PUBLIC LAW 104-43—NOV. 3, 1995
109 STAT. 387
'*§ 12. Savings clause
"Nothing in this Act shall have the effect of diminishing the
rights and obligations of any Nation under Article VIII(3) of the
Convention.".
SEC. 309. MANAGEMENT OF ATLANTIC YELLOWFIN TUNA.
(a) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce in accordance with this
section shall publish a preliminary determination of the level of
the United States recreational and commercial catch of Atlantic
yellowfin tuna on an annual basis since 1980. The Secretary shall
publish a preliminary determination in the Federal Register for
comment for a period not to exceed 60 days. The Secretary shall
publish a final determination not later than 140 days from the
date of the enactment of this section.
(b) Not later than July 1, 1996, the Secretary of Commerce
shall implement the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas regarding yellowfin
tuna made pursuant to Article VIII of the International Convention
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and acted upon favorably
by the Secretary of State under section 5(a) of the Atlantic Tunas
Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971c(a)).
SEC. 310. STUDY OF BLUEFIN TUNA REGULATIONS.
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Committee
on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate and to
the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives a
report on the historic rationale, effectiveness, and biological and
economic efficiency of existing bluefin tuna regulations for United
States Atlantic fisheries. Specifically, the biological rationale for
each regional and category allocation, including directed and
incidental categories, should be described in light of the average
size, age, and maturity of bluefin tuna caught in each fishery
and the effect of this harvest on stock rebuilding and sustainable
yield. The report should examine the history and evaluate the
level of wasteful discarding, and evaluate the effectiveness of nonquota regulations at constraining harvests within regions. Further,
comments should be provided on levels of participation in specific
fisheries in terms of vessels and trips, enforcement implications,
and the importance of monitoring information provided by these
allocations on the precision of the stock assessment estimates.
SEC. 311. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO ICCAT NEGO-
TIATIONS.
(a) SHARING OF CONSERVATION BURDEN. —It is the sense of
the Congress that in future negotiations of the International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereafter in
this section referred to as "ICCAT"), the Secretary of Commerce
shall ensure that the conservation actions recommended by international commissions and implemented by the Secretary for United
States commercial and recreational fishermen provide fair and equitable sharing of the conservation burden among all contracting
harvesters in negotiations with those commissions.
(b) ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—It is further the sense of the
Congress that, during 1995 ICCAT negotiations on swordfish and
other Highly Migratory Species managed by ICCAT, the Congress
16 USC 971k.
Publication.
Federal Register,
publication.
16 USC 971c
note.
Reports.
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