16 U.S.C. § 971d : US Code - Section 971D: Administration

Search 16 U.S.C. § 971d : US Code - Section 971D: Administration

(a) Regulations; cooperation with other parties to Convention;
utilization of personnel, services, and facilities for
enforcement
The Secretary is authorized and directed to administer and
enforce all of the provisions of the Convention, this chapter, and
regulations issued pursuant thereto, except to the extent otherwise
provided for in this chapter. In carrying out such functions the
Secretary is authorized and directed to adopt such regulations as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes and objectives of the
Convention and this chapter, and with the concurrence of the
Secretary of State, he may cooperate with the duly authorized
officials of the government of any party to the Convention. In
addition, the Secretary may utilize, with the concurrence of the
Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating
insofar as such utilization involves enforcement at sea, with or
without reimbursement and by agreement with any other Federal
department or agency, or with any agency of any State, the
personnel, services, and facilities of that agency for enforcement
purposes with respect to any vessel in the exclusive economic zone,
or wherever found, with respect to any vessel documented under the
laws of the United States, and any vessel numbered or otherwise
licensed under the laws of any State. When so utilized, such
personnel of the States of the United States are authorized to
function as Federal law enforcement agents for these purposes, but
they shall not be held and considered as employees of the United
States for the purposes of any laws administered by the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management.
(b) Primary enforcement responsibility
Enforcement activities at sea under the provisions of this
chapter for fishing vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States shall be primarily the responsibility of the
Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating,
in cooperation with the Secretary and the United States Customs
Service. The Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of the
department in which the Coast Guard is operating, shall adopt such
regulations as may be necessary to provide for procedures and
methods of enforcement pursuant to article IX of the Convention.
(c) Regulations and other measures to carry out Commission
recommendations
(1)(A) Upon favorable action by the Secretary of State under
section 971c(a) of this title on any recommendation of the
Commission made pursuant to article VIII of the Convention, the
Secretary shall promulgate, pursuant to this subsection, such
regulations as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out such
recommendation.
(B) Not later than June 30, 1991, the Secretary shall promulgate
any additional regulations necessary to ensure that the United
States is in full compliance with all recommendations made by the
Commission that have been accepted by the United States and with
other agreements under the Convention between the United States and
any nation which is a party to the Convention.
(C) Regulations promulgated under this paragraph shall, to the
extent practicable, be consistent with fishery management plans
prepared and implemented under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
(2) To promulgate regulations referred to in paragraph (1) of
this subsection, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal
Register a general notice of proposed rulemaking and shall afford
interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking
through (A) submission of written data, views, or arguments, and
(B) oral presentation at a public hearing. Such regulations shall
be published in the Federal Register and shall be accompanied by a
statement of the considerations involved in the issuance of the
regulations, and by a statement, based on inquiries and
investigations, assessing the nature and effectiveness of the
measures for the implementation of the Commission's recommendations
which are being or will be carried out by countries whose vessels
engage in fishing the species subject to such recommendations
within the waters to which the Convention applies. After
publication in the Federal Register, such regulations shall be
applicable to all vessels and persons subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States on such date as the Secretary shall prescribe.
The Secretary shall suspend at any time the application of any such
regulation when, after consultation with the Secretary of State and
the United States Commissioners, he determines that fishing
operations in the Convention area of a contracting party for whom
the regulations are effective are such as to constitute a serious
threat to the achievement of the Commission's recommendations.
(3) The regulations required to be promulgated under paragraph
(1) of this subsection may -
(A) select for regulation one or more of the species covered by
the Convention;
(B) divide the Convention waters into areas;
(C) establish one or more open or closed seasons as to each
such area;
(D) limit the size of the fish and quantity of the catch which
may be taken from each area within any season during which
fishing is allowed;
(E) limit or prohibit the incidental catch of a regulated
species which may be retained, taken, possessed, or landed by
vessels or persons fishing for other species of fish;
(F) require records of operations to be kept by any master or
other person in charge of any fishing vessel;
(G) require such clearance certificates for vessels as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of the Convention and this
chapter;
(H) require proof satisfactory to the Secretary that any fish
subject to regulation pursuant to a recommendation of the
Commission offered for entry into the United States has not been
taken or retained contrary to the recommendations of the
Commission made pursuant to article VIII of the Convention which
have been adopted as regulations pursuant to this section;
(I) require any commercial or recreational fisherman to obtain
a permit from the Secretary and report the quantity of the catch
of a regulated species;
(J) require that observers be carried aboard fishing vessels
for the purpose of providing statistically reliable scientific
data; and
(K) impose such other requirements and provide for such other
measures as the Secretary may determine necessary to implement
any recommendation of the Convention or to obtain scientific data
necessary to accomplish the purpose of the Convention;
except that no regulation promulgated under this section may have
the effect of increasing or decreasing any allocation or quota of
fish or fishing mortality level to the United States agreed to
pursuant to a recommendation of the Commission.
(4) Upon the promulgation of regulations provided for in
paragraph (3) of this subsection, the Secretary shall promulgate,
with the concurrence of the Secretary of State and pursuant to the
procedures prescribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection,
additional regulations which shall become effective simultaneously
with the application of the regulations provided for in paragraph
(3) of this subsection, which prohibit -
(A) the entry into the United States of fish in any form of
those species which are subject to regulation pursuant to a
recommendation of the Commission and which were taken from the
Convention area in such manner or in such circumstances as would
tend to diminish the effectiveness of the conservation
recommendations of the Commission; and
(B) the entry into the United States, from any country when the
vessels of such country are being used in the conduct of fishing
operations in the Convention area in such manner or in such
circumstances as would tend to diminish the effectiveness of the
conservation recommendations of the Commission, of fish in any
form of those species which are subject to regulation pursuant to
a recommendation of the Commission and which were taken from the
Convention area.
(5) In the case of repeated and flagrant fishing operations in
the Convention area by the vessels of any country which seriously
threaten the achievement of the objectives of the Commission's
recommendations, the Secretary with the concurrence of the
Secretary of State, may by regulations promulgated pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this subsection prohibit the entry in any form
from such country of other species covered by the Convention as may
be under investigation by the Commission and which were taken in
the Convention area. Any such prohibition shall continue until the
Secretary is satisfied that the condition warranting the
prohibition no longer exists, except that all fish in any form of
the species under regulation which were previously prohibited from
entry shall continue to be prohibited from entry.
(6) Identification and notification. -
(A) Not later than July 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the
Commissioners, and the advisory committee, shall -
(i) identify those nations whose fishing vessels are fishing,
or have fished during the preceding calendar year, within the
convention area in a manner or under circumstances that
diminish the effectiveness of a conservation recommendation;
(ii) notify the President and the nation so identified,
including an explanation of the reasons therefor; and
(iii) publish a list of those Nations identified under clause
(i).
(B) In identifying those Nations, the Secretary shall consider,
based on the best available information, whether those Nations
have measures in place for reporting, monitoring, and
enforcement, and whether those measures diminish the
effectiveness of any conservation recommendation.
(7) Consultation. - Not later than 30 days after a Nation is
notified under paragraph (6), the President may enter into
consultations with the Government of that Nation for the purpose of
obtaining an agreement that will -
(A) effect the immediate termination and prevent the resumption
of any fishing operation by vessels of that Nation within the
Convention area which is conducted in a manner or under
circumstances that diminish the effectiveness of the conservation
recommendation;
(B) when practicable, require actions by that Nation, or
vessels of that Nation, to mitigate the negative impacts of
fishing operations on the effectiveness of the conservation
recommendation involved, including but not limited to, the
imposition of subsequent-year deductions for quota overages; and
(C) result in the establishment, if necessary, by such Nation
of reporting, monitoring, and enforcement measures that are
adequate to ensure the effectiveness of conservation
recommendations.
(d) Recommended Commission actions regarding large-scale driftnet
fishing and conservation of Atlantic swordfish
(1) It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, should seek support for a
recommendation by the Commission to ban large-scale driftnet
fishing (as that term is defined in section 3(16) (!1) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [16 U.S.C.
1802(16)]) in the Convention area.
(2) The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State,
shall request the Commission to adopt recommendations necessary for
the conservation and management of Atlantic swordfish. In making
the request, the Secretary shall seek the establishment of an
international minimum harvest size and a reduction in harvest
levels to the extent necessary to conserve the stock. Until the
Commission adopts all the conservation and management measures
requested by the Secretary, the Secretary, within 3 months after
each annual meeting of the Commission, shall notify Congress as to
the nature and results of his request. These notifications shall
identify those nations not acting to conserve and manage Atlantic
swordfish, and recommend measures which could be taken to achieve
effective international conservation and management of the stock.