Amendments to Annex A of the Albacore Tuna Treaty

ANNEX A

1.
a. Each Party agrees to provide annually to the other Party a list of its fishing
vessels which propose to fish albacore tuna off the coast of the other Party.
The list will include (1) vessel name, (2) home port, (3) radio call sign or
vessel identification marking that identifies the flag state of the vessel
(“Vessel Identification Marking”), (4) fishing vessel registration number, (5)
captain or operator’s name, if known, and (6) vessel length. For Canada, the
list of vessels will be transmitted to the United States as of June 1. For the
United States, a provisional list shall be provided by July 1 and may be
revised during the fishing season.
b. With regard to the list of Canadian vessels, the list shall remain fixed for the
entirety of the fishing season as defined in paragraph 2 of Annex C. No
vessels may be added to or replaced on the list during the fishing season
unless pursuant to paragraph 1(c) below.
c. Notwithstanding paragraph 1(b) above, in the event of force majeur or other
cause for an exceptional request by a Party for replacement of a vessel within
a season, an ad hoc review panel will be convened by the Government of
Canada to review the request and determine whether the request warrants an
exemption to the terms of paragraph 1(b) of this annex. If the finding is
positive, the basis for the finding and the information regarding the
replacement vessel per paragraph 1(a) above shall be transmitted to the
Government of the United States prior to the vessel entering U.S. waters. Any
replacement vessel shall not exceed the length overall of the original vessel it
is replacing by more than 10 feet. Any subsequent replacements of that first
replacement vessel must be of the same size or shorter than the vessel being
replaced.
d. As soon as possible after receipt of the list of proposed fishing vessels, and
subject to paragraph 1(e) below, the receiving Party shall satisfy itself that the
list received meets the criteria of paragraph 1(a) and shall so inform the other
Party in order to enable the albacore fishery to proceed pursuant to this Treaty.
e. Should one Party object to the inclusion of a particular vessel on the list of the
other Party, the two Parties shall consult. Such objection may be made on the
basis that the vessel in question has been involved in serious or repeated
fisheries violations or offenses. In the event of consultations, actions pursuant
to paragraph 1(d), with regard to other vessels shall not be delayed.
Following consultations, each Party shall notify its respective vessels that both
Parties agree shall not be included on the list referred to in paragraph 1(d).

2. If required by either Party, each vessel shall, prior to entering and leaving the fishing
zone of such Party, so inform the appropriate authorities and provide the vessel name,
radio call sign or Vessel Identification Marking, captain or operator’s name and the
purpose for being in such Party’s fishing zone.
3. When in the fishing zone of the other Party, each vessel shall have its name and radio
call sign or Vessel Identification Marking prominently displayed where they will be
clearly visible both from the air and from a surface vessel.
4. Vessels of both Parties shall maintain accurate and complete records of catch, effort
and other data on report forms provided by their respective governments while fishing
pursuant to this Treaty. The Parties shall develop a real-time data reporting protocol
to address the objective of achieving reporting of catches by vessels of one Party
fishing in the waters of the other. Any logbooks and related databases maintained by
the respective governments shall be made available to the other government regularly
for verification purposes, subject to the Parties’ respective rules on data
confidentiality.
5. In order that better information on the stocks of albacore tuna which migrate off the
west coasts of the United States and Canada may be obtained, each vessel engaged in
fishing pursuant to this Treaty shall provide to its government statistics and other
scientific information on its operations in the fishing zone of the other Party. Each
Party shall provide to the other Party such information and in particular the amount
(weight) and a sampling of biological data of albacore tuna caught by its vessels in
waters under the fisheries jurisdiction of the other Party. Such information shall be
provided on an annual basis and at least 30 days prior to the annual consultations
referred to in paragraph 6 of this Annex. Other specific information to be provided, as
well as the forms and procedures for providing such information, shall be agreed
upon by the two Parties.
6. The Parties shall consult annually, inter alia, to:
a. discuss data and information on albacore tuna fisheries exchanged under
paragraph 5 of this Annex; and
b. exchange information on their respective conservation and management measures
for albacore tuna and on implementation of internationally agreed conservation
and management measures applicable to the Parties related to fisheries covered
under this Treaty.
The Parties shall also notify one another of the conservation and management laws
and regulations applicable to vessels fishing in each other’s waters pursuant to
Article 1(b) of this Treaty.

ANNEX C
1. The Parties agree to limit fishing by each Party’s respective vessels engaged in
fishing for albacore tuna in the waters under the fisheries jurisdiction of the other
Party in accordance with the limitation regime (the “Regime”) below, beginning
on the first June 15st occurring after the date of entry into force of this Annex and
expiring at the end of the fishing season in the third year of the Regime as set out
in paragraph 3 below.
2. a. 12 months prior to the conclusion of the third year of the Regime, the Parties
shall consult with a view to negotiating an extension and/or revision of the
Regime, as appropriate, for a period of one or more years.
b. The Parties shall conduct the consultations and negotiations referred to in 2(a)
in good faith, including with sufficient time and resources, with an objective to
conclude a new reciprocal fishing regime, if in the national interests of both
Parties, within the one year period provided in 2(a). Criteria of national interest
shall include, inter alia:
i. the health of the stock,
ii. the extent of landings of fish in the ports of each Party pursuant to the
Regime, and
iii. the economic benefits realized by the economies of both Parties as a
result of the Regime.
c. The Parties further agree that they may further extend the period of the Regime
for an additional fishing season, by their mutual concurrence in writing, if that
would improve the likelihood of concluding a new agreement extending and/or
amending the existing Regime.
3. During the term of the Regime specified in paragraph 1 above, a fishing season
shall be defined as a period of fishing commencing on June 15 and ending on the
following October 31.
4. In each fishing season of the Regime, the Government of Canada shall limit
fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in waters under the fisheries jurisdiction of
the United States to 110 troll vessels. The Government of the United States shall
limit fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in waters under the fisheries
jurisdiction of Canada to a level reflective of historical levels.
5. If at any point during the term of this regime a Party receives a request for
resolution of a matter related to the implementation of this Treaty with specific
regard to the Regime, and notwithstanding the consultations contemplated in
paragraphs one and two of Article VI, the Parties may establish through an

exchange of letters setting out a mutually held understanding on the terms of
reference for an ad hoc consultative group consisting of an equal number of
experts knowledgeable about the Pacific albacore tuna fishing industry who will
serve in their personal capacity for the purpose of examining questions of
implementation referred by the Parties. The Parties will set out any question or
matter of difference between them involving the rights, obligations or interests of
either in relation to the other or to the inhabitants of the other. Each Party will be
responsible for determining the manner in which the travel and other costs
associated with the operations of the consultative group for the members of the
group that they nominate will be provided, and for the respective shares. Each
Party will be responsible for determining the manner in which any jointly incurred
expenses associated with the operations of the consultative group are funded.
Any report submitted by the group should represent a consensus of the members
appointed, but in the absence of a consensus, two reports, one by a majority of the
members and the other by a minority of the members, or a report each should the
views of the group be equally divided, may be submitted to the Parties for their
further consideration.
6. A Party may terminate the Regime pursuant to the same conditions provided for
termination in Article VIII of the Treaty, by providing written notice to the other
Party that:
(a) an international fisheries management organization with competence over
highly migratory species such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna
Commission has adopted a fisheries conservation and management measure
for North Pacific Albacore that requires one or both Parties to adopt a
domestic management regime, structure or measure that may not be consistent
with or may undermine the implementation of the Regime, or
(b) one of the Parties, as a result of domestic fisheries management
requirements, regulation or laws, must put in place measures for managing
fisheries on albacore or associated species that may not be consistent with or
may undermine the implementation of the Regime.
Upon notification, the Parties shall consult, taking into account the provisions of
paragraph 2, to consider re-establishment of a reciprocal fishing regime.

Proposed Operative Language regarding future allocations to be included in
the exchange of notes concluding the Annex amendments:
In the event that an international fisheries management organization such as
the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission adopts measures for
international management of North Pacific albacore using a national catch
allocation system, the Parties agree that the portion of any national
allocation received by Canada and the United States attributable to the catch
taken in the waters of the other country shall be reallocated by each country
to the country in whose waters that catch was taken, or shall otherwise
implement the national allocations in a manner that ensures respective future
fishing opportunities under international management reflect total catches in
each country’s waters.
The Parties agree and commit that this provision in respect of future
allocations shall be implemented in a cooperative and constructive manner,
in good faith, and the potential outcomes of the activities to be undertaken in
implementing this provision should not serve as the basis for termination of
a reciprocal fishing regime or the Treaty. The Parties further commit to
work together with a view toward coordinating positions and objectives
within international regional fisheries management organizations such as the
IATTC in the development of conservation and management measures for
N. Pac. Albacore, in particular any such measures related to international or
national allocations and the manner and method of calculating such
allocations.