[Senate Executive Report 108-7]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Exec. Rpt.
SENATE
1st Session 108-7
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AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIAN FEDERATION CONCERNING POLAR BEAR POPULATION
(TREATY DOC. 107-10), AGREEMENT AMENDING TREATY WITH CANADA CONCERNING
PACIFIC COAST ALBACORE TUNA VESSELS AND PORT PRIVILEGES (TREATY DOC.
108-1), AND AMENDMENTS TO 1987 TREATY ON FISHERIES WITH PACIFIC ISLAND
STATES (TREATY DOC. 108-2)
_______
July 29, 2003.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lugar, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany Treaty Doc. 107-10, Treaty Doc. 108-1, and Treaty Doc.
108-2]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred
the Agreement between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear
Population (Treaty Doc. 107-10); the Agreement with Canada
Amending the Treaty on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and
Port Privileges (Treaty Doc. 108-1); and the Agreement Amending
the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries with Certain Pacific Island States
of April 2, 1987 (Treaty Doc. 108-2), having considered the
same reports favorably thereon with declarations, and
conditions as indicated in the resolutions of advice and
consent, and recommends that the Senate give its advice and
consent to the ratification thereof as set forth in this report
and the accompanying resolutions of advice and consent to
ratification.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Background.......................................................2
III. Summary of Key Provisions of the Treaty..........................3
IV. Implementing Legislation.........................................4
V. Committee Action.................................................4
VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments............................5
VII. Resolutions of Ratification......................................6
I. Purpose
These three treaties address fish and wildlife matters. The
treaty with Russia regarding polar bears provides for measures
to conserve and manage the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear
population. The two fisheries treaties make amendments to
existing fisheries treaties to address new circumstances.
II. Background
U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty
The Agreement between the Government of the United States
of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear
Population (Treaty Doc. 107-10) (hereinafter ``the U.S.-Russia
Polar Bear Treaty'') is designed to provide a common legal,
scientific, and administrative framework for the conservation
and management of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population,
which is shared by the United States and Russia. Polar bears
are a potentially threatened species; they are also important
to the survival of Native Alaskan people as a renewable
subsistence resource. This treaty builds on a 1973 multilateral
agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears.\1\
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\1\ TIAS 8409; 27 U.S.T 3918.
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Fisheries Treaties
U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna
A 1981 treaty between the United States and Canada on
Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges \2\
allows unlimited fishing for albacore tuna by fishers from each
country in the waters of the other country subject to the
treaty regime. At the time this treaty was concluded, it was
anticipated that this arrangement would be mutually
advantageous for fishers from each country. In the years since
1981, however, albacore tuna have been found more frequently in
U.S. waters than in Canadian waters, and Canadian fishers have
thus benefited disproportionately under the treaty. The
Agreement with Canada Amending the Treaty on Pacific Coast
Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges (Treaty Doc. 108-1)
is primarily designed to remedy this circumstance by providing
for limits on fishing by fishers from each country in the
waters of the other, and by establishing an initial three-year
limitation regime.
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\2\ TIAS 10057; 33 U.S.T. 615
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Pacific Island States Fisheries
A 1987 multilateral treaty to which the United States and
16 Pacific Island states are parties \3\ provides access for
U.S. tuna fishing vessels to areas of the South Pacific within
the Pacific Island parties' jurisdiction and to high seas areas
between them pursuant to licenses issued by an administrative
body created by the Pacific Island parties. The Secretary of
State has described this treaty as ``the cornerstone of the
economic and political relationship between the United States
and these Pacific Islands Parties.'' Under an associated
agreement, the United States provides economic assistance to
the Pacific Island parties to this agreement. In connection
with the renewal of this assistance agreement in 2003, the
parties concluded the Agreement Amending the 1987 Treaty on
Fisheries with Certain Pacific Island States of April 2, 1987
(Treaty Doc. 108-2), which makes a number of technical
amendments to the treaty and its annexes.
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\3\ TIAS 11100
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III. Summary of Key Provisions of the Treaties
A detailed discussion of these treaties may be found in the
Letters of Submittal from the Secretary of State to the
President, which are reprinted in full in the respective Senate
Treaty Documents. A summary of the key provisions of the
treaties is set forth below.
U.S.-RUSSIA POLAR BEAR TREATY
The treaty provides that the United States and Russia shall
cooperate with the goal of ensuring the conservation of the
Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population, the conservation of its
habitat, and the regulation of its use for subsistence purposes
by native people. Article 5 prohibits any taking of polar bears
from the Alaska-Chukotka population that is inconsistent with
the terms of the Agreement or with a 1973 multilateral
Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, to which the
United States, Russia, Norway, Canada, and Denmark are parties.
Article 6 provides for the taking of polar bears by native
people for subsistence purposes, but lists a number of
conditions for such takings; it also provides for the taking of
polar bears under certain circumstances for other specified
purposes, including scientific research, rescue or
rehabilitation, or where human life is threatened.
Article 8 of the Agreement establishes the U.S.-Russia
Polar Bear Commission (the ``Commission''), a bi-national
commission to coordinate measures for the conservation and
study of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear population, and
provides rules governing its operation. Among the Commission's
functions is to determine, on the basis of reliable scientific
data, including the traditional knowledge of the native people,
the polar bear population's annual sustainable harvest level,
and to determine annual limits on the number of polar bears
that may be taken from the geographic area governed by the
treaty. Under Article 9 of the treaty, the United States and
Russia shall each have the right to harvest one-half of this
annual taking limit.
The treaty will enter into force 30 days after the United
States and Russia have exchanged diplomatic notes confirming
that they have completed their respective domestic legal
procedures to bring the treaty into force. The Agreement
provides, in Article 3, that the Parties may, by mutual
agreement, modify the geographic area to which the treaty
applies.
AGREEMENT AMENDING THE U.S.-CANADA TREATY ON PACIFIC COAST ALBACORE
TUNA AND PORT PRIVILEGES
This agreement amends an existing 1981 treaty between the
United States and Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels
and Port Privileges. At present, the 1981 treaty permits
unlimited fishing for albacore tuna by vessels of each party in
waters under the jurisdiction of the other party in accordance
with terms of the treaty and subject to other applicable laws
and regulations. This agreement amends the 1981 treaty to allow
for a limitation on such fishing, and establishes an initial
three-year limitation regime. This agreement also amends the
1981 treaty to provide for annual consultations between the
parties and information sharing on conservation and management
measures relating to albacore tuna.
AGREEMENT AMENDING THE TREATY ON FISHERIES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES
AND CERTAIN PACIFIC ISLAND STATES
This agreement makes a series of amendments to an existing
1987 treaty on fisheries between the United States and 16
Pacific Island States. These amendments allow U.S. vessels to
fish for albacore tuna by the longline method in the high seas
areas of the Treaty Area (the Treaty currently allows only
purse-seine vessels and vessels fishing for tuna by the
trolling method in the high seas areas); provide for parties to
the treaty to consider, where appropriate, the issue of
capacity (i.e., the numbers of fishing vessels) in the treaty
area; add references to the recently concluded Convention for
the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks
in the Western and Pacific Ocean; and make changes to
facilitate the entry into force of future amendments to the
treaty's annexes.
IV. Implementing Legislation
Two of these treaties--the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty
and the U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna Treaty Amendments--will
require implementing legislation to allow the United States to
fulfill its obligations. With respect to the U.S.-Russia Polar
Bear Treaty, the Administration advises that it intends to
submit proposed implementing legislation to the Congress in
September. With respect to the U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna Treaty
Amendments, the Administration has submitted proposed
implementing legislation to the Congress as part of a proposed
bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act. While not necessary to meet obligations
under the amendments to the Pacific Island Fisheries treaty,
the Administration is seeking minor amendments to the South
Pacific Tuna Act (P.L. 100-330) to allow U.S. vessels to take
advantage of its provisions.
V. Committee Action
The Committee held a public hearing on these treaties on
June 17, 2003 where it heard testimony from John Turner,
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs. (This hearing also
addressed two aviation treaties. A transcript of the hearing
and questions and answers for the record may be found in the
appendix to S. Exec. Rept. 108-8, which accompanies those
treaties, also filed this day). On July 23, 2003, the Committee
considered these treaties and ordered them favorably reported
by voice vote, with the recommendation that the Senate give its
advice and consent to their ratification, subject to
declarations and conditions contained in the resolutions of
advice and consent to ratification.
VI. Committee Recommendation and Comments
The Committee recommends that the Senate advise and consent
to the ratification of each of the three treaties covered in
this report. As explained below, in the case of the U.S.-Russia
Polar Bear Treaty, the Committee recommends that the Senate's
advice and consent be made subject to a condition, and in the
case of the Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries
Treaty, the Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and
consent be made subject to a declaration.
The Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and
consent to the U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty be made subject to
a condition that the Secretary of State shall promptly notify
the Senate Committees on Environment and Public Works and
Foreign Relations in any instance in which the United States
and Russia agree to modify the geographic area to which the
treaty applies. This condition was not requested by the
Executive Branch, but will serve to ensure that the Senate is
informed about such changes, which are authorized under the
Treaty.
The Committee supports the requirement in the U.S.-Russia
Polar Bear Treaty that management decisions be based on
``reliable scientific data.'' The Executive Branch has stated
that ``[s]ufficient reliable information exists to propose
initial harvest restrictions.'' The Committee is concerned,
however, about whether there are resources in future budgets
adequate to meet the standard of ``reliable data''; the
Executive Branch has indicated that current budget levels do
not include funding for the research studies and information-
gathering to be undertaken pursuant to the treaty. The
Committee urges the Executive Branch to develop a plan to
ensure proper funding for the research provisions of this
treaty.
The Committee recommends that the Senate's advice and
consent to the Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries
Treaty be made subject to a declaration that such advice and
consent is without prejudice to any position the Senate may
take with respect to providing advice and consent to
ratification of the Convention for the Conservation and
Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and
Central Pacific Ocean, signed by the United States on September
9, 2000. This declaration was not requested by the Executive
Branch. The Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries
Treaty contains language welcoming the conclusion of the
Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly
Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean,
a convention which the United States has signed, but which has
not yet been submitted to the Senate for its advice and
consent. The Committee has recommended this declaration to
avoid suggesting that, in advising and consenting to the
Agreement Amending the Pacific Island Fisheries Treaty, the
Senate has formed a view on the Convention for the Conservation
and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western
and Central Pacific Ocean. The Committee will consider this
convention when it is submitted to the Senate for its advice
and consent.
VII. Resolutions of Ratification
U.S.-Russia Polar Bear Treaty
Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein),
SECTION 1. SENATE ADVICE AND CONSENT SUBJECT TO A CONDITION.
The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the
Agreement Between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the Russian Federation on the
Conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear
Population, done at Washington October 16, 2000 (T.Doc. 107-10,
in this resolution referred to as the ``Agreement''), subject
to the condition in section 2.
SEC. 2. CONDITION.
The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of
the Agreement is subject to the condition that the Secretary of
State shall promptly notify the Committee on Environment and
Public Works and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate in any instance that, pursuant to Article 3 of the
Agreement, the Contracting Parties modify the area to which the
Agreement applies. Any such notice shall include the text of
the modification and information regarding the reasons for the
modification.
U.S.-Canada Albacore Tuna
Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein),
That the Senate advises and consents to the ratification of
the Agreement Amending the Treaty Between the Government of the
United States of America and the Government of Canada on
Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges, done
at Washington May 26, 1981, and effected by an exchange of
diplomatic notes at Washington July 17, 2002, and August 13,
2002 (T. Doc. 108-1).
Pacific Island States Fisheries
Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein),
SECTION 1. SENATE ADVICE AND CONSENT SUBJECT TO A DECLARATION.
The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the
Amendments to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the
Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government
of the United States of America, with Annexes and Agreed
Statements, done at Port Moresby, April 2, 1987, done at Koror,
Palau, March 30, 1999, and at Kiritimati, Kiribati March 24,
2002 (T. Doc. 108-2, in this resolution referred to as the
``Amendments''), subject to the declaration in section 2.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION.
The advice and consent of the Senate to the ratification of
the Amendments is subject to the following declaration:
The advice and consent provided under section 1 is
without prejudice to any position the Senate may take
with respect to providing advice and consent to
ratification of the Convention for the Conservation and
Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean, signed by the United
States on September 9, 2000.
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