[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 144 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38703-38704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18898]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[I.D. 071296D]


International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries: Draft 
Implementation Plan

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability of the Draft Implementation 
Plan for the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code) and is 
requesting comments from the public. The Code was negotiated under the 
sponsorship of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 
Nations (FAO) as an effort to promote international understanding about 
the responsible conduct of fishing and related activities. The intended 
effect of the Implementation Plan is to assess relevant U.S. policy and 
practices in relation to the standards set forth in the Code and, 
within the responsibilities of NMFS, to present actions to meet those 
standards.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before September 23, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Draft Implementation Plan should be 
submitted to Dean Swanson, Acting

[[Page 38704]]

Director, Office of International Affairs, NMFS, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copies of the Draft Implementation 
Plan are available from the NMFS Office of International Affairs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Swanson, 301-713-2276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The concept of responsible fisheries was 
raised by the FAO in 1991 at the 19th Session of the FAO Committee on 
Fisheries (COFI). COFI recognized that FAO has an important role to 
play in promoting international understanding about the responsible 
conduct of fishing organizations.
    In May 1992, the Government of Mexico, in consultation with FAO, 
organized the International Conference on Responsible Fishing, which 
resulted in the Cancun Declaration. The Conference requested FAO to 
draft the Code in consultation with other international organizations.
    At its 20th session, in 1993, COFI considered the contents of the 
proposed code and agreed that it should contain an introductory 
section, including general principles, and six thematic areas or 
articles: Fisheries management, fishing operations, aquaculture 
development, integration of fisheries into coastal area management, 
post-harvest practices and trade, and fisheries research. The Agreement 
to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management 
Measures by Fish Vessels on the High Seas (the Compliance Agreement) 
was to form an integral part of the code.
    Beginning in February 1994 and continuing through September 1995, 
FAO convened an informal working group of government-nominated experts, 
a technical consultation, and two sessions of a technical committee to 
elaborate the Code. In October 1995, the Code was submitted to the FAO 
Council and adopted by the FAO Conference in November 1995.
    Although the Code is a voluntary, non-binding instrument, it 
addresses aspects of responsible fisheries that are included in two 
recently concluded international agreements: The Compliance Agreement 
and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 
Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks 
and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (Straddling Stocks Agreement). The 
United States has signed both international agreements and deposited an 
instrument of acceptance for the Compliance Agreement.
    The Compliance Agreement sets forth a broad range of obligations 
for nations that have fishing vessels operating on the high seas, 
including the obligation to ensure that such vessels do not undermine 
international fishery conservation and management measures. Such 
nations must also prohibit their vessels from fishing on the high seas 
without specific authorization and must take enforcement measures in 
respect to vessels that contravene requirements associated with the 
Compliance Agreement. The Compliance Agreement is considered to be an 
integral part of the Code. The United States has implemented the 
Compliance Agreement through the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act of 
1995.
    The Straddling Stocks Agreement includes an article on general 
principles that is similar in content and wording to the article on 
general principles in the Code. These issues include the precautionary 
approach to fisheries management; the impacts of fishing on target 
stocks and species belonging to the same ecosystem or associated with 
or dependent upon the target stocks; the minimization of pollution, 
waste, discards, catch by lost or abandoned gear, and the catch of non-
target species; and the prevention or elimination of overfishing and 
excess fishing capacity. The Straddling Stocks Agreement, while 
generally limited to straddling stocks and highly migratory fish 
stocks, is applicable to fishing within national exclusive economic 
zones for purposes of Article 6 (application of the precautionary 
approach), Article 7 (compatibility of conservation and management 
measures) and, mutatis mutandis, to Article 5 (general principles).
    The Draft Implementation Plan for the Code is organized as follows:
    Section I. Actions to be initiated during Fiscal Year (FY) 1997-98.
    Section II. Actions to be initiated after FY 98.
    Section III. Standards under policy review within the U.S. 
Government.
    Section IV. Standards that are the responsibility of a Federal 
Agency other than the National Marine Fisheries Service.
    Appendix A. Standards that do not require the United States to 
initiate new action.
    Appendix B. Standards that do not apply to the United States.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: July 22, 1996.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-18898 Filed 7-24-96; 8:45 am]
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