine habitats by prohibiting their vessels from engaging in 
     destructive fishing activity in areas of the high seas where 
     there are no applicable conservation or management measures 
     or in areas with no applicable international fishery 
     management organization or agreement, until such time as 
     conservation and management measures consistent with the 
     Magnuson-Stevens Act, the United Nations Fish Stocks 
     Agreement, and other relevant instruments are adopted and 
     implemented to regulate such vessels and fisheries; and
         (2) the United States calls upon the member nations of 
     the United Nations to adopt a resolution at its October 
     meeting to protect the living resources of the high seas from 
     destructive, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing 
     practices.

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, as many of my colleagues are aware, we 
have been engaged in a long fight to bring international fishing up to 
the standards we have here in the United States under the Magnuson 
Stevens Act. The Senate passed this important measure by unanimous 
consent this past June. One of the most important sections of the bill 
deals with destructive fishing practices conducted by foreign vessels 
on the high seas that are not subject to any kind of international 
regulation and control.
  The high seas comprise more than half of the planet's surface, yet 
only 25 percent of this area is regulated by any regional fishery 
management organization. Management of fishing on the high seas is 
patchy at best. Some areas like the donut hole in the Bering Sea off my 
State of Alaska have adopted strict and effective management measures. 
However, too many areas have not, and without an effective management 
regime, destructive fishing practices will continue to be conducted by 
foreign fleets.
  In the United States our fishermen must adhere to an extensive set of 
management and conservation requirements which are laid out in the 
Magnuson Stevens Act. The eight regional councils located around the 
United States and the Caribbean Islands are a model of innovative and 
effective management approaches.
  In contrast, management internationally and especially with respect 
to high seas bottom trawling is sadly lacking. Illegal, unreported and 
unregulated fishing as well as expanding industrial foreign fleets and 
high bycatch levels are monumental threats to sustainable fisheries 
worldwide. These unsustainable and destructive fishing

[[Page 21643]]

practices on the high seas threaten the good management that takes 
place in U.S. waters.
  One of the proudest moments of my Senate career was going to the 
United Nations to fight and end the use of large scale driftnets on the 
high seas. We now have the opportunity to influence the effects of 
unregulated high seas bottom trawling. The outlines of an agreement on 
unregulated bottom trawling on the high seas will be discussed at the 
UN beginning on October 4th. There is clear political consensus that 
action is needed and the United States should take the lead in 
protecting our oceans.
  The bipartisan resolution I am introducing today with our co-chairman 
Senator Inouye and 16 other Senators calls on the United Nations to put 
an end to unregulated fishing practices on the high seas. It is my hope 
that the United States will work to secure adoption of a United Nations 
General Assembly Resolution calling on nations to stop their vessels 
from conducting illegal, unreported, and unregulated destructive high 
seas bottom trawling until conservation and management measures to 
regulate it are adopted.

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