Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean, 1992 (hereafter referred to as the Convention, Senate Treaty Document 102-30, 102d Congress, 2d Session)
The North Pacific Anadromous Stocks Act of 1992 (Title VIII of P.L. 102-567)
Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United States
North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
6640 Northwest Marine Drive
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1X2
Executive Director: Dr. Irina Shestakova
Telephone: (604) 228-1128
Fax: (604) 228-1135
E-Mail: wmorris@unixg.ubc.ca
Web site: http://www.npafc.org
The approved NPAFC budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 1997/1998 (July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998) is Canadian $564,000, with each Party contributing $135,000. At the Fifth Annual Meeting of the NPAFC held on October 27-31, 1997, in Victoria, British Columbia, the Commission approved a general fund budget of $583,700 for FY 1998/1999--a $19,700 increase over the 1997/1998 budget. The total contribution from each Party, however, will remain the same as in FY 1997/1998. The shortfall will be offset by interest income and transfers from the Commission's Working Capital Fund. The NPAFC is currently considering a budget forecast of $549,000 for FY 1999/2000.
The United States is represented on the Commission by not more than three U.S. Commissioners who are appointed by the President and serve at his pleasure. Each U.S. Commissioner is appointed for a term not to exceed 4 years, but is eligible for reappointment. Of the three Commissioners, one must be an official of the U.S. Government, one a resident of the State of Alaska, and the third a resident of the State of Washington. Candidates for the non-Federal Commissioner positions must be knowledgeable or experienced concerning anadromous stocks and ecologically-related species of the North Pacific Ocean.
In addition, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, may designate from time to time Alternate U.S. Commissioners to the NPAFC. The number of Alternate Commissioners that may be designated to a Commission meeting is limited to the number of authorized U.S. Commissioners that will not be present.
Steven Pennoyer (November 21, 1998)
Administrator, Alaska Region
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA
P.O. Box 21668
Juneau, Alaska 99802-1668
Frances Ann Ulmer (November 21, 1998)
Lieutenant Governor, State of Alaska
P.O. Box 110015
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Guy R. McMinds (January 2, 2000)
P.O. Box 67
Taholah, Washington 98587
The North Pacific Anadromous Stocks Act of 1992 established an Advisory Panel to the United States Section of the NPAFC. The Advisory Panel shall be composed of: (1) the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game; (2) the Director of the Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; (3) one representative of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission; and (4) eleven members (six residents of the State of Alaska and five residents of the State of Washington) appointed by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, from among a slate of 12 persons nominated by the Governor of Alaska and a slate of 10 persons nominated by the Governor of Washington. There must be at least one representative of commercial salmon fishing interests and one representative of environmental interests on each of the Governors' slates.
As is the case with NPAFC Commissioners, Advisors must be knowledgeable of North Pacific anadromous stocks and ecologically related species. Advisors serve for a term not to exceed 4 years, and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.
The NPAFC serves as a forum for promoting the conservation of anadromous stocks and ecologically-related species, including marine mammals, sea birds, and non-anadromous fish, in the high seas area of the North Pacific Ocean. This area, as defined in the Convention, is "the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and its adjacent seas, north of 33 North Latitude beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured." In addition, the NPAFC serves as the venue for coordinating the collection, exchange, and analysis of scientific data regarding the above species within Convention waters. It also coordinates high seas fishery enforcement activities by member countries (the Convention prohibits directed fishing for salmonids and includes provisions to minimize the incidental take of salmonids in other fisheries in the Convention area).
The NPAFC has three standing committees: the Committee on Finance and Administration, the Committee on Enforcement, and the Committee on Scientific Research and Statistics. The committees are responsible for providing accurate and timely advice to the Commission in the areas relating to the finances of the Secretariat and the scope of the enforcement activities and scientific research conducted under the auspices of the Commission.
The NPAFC held its Fifth Annual Meeting on October 27-31, 1997, in Victoria, British Columbia. Delegations from each of the member nations (Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United States) consisted of official Representatives plus a number of experts and advisors. Mr. Steven Pennoyer led the U.S. delegation, Mr. Vladimir Izmailov, the Russian delegation, Mr. Shuji Ishida, the Japanese delegation, and Mr. David Bevan, the Canadian delegation. Mr. Koji Imamura of Japan, Vice President, chaired the plenary sessions. Representatives from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) attended the meeting as observers.
As is the norm for NPAFC Annual Meetings, the majority of the work of the Commission took place at the committee level. The recommendations of each committee on its various issues were presented to the Commission in the form of a committee report for action at the final plenary session of the meeting. The Commission adopted all committee reports at the final plenary. The major issues for each committee are briefly discussed below.
Unauthorized Fishing The ENFO Committee reviewed unauthorized fishing activities in the Convention Area in 1997 on the basis of information provided by the Parties. The cooperative enforcement efforts of the Parties resulted in the detection of six driftnet vessels engaged in illegal fishing operations in or near the Convention Area. Two of the vessels, the NANAO 55008 and the PU YU 6026, were registered in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC Government indicated that it would take action against the NANAO 55008 if sighted in one of its ports. The PRC later seized the PU YU 6026. The United States, in cooperation with Canada and Japan, seized a stateless high seas driftnet vessel, the CAO YU 6025, fishing in the Convention Area. The CAO YU 6025 initially claimed PRC registry, but this was later refuted by the PRC.
Due to the continued threat of high seas fishing for salmon in the Convention Area, all Parties pledged to maintain 1998 enforcement activities at levels similar to those of 1997, as a deterrent to the threat of potential unauthorized fishing activity.
Alternate Mechanisms of Supporting the Convention by Non-Members The Parties concurred that the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures By Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, approved by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1993 and open for acceptance, could serve as a mechanism to obligate non-member States to support and cooperate with the objectives and principles of the Convention. A country's acceptance of the FAO Agreement would, inter alia, obligate it to ensure that its fishing vessels do not undermine the effectiveness of conservation and measures adopted by such regional fisheries organizations as the NPAFC. The Parties decided, as appropriate, to encourage States or entities not party to the Convention to whom the FAO Agreement is open, to adopt the FAO Agreement as soon as possible.
Upon the recommendation of the F&A Committee, the Commission approved the FY 1998/1999 budget (discussed in the budget section of this document). The F&A Committee also presented for the Commission's consideration at the 1998 annual meeting the budget forecast for FY 1999/2000.
The F&A Committee also recommended, and the Commission agreed, that the NPAFC newsletter be published in the Commission's three official languages--English, Japanese, and Russian--starting in 1998 and that an NPAFC homepage on the internet be developed in 1998.
The CSRS exchanged scientific research information on a broad range of issues concerning North Pacific salmonids and ecologically related species. The CSRS reviewed approximately 40 documents related to scientific research activities (pertaining to both anadromous and ecologically-related species), salmon catches, and salmon enhancement activities. It also exchanged salmon catch and enhancement information and coordinated research plans for 1998.
The CSRS conducted extensive discussions on the effects of climate change on salmon in the North Pacific Ocean. In light of the dramatic low returns of some major economically important salmon stocks, scientists are addressing questions about the relationship between changes in abundance and in ocean and atmospheric conditions. NPAFC scientists agreed to meet March 26-27, 1998, in Vancouver, B.C., to discuss these issues. The intent of this workshop will be to understand the factors contributing to reduced North American salmon returns in 1997 and provide information that would help forecast 1998 returns of salmon around the Pacific Rim.
The total salmon catch among the Parties in 1996 was 847,730 metric tons. In addition, nearly 4.4 billion juvenile salmon were released in the Convention Area in 1996.
Accession of the ROK and PRC to the Convention The Parties agreed to renew the invitation to the PRC to join the NPAFC. The observer from the ROK said that his government was taking positive steps to join the NPAFC. However, accession has been delayed because some issues are still outstanding, such as how to arrange the requisite financial contribution to the NPAFC within the national budget.
The Parties elected Mr. David Bevan of Canada and Ms. Fran Ulmer of the United States to serve 2-year terms as President and Vice President, respectively, of the Commission.
Russia will host the NPAFC's Sixth Annual Meeting in 1998, the United States will host the Seventh Annual Meeting in 1999, most likely in Alaska, and Japan will host the Eighth Annual Meeting in 2000.
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA:
Paul E. Niemeier
International Fisheries Division, F/SF4
Office of Sustainable Fisheries
1315 East-West Highway, Room 14230
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Telephone: (301) 713-2276
Fax: (301) 713-2313
E-mail: paul.niemeier@noaa.gov
Department of State:
H. Stetson Tinkham
Office of Marine Conservation, OES/OMC
Washington, D.C. 20520-7818
Telephone: (202) 647-2335
Fax: (202) 736-7350
161. The Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean107 came into force on 16 February 1993, upon ratification by all four original Parties, i.e., Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States. The Convention has thus replaced the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean. The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, which was set up by the Convention, held its first meeting in November 1993.108
162. Despite the discussions among interested States in 1993 (see A/48/527, para. 123), the fisheries situation in the high seas enclave in the Okhotsk Sea is, according to the Russian Federation, becoming more acute, with "the continuation of unregulated and unscientific fishing in the enclave ... without regard for the stock conservation measures elaborated and approved by the Russian Federation, as a coastal State, and applied on a non-discriminatory basis".109 The Russian Federation has thus called for the adoption of urgent measures at the international level, with the participation of all interested States, "in order to avoid the need for unilateral protective measures by the Russian side designed to prevent the destruction of the ecosystem of the Sea of Okhotsk."110
163. Citing an impasse in talks to renew the 1985 Canada-United States Treaty concerning the Pacific Salmon, Canada announced on 9 June 1994 that effective 15 June, all United States commercial fishing vessels transiting through inside water passages on the British Columbia coast on their way to and from fishing grounds off Alaska would be required to purchase a licence fee of 1,500 Canadian dollars for each trip. Failure to comply with these provisions could result in a fine, confiscation of vessel and/or gear under the Canadian Fisheries Protection Act. Canadian authorities justified the measures as a means to protect Canadian communities which depended on the salmon resource for their livelihood. United States authorities reportedly stated that the Canadian measure might be illegal under the international law of the sea, including the right of free passage.111
164. In mid-July, as the fishing season approached, the two Governments agreed to follow last year's conservation and management plan and continue the talks in 1995. It was reported that Canada, which had collected licence fees from some 300 vessels, had agreed to suspend this measure while negotiations continue.112
107 A/47/623, paras. 116-120.
108 See North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, Annual Report 1993 (Vancouver, 1993).
109 A/CONF.164/L.43, para. 7.
110 Ibid.
111 Associated Press dispatch, 10 June 1994; Reuters dispatch, 16 June 1994.
112 Canadian Press newswire dispatch, 15 July 1994; Business Information Wire dispatch, 22 July 1994.
The North Pacific Anadromous Stocks Convention Act of 1992 (16 U.S.C. 5001-5012; Title VIII of Pub. L. 102-587, as amended) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to implement the Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. The Secretary issues and enforces regulations to accomplish the goals of this Act and the Convention (50 C.F.R. Part 210). The Act repealed the North Pacific Fisheries Act of 1954 (16 U.S.C. 1021-1035).
It is illegal for any U.S. vessel to fish for anadromous species, or keep any anadromous species taken incidentally within the Convention area. Any person who obstructs an agent of the Secretary of Commerce in carrying out the provisions of this Act, including, but not limited to, conducting searches and investigations, violates this Act. In addition, it is illegal to violate any provision of the Convention, this Act, or any regulation issued pursuant to this Act.
The Secretary of Commerce may use the personnel, services, equipment, and facilities of any Federal agency or any State agency to enforce any provision of this Act. Officers acting on behalf of the Secretary in the fulfillment of this Act are authorized to arrest or otherwise board and search or inspect, without a warrant, any vessel, or any part thereof, shoreward of the outer boundary of the U.S. EEZ if such vessel is suspected of violating provisions of this Act or the Convention. If the officer discovers that the vessel is being or has been used to violate this Act, the officer is authorized to seize the vessel, any fish taken in a prohibited manner, or any other evidence related to any violation of any provision of the Convention, this Act, or any regulations issued pursuant to this Act. This Act permits the imposition of criminal and civil penalties, as well as forfeiture.