[Senate Executive Report 108-7]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                               Exec. Rpt.
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                      108-7

======================================================================



 
   AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIAN FEDERATION CONCERNING POLAR BEAR POPULATION 
(TREATY DOC. 107-10), AGREEMENT AMENDING TREATY WITH CANADA CONCERNING 
 PACIFIC COAST ALBACORE TUNA VESSELS AND PORT PRIVILEGES (TREATY DOC. 
108-1), AND AMENDMENTS TO 1987 TREATY ON FISHERIES WITH PACIFIC ISLAND 
                       STATES (TREATY DOC. 108-2)
                                _______
                                

                 July 29, 2003.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

          Mr. Lugar, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

 [To accompany Treaty Doc. 107-10, Treaty Doc. 108-1, and Treaty Doc. 
                                 108-2]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred 
the Agreement between the Government of the United States of 
America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the 
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear 
Population (Treaty Doc. 107-10); the Agreement with Canada 
Amending the Treaty on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and 
Port Privileges (Treaty Doc. 108-1); and the Agreement Amending 
the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries with Certain Pacific Island States 
of April 2, 1987 (Treaty Doc. 108-2), having considered the 
same reports favorably thereon with declarations, and 
conditions as indicated in the resolutions of advice and 
consent, and recommends that the Senate give its advice and 
consent to the ratification thereof as set forth in this report 
and the accompanying resolutions of advice and consent to 
ratification.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Background.......................................................2
III. Summary of Key Provisions of the Treaty..........................3
 IV. Implementing Legislation.........................................4
  V. Committee Action.................................................4
 VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments............................5
VII. Resolutions of Ratification......................................6

                               I. Purpose

    These three treaties address fish and wildlife matters. The 
treaty with Russia regarding polar bears provides for measures 
to conserve and manage the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear 
population. The two fisheries treaties make amendments to 
existing fisheries treaties to address new circumstances.

                             II. Background


U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty

    The Agreement between the Government of the United States 
of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the 
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear 
Population (Treaty Doc. 107-10) (hereinafter ``the U.S.-Russia 
Polar Bear Treaty'') is designed to provide a common legal, 
scientific, and administrative framework for the conservation 
and management of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population, 
which is shared by the United States and Russia. Polar bears 
are a potentially threatened species; they are also important 
to the survival of Native Alaskan people as a renewable 
subsistence resource. This treaty builds on a 1973 multilateral 
agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears.\1\
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    \1\ TIAS 8409; 27 U.S.T 3918.
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Fisheries Treaties

            U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna
    A 1981 treaty between the United States and Canada on 
Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges \2\ 
allows unlimited fishing for albacore tuna by fishers from each 
country in the waters of the other country subject to the 
treaty regime. At the time this treaty was concluded, it was 
anticipated that this arrangement would be mutually 
advantageous for fishers from each country. In the years since 
1981, however, albacore tuna have been found more frequently in 
U.S. waters than in Canadian waters, and Canadian fishers have 
thus benefited disproportionately under the treaty. The 
Agreement with Canada Amending the Treaty on Pacific Coast 
Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges (Treaty Doc. 108-1) 
is primarily designed to remedy this circumstance by providing 
for limits on fishing by fishers from each country in the 
waters of the other, and by establishing an initial three-year 
limitation regime.
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    \2\ TIAS 10057; 33 U.S.T. 615
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            Pacific Island States Fisheries
    A 1987 multilateral treaty to which the United States and 
16 Pacific Island states are parties \3\ provides access for 
U.S. tuna fishing vessels to areas of the South Pacific within 
the Pacific Island parties' jurisdiction and to high seas areas 
between them pursuant to licenses issued by an administrative 
body created by the Pacific Island parties. The Secretary of 
State has described this treaty as ``the cornerstone of the 
economic and political relationship between the United States 
and these Pacific Islands Parties.'' Under an associated 
agreement, the United States provides economic assistance to 
the Pacific Island parties to this agreement. In connection 
with the renewal of this assistance agreement in 2003, the 
parties concluded the Agreement Amending the 1987 Treaty on 
Fisheries with Certain Pacific Island States of April 2, 1987 
(Treaty Doc. 108-2), which makes a number of technical 
amendments to the treaty and its annexes.
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    \3\ TIAS 11100
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             III. Summary of Key Provisions of the Treaties

    A detailed discussion of these treaties may be found in the 
Letters of Submittal from the Secretary of State to the 
President, which are reprinted in full in the respective Senate 
Treaty Documents. A summary of the key provisions of the 
treaties is set forth below.

                     U.S.-RUSSIA POLAR BEAR TREATY

    The treaty provides that the United States and Russia shall 
cooperate with the goal of ensuring the conservation of the 
Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population, the conservation of its 
habitat, and the regulation of its use for subsistence purposes 
by native people. Article 5 prohibits any taking of polar bears 
from the Alaska-Chukotka population that is inconsistent with 
the terms of the Agreement or with a 1973 multilateral 
Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, to which the 
United States, Russia, Norway, Canada, and Denmark are parties. 
Article 6 provides for the taking of polar bears by native 
people for subsistence purposes, but lists a number of 
conditions for such takings; it also provides for the taking of 
polar bears under certain circumstances for other specified 
purposes, including scientific research, rescue or 
rehabilitation, or where human life is threatened.
    Article 8 of the Agreement establishes the U.S.-Russia 
Polar Bear Commission (the ``Commission''), a bi-national 
commission to coordinate measures for the conservation and 
study of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population, and 
provides rules governing its operation. Among the Commission's 
functions is to determine, on the basis of reliable scientific 
data, including the traditional knowledge of the native people, 
the polar bear population's annual sustainable harvest level, 
and to determine annual limits on the number of polar bears 
that may be taken from the geographic area governed by the 
treaty. Under Article 9 of the treaty, the United States and 
Russia shall each have the right to harvest one-half of this 
annual taking limit.
    The treaty will enter into force 30 days after the United 
States and Russia have exchanged diplomatic notes confirming 
that they have completed their respective domestic legal 
procedures to bring the treaty into force. The Agreement 
provides, in Article 3, that the Parties may, by mutual 
agreement, modify the geographic area to which the treaty 
applies.

  AGREEMENT AMENDING THE U.S.-CANADA TREATY ON PACIFIC COAST ALBACORE 
                        TUNA AND PORT PRIVILEGES

    This agreement amends an existing 1981 treaty between the 
United States and Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels 
and Port Privileges. At present, the 1981 treaty permits 
unlimited fishing for albacore tuna by vessels of each party in 
waters under the jurisdiction of the other party in accordance 
with terms of the treaty and subject to other applicable laws 
and regulations. This agreement amends the 1981 treaty to allow 
for a limitation on such fishing, and establishes an initial 
three-year limitation regime. This agreement also amends the 
1981 treaty to provide for annual consultations between the 
parties and information sharing on conservation and management 
measures relating to albacore tuna.

 AGREEMENT AMENDING THE TREATY ON FISHERIES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES 
                   AND CERTAIN PACIFIC ISLAND STATES

    This agreement makes a series of amendments to an existing 
1987 treaty on fisheries between the United States and 16 
Pacific Island States. These amendments allow U.S. vessels to 
fish for albacore tuna by the longline method in the high seas 
areas of the Treaty Area (the Treaty currently allows only 
purse-seine vessels and vessels fishing for tuna by the 
trolling method in the high seas areas); provide for parties to 
the treaty to consider, where appropriate, the issue of 
capacity (i.e., the numbers of fishing vessels) in the treaty 
area; add references to the recently concluded Convention for 
the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks 
in the Western and Pacific Ocean; and make changes to 
facilitate the entry into force of future amendments to the 
treaty's annexes.

                      IV. Implementing Legislation

    Two of these treaties--the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty 
and the U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna Treaty Amendments--will 
require implementing legislation to allow the United States to 
fulfill its obligations. With respect to the U.S.-Russia Polar 
Bear Treaty, the Administration advises that it intends to 
submit proposed implementing legislation to the Congress in 
September. With respect to the U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna Treaty 
Amendments, the Administration has submitted proposed 
implementing legislation to the Congress as part of a proposed 
bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act. While not necessary to meet obligations 
under the amendments to the Pacific Island Fisheries treaty, 
the Administration is seeking minor amendments to the South 
Pacific Tuna Act (P.L. 100-330) to allow U.S. vessels to take 
advantage of its provisions.

                          V. Committee Action

    The Committee held a public hearing on these treaties on 
June 17, 2003 where it heard testimony from John Turner, 
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International 
Environmental and Scientific Affairs. (This hearing also 
addressed two aviation treaties. A transcript of the hearing 
and questions and answers for the record may be found in the 
appendix to S. Exec. Rept. 108-8, which accompanies those 
treaties, also filed this day). On July 23, 2003, the Committee 
considered these treaties and ordered them favorably reported 
by voice vote, with the recommendation that the Senate give its 
advice and consent to their ratification, subject to 
declarations and conditions contained in the resolutions of 
advice and consent to ratification.

               VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments

    The Committee recommends that the Senate advise and consent 
to the ratification of each of the three treaties covered in 
this report. As explained below, in the case of the U.S.-Russia 
Polar Bear Treaty, the Committee recommends that the Senate's 
advice and consent be made subject to a condition, and in the 
case of the Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries 
Treaty, the Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and 
consent be made subject to a declaration.
    The Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and 
consent to the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty be made subject to 
a condition that the Secretary of State shall promptly notify 
the Senate Committees on Environment and Public Works and 
Foreign Relations in any instance in which the United States 
and Russia agree to modify the geographic area to which the 
treaty applies. This condition was not requested by the 
Executive Branch, but will serve to ensure that the Senate is 
informed about such changes, which are authorized under the 
Treaty.
    The Committee supports the requirement in the U.S.-Russia 
Polar Bear Treaty that management decisions be based on 
``reliable scientific data.'' The Executive Branch has stated 
that ``[s]ufficient reliable information exists to propose 
initial harvest restrictions.'' The Committee is concerned, 
however, about whether there are resources in future budgets 
adequate to meet the standard of ``reliable data''; the 
Executive Branch has indicated that current budget levels do 
not include funding for the research studies and information-
gathering to be undertaken pursuant to the treaty. The 
Committee urges the Executive Branch to develop a plan to 
ensure proper funding for the research provisions of this 
treaty.
    The Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and 
consent to the Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries 
Treaty be made subject to a declaration that such advice and 
consent is without prejudice to any position the Senate may 
take with respect to providing advice and consent to 
ratification of the Convention for the Conservation and 
Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and 
Central Pacific Ocean, signed by the United States on September 
9, 2000. This declaration was not requested by the Executive 
Branch. The Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries 
Treaty contains language welcoming the conclusion of the 
Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly 
Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, 
a convention which the United States has signed, but which has 
not yet been submitted to the Senate for its advice and 
consent. The Committee has recommended this declaration to 
avoid suggesting that, in advising and consenting to the 
Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries Treaty, the 
Senate has formed a view on the Convention for the Conservation 
and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western 
and Central Pacific Ocean. The Committee will consider this 
convention when it is submitted to the Senate for its advice 
and consent.

                    VII. Resolutions of Ratification


U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty

    Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein),

SECTION 1. SENATE ADVICE AND CONSENT SUBJECT TO A CONDITION.

    The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the 
Agreement Between the Government of the United States of 
America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the 
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear 
Population, done at Washington October 16, 2000 (T.Doc. 107-10, 
in this resolution referred to as the ``Agreement''), subject 
to the condition in section 2.

SEC. 2. CONDITION.

    The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of 
the Agreement is subject to the condition that the Secretary of 
State shall promptly notify the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate in any instance that, pursuant to Article 3 of the 
Agreement, the Contracting Parties modify the area to which the 
Agreement applies. Any such notice shall include the text of 
the modification and information regarding the reasons for the 
modification.

U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna

    Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein),
    That the Senate advises and consents to the ratification of 
the Agreement Amending the Treaty Between the Government of the 
United States of America and the Government of Canada on 
Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges, done 
at Washington May 26, 1981, and effected by an exchange of 
diplomatic notes at Washington July 17, 2002, and August 13, 
2002 (T. Doc. 108-1).

Pacific Island States Fisheries

    Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein),

SECTION 1. SENATE ADVICE AND CONSENT SUBJECT TO A DECLARATION.

    The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the 
Amendments to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the 
Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government 
of the United States of America, with Annexes and Agreed 
Statements, done at Port Moresby, April 2, 1987, done at Koror, 
Palau, March 30, 1999, and at Kiritimati, Kiribati March 24, 
2002 (T. Doc. 108-2, in this resolution referred to as the 
``Amendments''), subject to the declaration in section 2.

SEC. 2. DECLARATION.

    The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of 
the Amendments is subject to the following declaration:
          The advice and consent provided under section 1 is 
        without prejudice to any position the Senate may take 
        with respect to providing advice and consent to 
        ratification of the Convention for the Conservation and 
        Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 
        Western and Central Pacific Ocean, signed by the United 
        States on September 9, 2000.

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