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Week Ending September 29, 2006
H.R.5946 To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to authorize activities to promote improved monitoring and compliance for high seas fisheries, or fisheries governed by international fishery management agreements, and for other purposes.
The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to undertake activities to promote improved monitoring and compliance for high seas fisheries or those governed by international fishery management agreements. The Secretary may share information on harvesting and processing capacity and illegal, unreported fishing with relevant law enforcement organization of foreign nations. He may further develop real time information of harvesting and processing both unregulated and unreported and participate in global and regional efforts to build international network for monitoring, control an surveillance of high seas fishing.
One target of this effort could be an international registry of fishing vessels. With or without the participation of other governments the general direction of this bill is to identify vessels and nations that do not comply with fishing treaties, and assess other nations as to whether or not they behave in the fishing industry by US standards. One alternative is to deny port privileges to vessels suspected of illegal catch.
The bill would make it unlawful for members in this new effort to violate provisions of the act and to refuse to permit any officer authorized to enforce the provisions, access to a vessel for inspection, to resist arrest and other noncompliance actions or inactions.
Sponsor: Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-CA-11th)
Vote: Passed House by voice vote September 27, 2006. Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent. December 9, 2006
Cost to the taxpayers: $5.5 million yearly through 2012. $150,000 for advisory committee; $4.24 million for research
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MORE INFORMATION
(a) In General- It is unlawful for any person--
(1) to violate any provision of this title or any regulation or permit issued pursuant to this title;
(2) to use any fishing vessel to engage in fishing after the revocation, or during the period of suspension, or an applicable permit issued pursuant to this title;
(3) to refuse to permit any officer authorized to enforce the provisions of this title to board a fishing vessel subject to such person's control for the purposes of conducting any search, investigation, or inspection in connection with the enforcement of this title or any regulation, permit, or the Convention;
(4) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with any such authorized officer in the conduct of any search, investigations, or inspection in connection with the enforcement of this title or any regulation, permit, or the Convention;
(5) to resist a lawful arrest for any act prohibited by this title;
(6) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, purchase, import, export, or have custody, control, or possession of, any fish taken or retained in violation of this title or any regulation, permit, or agreement referred to in paragraph (1) or (2);
(7) to interfere with, delay, or prevent, by any means, the apprehension or arrest of another person, knowing that such other person has committed any chapter prohibited by this section;
(8) to knowingly and willfully submit to the Secretary false information (including false information regarding the capacity and extent to which a United States fish processor, on an annual basis, will process a portion of the optimum yield of a fishery that will be harvested by fishery vessels of the United States), regarding any matter that the Secretary is considering in the course of carrying out this title;
(9) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, sexually harass, bribe, or interfere with any observer one a vessel under this title, or any data collector employed by the National Marine Fisheries Service or under contract to any person to carry out responsibilities under this title;
(10) to engage in fishing in violation of any regulation adopted pursuant to section 206(a) of this title;
(11) to ship, transport, purchase, sell, offer for sale, import, export, or have in custody, possession, or control any fish taken or retained in violation of such regulations;
(12) to fail to make, keep, or furnish any catch returns, statistical records, or other reports as are required by regulations adopted pursuant to this title to be made, kept, or furnished;
(13) to fail to stop a vessel upon being hailed and instructed to stop by a duly authorized official of the United States;
(14) to import, in violation of any regulation adopted pursuant to section 206(a) of this title, any fish in any form of those species subject to regulation pursuant to a recommendation, resolution, or decision of the Commission, or any tuna in any form not under regulation but under investigation by the Commission, during the period such fish have been denied entry in accordance with the provisions of section 206(a) of this title.
(b) Entry Certification- In the case of any fish described in subsection (a) offered for entry into the United States, the Secretary of Commerce shall require proof satisfactory to the Secretary that such fish is not ineligible for such entry under the terms of section 206(a) of this title.
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