[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 20 (Monday, May 23, 2005)]
[Pages 815-816]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention for the Strengthening 
of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission

May 16, 2005

To the Senate of the United States:

    With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith the Convention for the Strengthening 
of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission established by the 1949 
Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of 
Costa Rica, with Annexes, (the ``Antigua Convention''), which was 
adopted on June 27, 2003, in Antigua, Guatemala, by the Parties to the 
1949 Convention. The United States signed the Antigua Convention on 
November 14, 2003. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, 
the report of the Secretary of State with respect to the Antigua 
Convention, with an enclosure.
    The Antigua Convention sets forth the legal obligations and 
establishes the cooperative mechanisms necessary for the long-term 
conservation and sustainable use of the highly migratory fish stocks 
(such as tuna and swordfish) of the Eastern Pacific Ocean that range 
across extensive areas of the high seas as well as through waters under 
the fisheries jurisdiction of numerous coastal States. Once in force, 
the Antigua Convention will replace the original 1949 Convention 
establishing the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). 
Revisions to the 1949 Convention will strengthen the mandate of the 
IATTC to reflect changes in the law governing living marine resources 
since the adoption of the original Convention more than 50 years ago.
    The highly migratory fish stocks governed by the Antigua Convention 
constitute an important economic resource for the countries of the 
region and vital components of the marine ecosystem of the Eastern 
Pacific Ocean requiring careful conservation and management. Early entry 
into force and implementation of the Antigua Convention will offer the 
opportunity to strengthen conservation and management of these resources 
in important ways, including through enhanced efforts to ensure 
compliance and enforcement of agreed conservation and management 
measures.
    The Antigua Convention draws upon relevant provisions of the 1982 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the ``LOS Convention'') 
and the 1995 United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Management 
of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (the ``U.N. 
Fish Stocks Agreement''). The Antigua Convention gives effect to the 
provisions of the LOS Convention and U.N. Fish Stocks Agreement that 
recognize as essential, and require cooperation to conserve highly 
migratory fish stocks through regional fishery management organizations, 
by those with direct interests in them--coastal States with authority to 
manage fishing in waters under their jurisdiction and those nations and 
entities whose vessels fish for these stocks.
    The United States, which played an instrumental role in negotiation 
of the revised Convention, has direct and important interests in the 
Antigua Convention and its early and effective implementation. United 
States fishing concerns, including the U.S. tuna industry, U.S. 
conservation organizations, and U.S. consumers, as well as those people 
who reside in those U.S. States bordering the Convention Area, have 
crucial stakes in the health of the oceans and their resources as 
promoted by the Antigua Convention.

[[Page 816]]

    I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration 
to the Antigua Convention and give its advice and consent to 
ratification.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 May 16, 2005.