MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Table 11. Percent of Foreign Tuna Fleets with Observers Aboard' 



nation. Failure to adopt a parallel import ban within 

 six months of U.S. action will prompt certification of 

 the intermediary nation under the Pelly Amendment to 

 the Fishermen's Protective Act and may result in 

 restrictions on imports of all or some fish products 

 from that nation. 



These requirements were implemented through an 

 interim rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service on 7 March 1989 and a final rule issued on 30 

 March 1990. Under those regulations, intermediary 

 nations are not required to implement a ban on tuna 

 imports from a country embargoed by the United 

 States if the Service is satisfied that the intermediary 

 nation imports tuna products only from sources other 

 than the embargoed country. The regulations also 

 specify that an intermediary nation embargo will only 

 apply to yellowfin tuna and tuna products harvested in 

 the eastern tropical Pacific by a fishing nation that is 

 subject to a primary embargo. 



On 12 June 1991 , the Service published a notice to 

 importers in the Federal Register requiring importers 

 to certify that yellowfin tuna shipments to the United 

 States do not contain any yellowfin tuna or tuna 

 products harvested with purse seines in the eastern 

 tropical Pacific Ocean by vessels from Mexico. This 

 requirement became effective on 24 May 1991. On 2 

 July 1991, a notice with respect to yellowfin tuna 

 harvested by Venezuela and Vanuatu was published by 

 the Service. In accordance with that notice, shipments 

 of yellowfin tuna being imported from only three 

 countries (Costa Rica, France, and Italy) believed to 

 have recently imported yellowfin tuna from Venezuela 



and Vanuatu must be accompanied by a certification 

 that no yellowfin tuna or tuna products harvested by 

 purse seine vessels of Venezuela or Vanuatu in the 

 eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are included in the 

 shipment. By Federal Register notice of 7 August 

 1991, the Service limited the certification requirement 

 regarding yellowfin tuna from Mexico to Costa Rica, 

 France, Italy, Japan, and Panama, the five countries 

 believed to have recently imported yellowfin tuna 

 from Mexico. 



As discussed in the Litigation section below. Earth 

 Island Institute challenged the Service's interpretation 

 of the breadth of the tuna embargoes required under 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act's intermediary 

 nation provision. It contended that intermediary 

 nation embargoes apply to all yellowfin tuna from the 

 intermediary nation regardless of where or how the 

 tuna were harvested. 



As with harvesting nations, intermediary nations 

 from which tuna has been embargoed for six months 

 are to be certified by the Secretary of Commerce and 

 may face additional sanctions under the Pelly Amend- 

 ment. Costa Rica, France, Italy, Japan, and Panama 

 were certified on 25 November 1991; however, no 

 sanctions on other fish products have been imposed. 



Report to Congress — The 1988 amendments to 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act require the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service to convene annual 

 meetings with representatives of conservation groups, 

 the tuna fishing industry, and other interested parties 

 to discuss the results of efforts to reduce the incidental 



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