42 



The U.S. Interest in Promoting a Strong International Regime 



Straddling and highly migratory species are important to the U.S. 



Straddling and highly migratory fish species are of great significance to the U.S. 

 For example, tunas make up more than one-qruarter of the total volume of edible 

 fish imported into this country each year. U.S. lishermen catch hundreds of millions 

 of dollars worth of tuna annualW, most of it outside of U.S. waters. Other straddling 

 and highly migratory species oi great significance to U.S. fishermen include sword- 

 fish, pollock in the Bering Sea, as weU as marlins, sailfish and other billfish impor- 

 tant to recreational fishermen. U.S. recreational fishing of billfish has been valued 

 at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. 



The lack of an effective international regime has had a major impact on some of 

 these species and the potential for further damage to U.S. interests is high. For ex- 

 ample: 



• The international fisheries management organization charged with managing 

 tuna and other highly migratory species in the Atlantic 2 has failed to prevent disas- 

 trous depletion oiDluefin tuna in the western Atlantic, contributing to severe catch 

 reductions for U.S. commercial fishermen. 



• The lack of effective international controls has contributed to the severe deple- 

 tion of swordfish in the North Atlantic and the virtual elimination of the U.S. rec- 

 reational swordfish fishery there. 



• Catches of pollock in the high seas "Donut Hole" area of the Bering Sea be- 

 tween the U.S. and Russia crashed from nearly 1.5 million metric tons in 1939,to 

 less than 11,000 tons in 1992. A moratorium on fishing for pollock in the Donut 

 Hole and on the associated populations in the U.S. and Russian zones has been in 

 effect since the beginning 01 1993, resulting in economic hardship for U.S. fishers 

 and coastal communities.^ 



In addition, a number of species important to the U.S. are not managed by any 

 international authority. These include the North and South Pacific albacore fish- 

 eries, swordfish and marlin in the Pacific, and sharks in both the Atlantic and the 

 Pacific. Management regimes are clearly needed for these fisheries: both North Pa- 

 cific albacore and blue marlin in the Pacific are classified by NMFS as overutilized; 

 and according to NMFS no mechanism exists to even assess the status of most bill- 

 fish in the Pacific, let alone effectively manage fishing for them. 



Most commercially caught tuna populations are now fully exploited or overfished, 

 as are many populations of billfish and most straddling stocks, according to the 

 FAO. Because these fish are so important both in terms of imports into the U.S. 

 and the domestic fishing industiy, and billfish are so important in terms, of the rec- 

 reational fishing industry, it is in the interests of the United States to see that an 

 effective regime that ensures the sustainability of these species is established now, 

 before the level of competition precipitates crises like tnose suffered by bluefin, 

 swordfish and pollock. 



Ecological issues 

 In May, a Workshop on Marine Biological Diversity convened by the National Re- 

 search Council identified fishing as one of the principal current global threats to 

 biodiversity in the oceans. The impact of global fishing of straddling and highly mi- 

 gratory species on marine mammals, birds, other marine life and the overall viabil- 

 ity and resilience of marine ecosystems is of crucial concern. For example, there is 

 concern that heavy pollock fishing has been a factor in the extensive population de- 

 clines observed for Steller sea lions and seabirds in the Bering Sea. A strong inter- 

 national regime that includes protective measures for non-target species is crucial 

 to better understanding and protecting marine wildlife from the direct and indirect 

 impacts of fishing. 



Reducing conflicts between nations 



Competition and conflicts between nations have escalated as various fish popu- 

 lations have dwindled under unsustainable levels of fishing pressure. Some coun- 

 tries have made moves toward extending jurisdiction beyond their 200-mile EEZs 

 to gain control over commercially important populations, raising concerns about 

 open international conflict. 



Acccounts of skirmishes between competing harvesters of diminishing fish stocks 

 are becoming more and more commonplace. For example, enforcement of a new Ca- 

 nadian law that provides for the seizure of foreign fishing boats, working outside 



2 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). 



3The recently concluded "Convention on the Conservation and Management of the Pollock Re- 

 sources in the Central Bering Sea," signed last month in Washington, is designed to restore pol- 

 lock in the Bering Sea and put the fishery on a mare sustainable track. 



