Ocean Treaties

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on four treaties relating to the oceans:

• the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada on Pacific Hake/Whiting (Whiting Agreement);
  
• the Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (Antigua Convention);
  
• the Convention on the Conservation and Management of the Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, with Annexes (WCPF Convention); and
  
• the Protocol of 1997 to Amend the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as Modified by the Protocol of 1978 thereto (MARPOL Annex VI)
  

The first three of these treaties concern the conservation and management of vital fisheries resources shared between the United States and other nations. The fourth treaty regulates air pollution from ocean-going vessels. The Administration urges the Senate to review all four of these agreements favorably, with a view to providing advice and consent to their ratification as soon as possible.

Mr. Chairman, today’s hearing takes place at a time of increased attention and concern about the oceans and their resources. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy presented its comprehensive report, "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21^st Century," one year ago, detailing the many challenges we face in this regard. The Administration has issued and has begun to implement the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, building on the Ocean Commission report and other initiatives. Congress is also considering a number of pieces of legislation to strengthen the ability of this nation to act as a proper steward of the oceans.

As these efforts move forward, we must recognize that no nation, acting alone, can address issues relating to the oceans fully or effectively. For fisheries and other resources that cross jurisdictional lines in the seas, we must secure the cooperation of other nations to conserve and manage those resources sustainably. Similarly, the control and reduction of pollution affecting the oceans – including air pollution from ships – require concerted international action.

All four treaties before you today represent successful efforts to secure such international cooperation. In each case, U.S. negotiating teams, representing the full range of U.S. interests on these matters, labored hard to reach the agreements. Due in large part to this inclusive approach, I am pleased to report that affected stakeholders in the United States support ratification of all these treaties. Indeed, I am aware of no opposition to them.

Of course, each treaty has its own unique purpose and particular features, as outlined below. Ratification of each treaty would also require the enactment of legislation to implement U.S. obligations.

Mr. Chairman, I will now present a brief summary of each treaty.

Agreement with Canada on Pacific Hake/Whiting

This Agreement with Canada provides, for the first time, a stable and equitable basis on which our two nations can share a valuable stock of fish whose range includes Pacific waters off or our respective West Coasts. This fish, known generally in the United States as Pacific whiting and in Canada as Pacific hake, is used principally in the manufacture of surimi, which is the basis for such products as imitation crab legs and shrimp. The fishery, which takes place in waters off Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, was worth approximately $21.9 million to U.S. fishermen in 2004. The fish is processed both at sea and by land-based firms. The fishery also has a substantial economic impact on several fishing ports, such as Crescent City and Eureka in California and Astoria and Newport in Oregon.

Beginning in the 1970s, scientists and fisheries managers from the United States and Canada reached informal agreement on an annual overall total allowable catch (TAC) for the stock. The two countries conducted periodic joint stock assessments and agreed informally on certain management measures, but not the most important one – how to divide the TAC between U.S. and Canadian fisheries. The United States generally claimed 80% of the allowable catch, while Canada took 30%. This situation, coupled with other factors, led to a decline in the stock. In 2002, for the first time, the Department of Commerce declared the stock to be "overfished."

Following resumed talks in 2002, both sides agreed in principle in April 2003 to the text of a new long-term management and sharing arrangement. The Agreement, signed at Seattle on November 21, 2003, establishes a default harvest policy and assigns 73.88% of the TAC to the United States and 26.12% to Canada for an initial period of nine years, and thereafter unless the Parties agree to change it. It also creates a formal process through which U.S. and Canadian scientists and fisheries managers will determine the total catch of hake each year, to be divided by the percentage formula. Stakeholders from both countries will have significant input into this process.

The U.S. fishing industry strongly supports the Agreement. It not only allows the Parties to redress the overfishing that had led to the recent decline in stock levels, but also provides for long-term stability to U.S. fishers and processors and a structure for future scientific collaboration.

Legislation will be necessary to implement this Agreement. The Administration anticipates that such legislation will be relatively short and straightforward. We have already been in contact with relevant committees in Congress to suggest possible wording for such legislation.

Convention Strengthening the Inter-American Tuna Commission

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) is an international fisheries organization with a mission to conserve and manage the fisheries for tuna and related species in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The treaty establishing the IATTC was initially concluded in 1949 as a bilateral agreement between the United States and Costa Rica. Since then, the organization has grown to include 14 members, as well as five other States and entities that enjoy the status of "cooperating non-parties."

Several years ago, the States and entities participating in the IATTC agreed to re-negotiate the original treaty, primarily to incorporate modern principles of fisheries management. Negotiations toward this end resulted in the Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), also known as the Antigua Convention, adopted on June 27, 2003, in Antigua, Guatemala. The United States signed the Convention on November 14, 2003.

The United States Government, represented by the Departments of State and Commerce, as well as stakeholders from the U.S. fishing industry and conservation community, played a central role in the negotiation of the Antigua Convention. The Administration, supported by these stakeholders, believes that this treaty will serve as a strong and comprehensive basis for the future work of the IATTC. The Antigua Convention faithfully incorporates valuable provisions of other recent fisheries treaties, particularly the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, to which the United States is already a party. The Antigua Convention will also provide a sound legal framework for protecting U.S. interests in this fishery, including by creating a mechanism in which both the European Union and Taiwan can participate fully in the work of the IATTC and be bound by the regulatory measures adopted by that organization.

The Antigua Convention will enter into force fifteen months after the deposit of the seventh instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession by States that were Parties to the 1949 Convention on November 14, 2003. To date, 12 States and the European Commission have signed the Convention. Two countries, Mexico and El Salvador, have so far deposited instruments of ratification. In addition, Taiwan has signed an instrument declaring its firm commitment to abide by the terms of the Antigua Convention, subject to confirmation.

Early U.S. ratification would provide valuable momentum to bring the Antigua Convention into force and would demonstrate our continued commitment to and leadership on international fisheries issues. Although the United States could implement much of the Antigua Convention under existing statutory authority, the Administration will propose legislation to effect certain changes in U.S. law, principally the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as amended, to provide the strongest basis for implementing the Antigua Convention.

Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean

Unlike the Antigua Convention, which is designed to strengthen the underlying treaty of an international fisheries organization that has existed for more than half a century, the Convention on the Conservation and Management of the Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, with Annexes, ("the WCPF Convention"), establishes a brand new international fisheries organization to conserve and manage tunas and related species in that portion of the Pacific Ocean not covered by the IATTC. The two organizations will have complementary mandates intended to provide for effective and sustainable management of these fisheries throughout the entire Pacific Ocean.

The WCPF Convention was adopted on September 5, 2000, in Honolulu. The United States signed the Convention on that date. The Convention entered into force on June 19, 2004, and now boasts 20 parties. In addition, Taiwan has signed an instrument declaring its firm commitment to abide by the terms of the WCPF Convention, subject to confirmation. The United States is one of the few original signatories yet to ratify or accede.

The United States played a lead role during the negotiations on a wide range of issues. One such issue was the effort to afford membership in the Commission to Taiwan under the terms of the separate instrument noted above. As a result, for the first time in any regional fisheries organization, vessels from Taiwan will be bound by the terms of the Convention, including the conservation and management measures adopted pursuant thereto. Similar arrangements were subsequently included in the Antigua Convention, discussed above, which was adopted after the adoption of the WCPF Convention.

The highly migratory fish stocks of the Western and Central Pacific are of great significance to the United States and the other nations involved in those fisheries. Indeed, the tuna fisheries in that region are the largest and most valuable in the world. Implementation of the WCPF Convention offers the opportunity to conserve and responsibly manage these resources while the threat of overfishing and over-capacity are still at a manageable stage, before conditions deteriorate as we have seen too often elsewhere in the world’s oceans.

The WCPF Convention builds upon the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the LOS Convention) and the 1995 United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (the Fish Stocks Agreement). The WCPF Convention gives effect to the provisions of the LOS Convention and Fish Stocks Agreement that recognize as essential, and require, cooperation to conserve highly migratory fish stocks through regional fishery management organizations, by those with direct interests in them - coastal States with authority to manage fishing in waters under their jurisdiction and those nations whose vessels fish for these stocks.

The United States has direct and important interests in the effective implementation of the WCPF Convention. The United States is a major distant water fishing nation, with the fourth largest catch in the region. At the same time, the United States is the coastal State with the largest EEZ in the Convention Area (including the waters around Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and other unincorporated islands under U.S. jurisdiction). Accordingly, U.S. fishing concerns, including the U.S. tuna industry, U.S. conservation organizations and U.S. consumers, as well as the residents of Hawaii and the U.S. Flag Pacific island areas of Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, all have a crucial stake in the health of the oceans and their resources as promoted by the WCPF Convention.

Protocol of 1997 to Amend the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 thereto (MARPOL Annex VI)

Negotiated under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention) is the primary international agreement to control the accidental and operational discharges of pollutants from ships. The Convention currently includes a framework agreement and six annexes that address particular sources of marine pollution from ships. The United States is already a party to MARPOL and four of its annexes.

Annex VI establishes an international framework addressing air pollution from ships and will make an important contribution to the protection of the environment by addressing harmful air pollutants from ships. In short, the Annex establishes design standards for marine diesel engines installed after 1 January 2000 for the reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and establishes a global cap of 4.5 percent on the sulfur content of marine fuels, as well as a mechanism for reducing the sulfur content to 1.5 percent in particular areas (called SOx Emission Control Areas) where SOx reduction is considered necessary. The Administration contemplates seeking the establishment of such areas in waters adjacent to North America where ship emissions contribute to air quality problems in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Annex VI also prohibits the deliberate emission of ozone-depleting substances, including halons and chlorofluocarbons, from ships and prohibits the incineration onboard ship of certain products, such as contaminated packaging materials and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Annex VI entered into force on May 19, 2005. There are currently 27 parties to it, representing almost two thirds of the world’s tonnage of merchant ships. U.S. ratification will enhance our ability to work through the IMO to establish more stringent global emission reduction standards in the future. To this end, the President has proposed a declaration expressing support for an Annex VI amendment to establish Tier II emission standards that will further reduce the agreed NOx emission control limits. The President has proposed one other declaration regarding the application of Regulation 15 concerning volatile organic compound emissions (VOCs). Most importantly, the President has also proposed a formal understanding highlighting the point that Parties are permitted to impose more stringent NOx limits as a condition of entry into their ports. The United States is presently engaged in discussions at the IMO to explore more stringent standards for NOx and sulfur content of marine fuels. The discussions currently underway at IMO will also consider standards for particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and expansion of the Annex to include non-diesel engines.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to discuss these issues. I would be happy to answer any questions from the Members of the Committee.