Driftnet Impact Monitoring, Assessment, and Control Act of 1987

1 DRIFTNET IMPACT MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, AND CONTROL ACT OF 1987 [Public Law 100–220, Enacted Dec. 29, 1987, 101 Stat. 1477] [As Amended Through Public Law 100–220, Enacted December 29, 1987] AN ACT To provide congressional approval of the Governing International Fishery Agreement between the United States and Japan; to implement the provisions of Annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973; to reauthorize the National Sea Grant College Program Act; to im prove efforts to monitor, assess, and reduce the adverse impacts of driftnets; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * * * * * * * TITLE IV—DRIFTNET IMPACT MONI TORING, ASSESSMENT, AND CONTROL SEC. 4001. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the ‘‘Driftnet Impact Monitoring, As sessment, and Control Act of 1987’’. SEC. 4002. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) the use of long plastic driftnets is a fishing technique that may result in the entanglement and death of enormous numbers of target and nontarget marine resources in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean, including the Bering Sea; (2) there is a pressing need for detailed and reliable infor mation on the number of marine resources that become entan gled and die in actively fished driftnets and in driftnets that are lost, abandoned, or discarded; and (3) increased efforts are necessary to monitor, assess, and reduce the adverse impacts of driftnets. SEC. 4003. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ DEFINITIONS. As used in this title— (1) DRIFTNET.—The term ‘‘driftnet’’ means a gillnet com posed of a panel of plastic webbing one and one-half miles or more in length. (2) DRIFTNET FISHING.—The term ‘‘driftnet fishing’’ means a fish-harvesting method in which a driftnet is placed in water and allowed to drift with the currents and winds for the pur pose of entangling fish in the webbing. VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:04 Nov 19, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 F:\COMP\OCEAN\DRIFTN~1.BEL HOLCPC November 19, 2014 2 Sec. 4004 DRIFTNET IMPACT MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, & CONTROL... 1 So in law. Section 211 of the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (as contained in section 101(a), title I of Division A of Public Law 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–41) provides: SEC. 211. (a) Effective 15 days after the enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, section 1 of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801) shall be amend ed to read as follows: ‘‘That this Act may be cited as the ‘Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva tion and Management Act’.’’ (b) Effective 15 days after the enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, all references to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act shall be redesignated as references to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Since such section did not actually amend each occurrence of the short title in law, the former short title appears here. (3) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OF THE UNITED STATES.— The term ‘‘exclusive economic zone of the United States’’ means the zone defined in section 3(6) of the Magnuson Fishery Con servation and Management Act 1 (16 U.S.C. 1802(b)). (4) MARINE RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘marine resources’’ in cludes fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, and other forms of marine life or waterfowl. (5) MARINE RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘marine resources of the United States’’ means— (A) marine resources found in, or which breed within, areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, in cluding the exclusive economic zone of the United States; and (B) species of fish, wherever found, that spawn in the fresh or estuarine waters of the United States. (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec retary of Commerce. SEC. 4004. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ MONITORING AGREEMENTS. (a) NEGOTIATIONS.—The Secretary, through the Secretary of State and in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall immediately initiate, negotiations with each foreign government that conducts, or authorizes its nationals to conduct, driftnet fish ing that results in the taking of marine resources of the United States in waters of the North Pacific Ocean outside of the exclusive economic zone and territorial sea of any nation, for the purpose of entering into agreements for statistically reliable cooperative moni toring and assessment of the numbers of marine resources of the United States killed and retrieved, discarded, or lost by the foreign government’s driftnet fishing vessels. Such agreements shall pro vide for— (1) the use of a sufficient number of vessels from which sci entists of the United States and the foreign governments may observe and gather statistically reliable information; and (2) appropriate methods for sharing equally the costs asso ciated with such activities. (b) REPORT.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall provide to the Congress not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act a full report on the results of ne gotiations under this section. SEC. 4005. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ IMPACT REPORT. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide to the Congress within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and at such other times thereafter as the Secretary considers appropriate, VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:04 Nov 19, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 F:\COMP\OCEAN\DRIFTN~1.BEL HOLCPC November 19, 2014 3 Sec. 4006 DRIFTNET IMPACT MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, & CONTROL... a report identifying the nature, extent, and effects of driftnet fish ing in waters of the North Pacific Ocean on marine resources of the United States. The report shall include the best available informa tion on— (1) the number and flag state of vessels involved; (2) the areas fished; (3) the length, width, and mesh size of driftnets used; (4) the number of marine resources of the United States killed by such fishing; (5) the effect of seabird mortality, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, on seabird populations; and (6) any other information the Secretary considers appro priate. (b) INFORMATION FROM FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—The Sec retary, through the Secretary of State, shall— (1) request relevant foreign governments to provide the in formation described in subsection (a), and (2) include in a report under this section the information so provided and an evaluation of the adequacy and reliability of such information. SEC. 4006. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ ENFORCEMENT AGREEMENTS. (a) NEGOTIATIONS.—The Secretary shall immediately initiate, through the Secretary of State and in consultation with the Sec retary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating negotiations with each foreign government that conducts, or au thorizes its nationals to conduct, driftnet fishing that results in the taking of marine resources of the United States in waters of the North Pacific Ocean outside of the exclusive economic zone and ter ritorial sea of any nation, for the purpose of entering into agree ments for effective enforcement of laws, regulations, and agree ments applicable to the location, season, and other aspects of the operations of the foreign government’s driftnet fishing vessels. Such agreements shall include measures for— (1) the effective monitoring and detection of violations; (2) the collection and presentation of such evidence of vio lations as may be necessary for the successful prosecution of such violations by the responsible authorities; (3) reporting to the United States of penalties imposed by the foreign governments for violations; and (4) appropriate methods for sharing equally the costs asso ciated with such activities. (b) CERTIFICATION FOR PURPOSES OF FISHERMEN’S PROTECTIVE ACT OF 1967.—If the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determines that a foreign government has failed, within 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, to enter into and implement an agreement under subsection (a) or section 4004(a) that is adequate, the Secretary shall certify such fact to the President, which certification shall be deemed to be a certification for the purposes of section 8(a) of the Fishermen’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1978(a)). VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:04 Nov 19, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 F:\COMP\OCEAN\DRIFTN~1.BEL HOLCPC November 19, 2014 4 Sec. 4007 DRIFTNET IMPACT MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, & CONTROL... SEC. 4007. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDA TIONS. (a) MARKING, REGISTRY, AND IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall evaluate, in consultation with officials of other Fed eral agencies and such other persons as may be appropriate, the feasibility of and develop recommendations for the establishment of a driftnet marking, registry, and identification system to provide a reliable method for the determination of the origin by vessel, of lost, discarded, or abandoned driftnets and fragments of driftnets. In conducting such evaluation, the Secretary shall consider the adequacy of existing driftnet identification systems of foreign na tions and the extent to which these systems achieve the objectives of this title. (b) ALTERNATIVE DRIFTNET MATERIALS.—The Secretary, in con sultation with such other persons as may be appropriate, shall evaluate the feasibility of, and develop appropriate recommenda tions for, the use of alternative materials in driftnets for the pur pose of increasing the rate of decomposition of driftnets that are discarded or lost at sea. (c) DRIFTNET BOUNTY SYSTEM.—The Secretary, in consultation with such other persons as may be appropriate, shall evaluate the feasibility of and develop appropriate recommendations for the im plementation of a driftnet bounty system to pay persons who re trieve from the exclusive economic zone and deposit with the Sec retary lost, abandoned, and discarded driftnet and other plastic fishing material. (d) DRIFTNET FISHING VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEM.—The Sec retary, in consultation with such other persons as may be appro priate, shall evaluate the feasibility of, and develop appropriate recommendations for, the establishment of a cooperative driftnet fishing vessel tracking system to facilitate efforts to monitor the lo cation of driftnet fishing vessels. (e) REPORT.—The Secretary shall transmit to the Congress not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act a report setting forth— (1) the evaluations and recommendations developed under subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d); (2) the most effective and appropriate means of imple menting such recommendations; (3) any need for further research and development efforts and the estimated cost and time required for completion of such efforts; and (4) any need for legislation to provide authority to carry out such recommendations. SEC. 4008. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER LAWS. This title 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 existing law on the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 4009. ø16 U.S.C. 1822 note¿ AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Commerce and the Department of State, such sums as may be nec essary to carry out the purposes of this title. VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:04 Nov 19, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 F:\COMP\OCEAN\DRIFTN~1.BEL HOLCPC November 19, 2014