Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 109 Part 1.djvu/403

 PUBLIC LAW 104-43—NOV. 3, 1995 109 STAT. 387 '*§ 12. Savings clause "Nothing in this Act shall have the effect of diminishing the rights and obligations of any Nation under Article VIII(3) of the Convention.". SEC. 309. MANAGEMENT OF ATLANTIC YELLOWFIN TUNA. (a) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce in accordance with this section shall publish a preliminary determination of the level of the United States recreational and commercial catch of Atlantic yellowfin tuna on an annual basis since 1980. The Secretary shall publish a preliminary determination in the Federal Register for comment for a period not to exceed 60 days. The Secretary shall publish a final determination not later than 140 days from the date of the enactment of this section. (b) Not later than July 1, 1996, the Secretary of Commerce shall implement the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas regarding yellowfin tuna made pursuant to Article VIII of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and acted upon favorably by the Secretary of State under section 5(a) of the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971c(a)). SEC. 310. STUDY OF BLUEFIN TUNA REGULATIONS. Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the Senate and to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives a report on the historic rationale, effectiveness, and biological and economic efficiency of existing bluefin tuna regulations for United States Atlantic fisheries. Specifically, the biological rationale for each regional and category allocation, including directed and incidental categories, should be described in light of the average size, age, and maturity of bluefin tuna caught in each fishery and the effect of this harvest on stock rebuilding and sustainable yield. The report should examine the history and evaluate the level of wasteful discarding, and evaluate the effectiveness of nonquota regulations at constraining harvests within regions. Further, comments should be provided on levels of participation in specific fisheries in terms of vessels and trips, enforcement implications, and the importance of monitoring information provided by these allocations on the precision of the stock assessment estimates. SEC. 311. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO ICCAT NEGO- TIATIONS. (a) SHARING OF CONSERVATION BURDEN. —It is the sense of the Congress that in future negotiations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereafter in this section referred to as "ICCAT"), the Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that the conservation actions recommended by international commissions and implemented by the Secretary for United States commercial and recreational fishermen provide fair and equitable sharing of the conservation burden among all contracting harvesters in negotiations with those commissions. (b) ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—It is further the sense of the Congress that, during 1995 ICCAT negotiations on swordfish and other Highly Migratory Species managed by ICCAT, the Congress 16 USC 971k. Publication. Federal Register, publication. 16 USC 971c note. Reports.

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