16 USC 1826 - Action to strengthen international fishery management organizations

View all text of Subchapter III [§ 1821 - § 1829]

§ 1826i. Action to strengthen international fishery management organizations

(a) In generalThe Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, and in cooperation with relevant fishery management councils and any relevant advisory committees, shall take actions to improve the effectiveness of international fishery management organizations, or arrangements made pursuant to an international fishery agreement, in conserving and managing fish stocks under their jurisdiction. These actions shall include—

(1) urging international fishery management organizations to which the United States is a member—

(A) to incorporate multilateral market-related measures against member or nonmember governments whose vessels engage in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing;

(B) to seek adoption of lists that identify fishing vessels and vessel owners engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing that can be shared among all members and other international fishery management organizations;

(C) to seek international adoption of a centralized vessel monitoring system in order to monitor and document capacity in fleets of all nations involved in fishing in areas under an international fishery management organization’s jurisdiction;

(D) to increase use of observers and technologies needed to monitor compliance with conservation and management measures established by the organization, including vessel monitoring systems and automatic identification systems;

(E) to seek adoption of stronger port state controls in all nations, particularly those nations in whose ports vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing land or transship fish; and

(F) to adopt shark conservation measures, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and discarding the carcass of the shark at sea;

(2) urging international fishery management organizations to which the United States is a member, as well as all members of those organizations, to adopt and expand the use of market-related measures to combat illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, including—

(A) import prohibitions, landing restrictions, or other market-based measures needed to enforce compliance with international fishery management organization measures, such as quotas and catch limits;

(B) import restrictions or other market-based measures to prevent the trade or importation of fish caught by vessels identified multilaterally as engaging in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing; and

(C) catch documentation and certification schemes to improve tracking and identification of catch of vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, including advance transmission of catch documents to ports of entry;

(3) seeking to enter into international agreements that require measures for the conservation of sharks, including measures to prohibit removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail) and discarding the carcass of the shark at sea, that are comparable to those of the United States, taking into account different conditions; and

(4) urging other nations at bilateral, regional, and international levels, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora and the World Trade Organization to take all steps necessary, consistent with international law, to adopt measures and policies that will prevent fish or other living marine resources harvested by vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing from being traded or imported into their nation or territories.

(b) Disclosure of information

(1) In general

(2) ExceptionsThe data confidentiality provisions in section 402 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1881a) shall not apply with respect to this Act—

(A) for obligations of the United States to share information under a regional fisheries management organization (as that term is defined by the United Nation’s 1

1 So in original.

Food and Agriculture Organization Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) of which the United States is a member; or

(B) to any information collected by the Secretary regarding foreign vessels.

(1) develop, maintain, and make public a list of vessels and vessel owners engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing or fishing-related activities in support of illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, including vessels or vessel owners identified by an international fishery management organization or arrangement made pursuant to an international fishery agreement, that—

(A) the United States is party to; or

(B) the United States is not party to, but whose procedures and criteria in developing and maintaining a list of such vessels and vessel owners are substantially similar to such procedures and criteria adopted pursuant to an international fishery agreement to which the United States is a party; and

(2) take appropriate action against listed vessels and vessel owners, including action against fish, fish parts, or fish products from such vessels, in accordance with applicable United States law and consistent with applicable international law, including principles, rights, and obligations established in applicable international fishery management agreements and trade agreements.

(d) Regulations

(Pub. L. 104–43, title VI, § 608, as added Pub. L. 109–479, title IV, § 403(a), Jan. 12, 2007, 120 Stat. 3627; amended Pub. L. 111–348, title I, § 102(a), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3668; Pub. L. 114–81, title I, § 101(b), Nov. 5, 2015, 129 Stat. 653.)