The United States House of Representative
May 19, 2008
Section 15
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MANAGING FISH STOCKS IN ARCTIC OCEAN -- (House of Representatives - May 19, 2008)<p><center><pre>[Page: H4067]
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]:
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate joint resolution (S. J. Res. 17) directing the United States to initiate international discussions and take necessary steps with other Nations to negotiate an agreement for managing migratory and transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate joint resolution.
The text of the Senate joint resolution is as follows:
Whereas the decline of several commercially valuable fish stocks throughout the world's oceans highlights the need for fishing nations to conserve fish stocks and develop management systems that promote fisheries sustainability;<p> Whereas fish stocks are migratory throughout their habitats, and changing ocean conditions can restructure marine habitats and redistribute the species dependent on those habitats;<p> Whereas changing global climate regimes may increase ocean water temperature, creating suitable new habitats in areas previously too cold to support certain fish stocks, such as the Arctic Ocean;<p> Whereas habitat expansion and migration of fish stocks into the Arctic Ocean and the potential for vessel docking and navigation in the Arctic Ocean could create conditions favorable for establishing and expanding commercial fisheries in the future;<p> Whereas commercial fishing has occurred in several regions of the Arctic Ocean, including the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Greenland Sea, although fisheries scientists have only limited data on current and projected future fish stock abundance and distribution patterns throughout the Arctic Ocean;<p> Whereas remote indigenous communities in all nations that border the Arctic Ocean engage in limited, small scale subsistence fishing and must maintain access to and sustainability of this fishing in order to survive;<p> Whereas many of these communities depend on a variety of other marine life for social, cultural and subsistence purposes, including marine mammals and seabirds that may be adversely affected by climate change, and emerging fisheries in the Arctic should take into account the social, economic, cultural and subsistence needs of these small coastal communities;<p> Whereas managing for fisheries sustainability requires that all commercial fishing be conducted in accordance with science-based limits on harvest, timely and accurate reporting of catch data, equitable allocation and access systems, and effective monitoring and enforcement systems;<p> Whereas migratory fish stocks traverse international boundaries between the exclusive economic zones of fishing nations and the high seas, and ensuring sustainability of fisheries targeting these stocks requires management systems based on international coordination and cooperation;<p> Whereas international fishing treaties and agreements provide a framework for establishing rules to guide sustainable fishing activities among those nations that are parties to the agreement, and regional fisheries management organizations provide international fora for implementing these agreements and facilitating international cooperation and collaboration;<p> Whereas under its authorities in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has proposed that the United States close all Federal waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to commercial fishing until a fisheries management plan is fully developed; and<p> Whereas future commercial fishing and fisheries management activities in the Arctic Ocean should be developed through a coordinated international framework, as provided by international treaties or regional fisheries management organizations, and this framework should be implemented before significant commercial fishing activity expands to the high seas: Now, therefore, be it<p> Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That--<p> (1) the United States should initiate international discussions and take necessary steps with other Arctic nations to negotiate an agreement or agreements for managing migratory, transboundary, and straddling fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean and establishing a new international fisheries management organization or organizations for the region;<p> (2) the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant to paragraph (1) should conform to the requirements of the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and contain mechanisms, inter alia, for establishing catch and bycatch limits, harvest allocations, observers, monitoring, data collection and reporting, enforcement, and other elements necessary for sustaining future Arctic fish stocks;<p> (3) as international fisheries agreements are negotiated and implemented, the United States should consult with the North Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and Alaska Native subsistence communities of the Arctic; and
(4) until the agreement or agreements negotiated pursuant to paragraph (1) come into force and measures consistent with the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement are in effect, the United States should support international efforts to halt the expansion of commercial fishing activities in the high seas of the Arctic Ocean.<p>
Chair: Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each will control 20 minutes.
Chair: The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]:
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
Chair: Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Guam?
Chair: There was no objection.
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]:
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Senate Joint Resolution 17 directs the United States to initiate international discussions and take necessary steps with other nations to negotiate an agreement to manage migratory and transboundary fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean.
It is important that any new or expanded fishing by the United States and other countries be conducted in a sustainable manner with science-based limits on catch as well as effective enforcement and monitoring systems. So to that end, it is important for the United States to begin the process to negotiate agreements with other Arctic nations to manage migratory, transboundary, and straddling fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean before any overfishing or overdevelopment of these fisheries can occur.
I urge the support of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA49]:
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I too rise in support of Senate Joint Resolution 17, introduced by Senator Ted Stevens. Clearly, he knows firsthand the importance of fishing to the United States, to the State of Alaska, and to the world. He also has seen, in his tenure in the Congress, firsthand the effects of overfishing.
As one after another worldwide fleets begin deploying to our shores when their own shores have been overfished, we will have and will see a reduction in our domestic catches. For that reason I believe this resolution sends a strong statement of America's policy to manage scientifically our fisheries both onshore and offshore, and I join with the gentlewoman from Guam in support of this resolution and urge its success.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]:
Mr. Speaker, I again urge all of my colleagues to support the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Chair: The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules and pass the Senate joint resolution, S. J. Res. 17.
The question was taken.
Chair: In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA49]:
Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
Chair: Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
Chair: The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
