Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/29/96
An historic provision, proposed and negotiated by the United States at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, establishes for the first time in an international fishery management organization a program for compliance with fish catch quotas by member nations. The provision and other management measures and fishing quotas were unveiled today at the close of the ICCAT meeting, the Commerce Department announced.
Additionally, ICCAT authorized countries to impose import bans against three non-member countries found to be undermining ICCAT's conservation regime for bluefin tuna. The import bans represent the first time multilateral trade measures have been authorized by an international fishery management organization to enforce compliance with conservation rules.
The United States considered compliance by both member and non-member countries to be the highest priority issue at the 1996 meeting of ICCAT. A major problem for ICCAT has been the lack of compliance with catch limits. With declining stocks, the compliance problem is magnified.
"Unless we can set appropriate quotas, and all of us play by the rules, we cannot effectively manage a fishery of a species that is capable of moving across the ocean in a single season," said Will Martin, deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Martin headed the delegation of government officials, industry representatives, recreational interests, environmental groups and Congressional staff.
The historic measure regarding members' compliance with catch limits for bluefin tuna in the Western and Eastern Atlantic and for North Atlantic swordfish calls for members to repay 100 percent of any overharvests as an initial penalty. In addition, repeated over-harvests can result in other penalties, including quota reductions of at least 125 percent of the over-harvests and, as a last resort, import bans.
In the case of non-members, ICCAT authorized countries to impose a ban on the import of bluefin tuna from non-members Belize, Honduras and Panama due to their inaction after being identified at the 1995 meeting as undermining ICCAT's bluefin conservation program. Regarding swordfish, non-member Trinadad and Tobago will be receiving written notification of ICCAT's concern that their fishing activities may be reducing the effectiveness of the ICCAT conservation program, a move which could possibly lead to an import ban in the future.
"The package of import bans plus the new compliance penalties is historic and shows that, at last, ICCAT is adding teeth to its major conservation programs," said Martin. "This is not a panacea for ICCAT's problems in managing Atlantic-wide fisheries," he added, "but it is a major step forward."
The annual total allowable catch (TAC) for bluefin tuna in the Western Atlantic for 1997-98 was increased by 150 metric tons (mt) to 2354 mt. The U.S. share of this quota has been established at 1344.4 mt, which represents a 33 mt increase in U.S. quota. This quota level is formulated to yield the status quo catch level of 2500 mt, which has been determined by ICCAT's science body as "sustainable," and allows a slow rebuilding. The U.S. and Canadian shares of the quota increase are lower than Japan's for these two years, to repay Japan in part for its voluntary contribution to U.S. and Canadian quota shares in the recent past.
For North Atlantic swordfish, TACs of 11,300 mt for 1997, 11,000 mt for 1998, and 10,700 mt for 1999 represent the second consecutive quota cut for this fishery. The new cuts will reduce catches to a level that will allow for replacement and stop the decline of the swordfish stock. The impact of these quota reductions on the U.S. fishery is partially offset by the increased share allocated to the United States under the new sharing agreement that was negotiated and adopted at last year's ICCAT meeting.
"ICCAT meetings are always tough," said Martin. "But this year's session was especially grueling, due to the number of extremely controversial subjects on the agenda. Negotiating quotas on declining stocks is a zero-sum game, and presents a situation where there is always some disappointment. We have tried to be responsible to the resources and responsive to our fishing constituents. The United States can be very proud of this year's ICCAT package."
ICCAT adopted a number of other management measures designed to address declines in other tuna stocks, including bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and albacore in the South Atlantic. ICCAT, a 24-nation organization charged with the management of Atlantic tunas, swordfish and billfish, met in San Sebastian, Spain, Nov. 22-29, 1996.