§ 1826. — Largescale driftnet fishing.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1826]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 38--FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT
SUBCHAPTER III--FOREIGN FISHING AND INTERNATIONAL FISHERY AGREEMENTS
Sec. 1826. Large-scale driftnet fishing
(a) Short title
This section incorporates and expands upon provisions of the
Driftnet Impact Monitoring, Assessment, and Control Act of 1987 and may
be cited as the ``Driftnet Act Amendments of 1990''.
(b) Findings
The Congress finds that--
(1) the continued widespread use of large-scale driftnets beyond
the exclusive economic zone of any nation is a destructive fishing
practice that poses a threat to living marine resources of the
world's oceans, including but not limited to the North and South
Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea;
(2) the use of large-scale driftnets is expanding into new
regions of the world's oceans, including the Atlantic Ocean and
Caribbean Sea;
(3) there is a pressing need for detailed and reliable
information on the number of seabirds, sea turtles, nontarget fish,
and marine mammals that become entangled and die in actively fished
large-scale driftnets and in large-scale driftnets that are lost,
abandoned, or discarded;
(4) increased efforts, including reliable observer data and
enforcement mechanisms, are needed to monitor, assess, control, and
reduce the adverse impact of large-scale driftnet fishing on living
marine resources;
(5) the nations of the world have agreed in the United Nations,
through General Assembly Resolution Numbered 44-225, approved
December 22, 1989, by the General Assembly, that a moratorium should
be imposed by June 30, 1992, on the use of large-scale driftnets
beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation;
(6) the nations of the South Pacific have agreed to a moratorium
on the use of large-scale driftnets in the South Pacific through the
Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the
South Pacific, which was agreed to in Wellington, New Zealand, on
November 29, 1989; and
(7) increasing population pressures and new knowledge of the
importance of living marine resources to the health of the global
ecosystem demand that greater responsibility be exercised by persons
fishing or developing new fisheries beyond the exclusive economic
zone of any nation.
(c) Policy
It is declared to be the policy of the Congress in this section that
the United States should--
(1) implement the moratorium called for by the United Nations
General Assembly in Resolution Numbered 44-225;
(2) support the Tarawa Declaration and the Wellington Convention
for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South
Pacific; and
(3) secure a permanent ban on the use of destructive fishing
practices, and in particular large-scale driftnets, by persons or
vessels fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation.
(d) International agreements
The Secretary, through the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, shall seek to
secure international agreements to implement immediately the findings,
policy, and provisions of this section, and in particular an
international ban on large-scale driftnet fishing. The Secretary,
through the Secretary of State, shall include, in any agreement which
addresses the taking of living marine resources of the United States,
provisions to ensure that--
(1) each large-scale driftnet fishing vessel of a foreign nation
that is party to the agreement, including vessels that may operate
independently to develop new fishing areas, which operate beyond the
exclusive economic zone of any nation, is included in such
agreement;
(2) each large-scale driftnet fishing vessel of a foreign nation
that is party to the agreement, which operates beyond the exclusive
economic zone of any nation, is equipped with satellite transmitters
which provide real-time position information accessible to the
United States;
(3) statistically reliable monitoring by the United States is
carried out, through the use of on-board observers or through
dedicated platforms provided by foreign nations that are parties to
the agreement, of all target and nontarget fish species, marine
mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds entangled or killed by large-
scale driftnets used by fishing vessels of foreign nations that are
parties to the agreement;
(4) officials of the United States have the right to board and
inspect for violations of the agreement any large-scale driftnet
fishing vessels operating under the flag of a foreign nation that is
party to the agreement at any time while such vessel is operating in
designated areas beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation;
(5) all catch landed or transshipped at sea by large-scale
driftnet fishing vessels of a foreign nation that is a party to the
agreement, and which are operated beyond the exclusive economic zone
of any nation, is reliably monitored and documented;
(6) time and area restrictions are imposed on the use of large-
scale driftnets in order to prevent interception of anadromous
species;
(7) all large-scale driftnets used are constructed, insofar as
feasible, with biodegradable materials which break into segments
that do not represent a threat to living marine resources;
(8) all large-scale driftnets are marked at appropriate
intervals in a manner that conclusively identifies the vessel and
flag nation responsible for each such driftnet;
(9) the taking of nontarget fish species, marine mammals, sea
turtles, seabirds, and endangered species or other species protected
by international agreements to which the United States is a party is
minimized and does not pose a threat to existing fisheries or the
long-term health of living marine resources; and
(10) definitive steps are agreed upon to ensure that parties to
the agreement comply with the spirit of other international
agreements and resolutions concerning the use of large-scale
driftnets beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation.
(e) Report
Not later than January 1, 1991, and every year thereafter until the
purposes of this section are met, the Secretary, after consultation with
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the department in which the
Coast Guard is operating, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Merchant
Marine and Fisheries of the House of Representatives a report--
(1) describing the steps taken to carry out the provisions of
this section, particularly subsection (c) of this section;
(2) evaluating the progress of those efforts, the impacts on
living marine resources, including available observer data, and
specifying plans for further action;
(3) containing a list and description of any new fisheries
developed by nations that conduct, or authorize their nationals to
conduct, large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the exclusive economic
zone of any nation; and
(4) containing a list of the nations that conduct, or authorize
their nationals to conduct, large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the
exclusive economic zone of any nation in a manner that diminishes
the effectiveness of or is inconsistent with any international
agreement governing large-scale driftnet fishing to which the United
States is a party or otherwise subscribes.
(f) Certification
If at any time the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
State and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is
operating, identifies any nation that warrants inclusion in the list
described under subsection (e)(4) of this section, the Secretary shall
certify that fact to the President. Such certification shall be deemed
to be a certification for the purposes of section 1978(a) of title 22.
(g) Effect on sovereign rights
This section shall not serve or be construed to expand or diminish
the sovereign rights of the United States, as stated by Presidential
Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983, and reflected in this
chapter or other existing law.
(h) ``Living marine resources'' defined
As used in this section, the term ``living marine resources''
includes fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds and other
waterfowl.
(Pub. L. 94-265, title II, Sec. 206, as added Pub. L. 95-6, Sec. 3(1),
Feb. 21, 1977, 91 Stat. 15; amended Pub. L. 99-659, title I,
Sec. 101(c)(2), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3707; Pub. L. 101-627, title I,
Sec. 107(a), Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4441; Pub. L. 104-297, title I,
Sec. 105(f), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3569.)
References in Text
The Driftnet Impact Monitoring, Assessment, and Control Act of 1987,
referred to in subsec. (a), is title IV of Pub. L. 100-220, which is set
out as a note under section 1822 of this title.
Presidential Proclamation Numbered 5030, referred to in subsec. (g),
is set out under section 1453 of this title.
Amendments
1996--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-297, Sec. 105(f)(1), redesignated
pars. (5) and (6) as (3) and (4), respectively, and struck out former
pars. (3) and (4) which read as follows:
``(3) identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of unilateral
measures and multilateral measures, including sanctions, that are
available to encourage nations to agree to and comply with this section,
and recommendations for legislation to authorize any additional measures
that are needed if those are considered ineffective;
``(4) identifying, evaluating, and making any recommendations
considered necessary to improve the effectiveness of the law, policy,
and procedures governing enforcement of the exclusive management
authority of the United States over anadromous species against fishing
vessels engaged in fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any
nation;''.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104-297, Sec. 105(f)(2), substituted
``subsection (e)(4) of this section'' for ``subsection (e)(6) of this
section''.
1990--Pub. L. 101-627 amended section generally, substituting
provisions relating to large-scale driftnet fishing for provisions
relating to transitional provisions.
1986--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99-659 substituted ``exclusive economic
zone'' for ``fishery conservation zone''.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the
Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of
Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security,
and for treatment of related references, see sections 468(b), 551(d),
552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of
Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified,
set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.
Abolition of House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of House of
Representatives abolished and its jurisdiction transferred by House
Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995. Committee
on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of House of Representatives treated as
referring to Committee on Resources of House of Representatives in case
of provisions relating to fisheries, wildlife, international fishing
agreements, marine affairs (including coastal zone management) except
for measures relating to oil and other pollution of navigable waters, or
oceanography by section 1(b)(3) of Pub. L. 104-14, set out as a note
preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress.
