1998 Year of the Ocean A Survey of International Agreements 



Convention for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery 



of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, 1953; 



Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 



(as amended: 50 Stat. 325; 67 Stat. 494; 79 Stat. 902; 97 Stat. 78). 



The bilateral International Pacific Halibut Commission was created to conserve, manage, 

 and rebuild the halibut stocks of the west coast of Canada and the United States to levels which 

 would achieve and maintain the maximum sustainable yield from the fishery. The Commission is 

 responsible for data collection and stock assessment, and addresses the issue of bycatch of 

 halibut by the groundfish fisheries in the region. The halibut resource has been managed by this 

 Commission since 1923. 



Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries between the United States and Canada, 1954; 

 Great Lakes Fisheries Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 932) 



The bilateral Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established to control and eradicate 

 sea lamprey, which decimated important commercial and recreational fisheries in the Great 

 Lakes. The lamprey entered the lakes through canals built in the nineteenth century to provide 

 access to the lakes by ocean-going vessels. This Commission is also responsible for undertaking 

 research programs to determine the maximum productivity of any stock offish that is of interest 

 to the parties, and making recommendations on appropriate measures for the conservation and 

 management of those stocks. 



International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, 1966; 

 Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971) 



The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas was established to 

 provide an effective program of international cooperation in research and conservation in 

 recognition of the unique problems of tunas and tuna-like species. The Convention area is 

 defined as all waters of the Atlantic Ocean, including the adjacent seas. The Commission is 

 responsible for providing internationally coordinated research on the condition of the Atlantic 

 tunas, tuna-like species, and their environment, as well as for the developing harvest proposals 

 for consideration by the convention parties. The objective of such regulatory proposals is to 

 conserve and manage species of tuna throughout their range to achieve maximum sustainable 

 catch. Parties include Angola, Benin, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Cote dTvoire, Cuba, 

 Equatorial Guinea, the European Union, France, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 

 Morocco, Sao Tome and Principe, the Republic of South Africa, Spain, the Russian Federation, 

 the United Kingdom, Uruguay, the United States, and Venezuela. 



Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially As Waterfowl Habitat, 



Ramsar, 1971 



The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, known as the Ramsar 

 Convention from its place of adoption in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, is the only international accord 



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