A resolution 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.

        [Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 346 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 9, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

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.

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;
(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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