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Treaty Series 2014/6

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / FISHERIES

Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America concluding amendments to the Treaty between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges

Done at Washington on 17 and 18 June 2013

Entry into Force: 25 February 2014

I

The Ambassador of Canada to the Secretary of State of the United States of America

Washington, D.C. June 17, 2013

Note No. WSHDC 225

His Excellency John F. Kerry Secretary of State of the United States of America

Excellence,
I have the honour to refer to the proposed amendments to Annexes A and C of the Treaty between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges done at Washington, D.C. on 26 May 1981, as amended, as developed between the Canadian and U.S. delegations in Portland, Oregon, on April 16 and 17, 2013, which follow in their entirety and which shall replace the existing Annexes A and C.

ANNEX A

    1. The Canadian Government shall create and maintain a list of Canadian vessels with licenses permitting fishing for albacore tuna in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States and that list, described as the USA68 list in paragraph 1 (f), shall remain fixed for the 2013 fishing season and every season thereafter. The Canadian Government shall not add or replace vessels and associated licenses on the list except pursuant to paragraphs 1(e), 1(f) and 1(h), as appropriate.
    2. Each Party agrees to provide to the other Party a list of its fishing vessels that propose to fish albacore tuna in the EEZ of the other Party, as defined in Article I(b) of this Treaty, for the 2013 fishing season. 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.
    3. For Canada, the list of vessels shall be transmitted to the United States by June 1, 2013. For the United States, a provisional list shall be transmitted by July 1, 2013 and may be revised during the fishing season.
    4. With regard to the list of Canadian vessels, the list shall remain fixed for the 2013 fishing season as defined in paragraph 2 of Annex C and thereafter. The Canadian Government shall not add or replace vessels on the list except pursuant to paragraph 1(e) or (f).
    5. In the event of force majeure or other exceptional circumstances that occur during the 2013 fishing season, a captain or owner of a vessel on the Canadian list in paragraph 1(a) may make a request to the Canadian Government for the replacement of the captain or owner’s vessel by another vessel in that season. If such a request is received by the Canadian Government, the Parties to this Treaty shall refer the request to an ad hoc panel established pursuant to the process in paragraph 1 (f) that shall approve the request provided that the replacement vessel meets the criteria set out in paragraph 1 (f).
    6. If a request for vessel replacement by the owner of a Canadian vessel on the list in paragraph 1(a) is received by the Canadian Government prior to the commencement of the 2013 fishing season, the Parties to this Treaty shall convene, in a timely manner, an ad hoc panel to review the request and determine whether the request is warranted and, if so, to grant the request in accordance with the following criteria:
      • The replacement vessel has an enforcement record acceptable to the Parties;
      • The replacement vessel has a history of fishing for albacore tuna in the EEZ of the United States;
      • The replacement vessel is one of the 179 vessels listed on the USA68 list;
      • The replacement vessel does not exceed the length overall of the original vessel it is replacing.
    7. As soon as possible after receipt of the list of proposed fishing vessels, and subject to paragraph 1(f), the receiving Party shall determine whether 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.
    8. 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(e), with regard to other vessels shall not be delayed. Following consultations, each Party shall notify its respective vessels that both Parties agree that the vessel shall not be included on the list referred to in paragraph 1(f).
  2. Each vessel, prior to entering and leaving the EEZ of a Party shall, if so required by that Party, inform the appropriate authorities and provide them with the vessel name, radio call sign or Vessel Identification Marking, captain or operator’s name, and the reason why the vessel is in that Party’s EEZ.
  3. When in the EEZ of the other Party, each vessel is required to have its name and radio call sign or Vessel Identification Marking prominently displayed where they are clearly visible both from the air and from a surface vessel.
  4. Each Party shall ensure that its vessels 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. Each Party shall develop a real-time data protocol to report catches by the vessels of one Party fishing in the EEZ of the other Party. Any logbooks and related databases maintained by a Party shall be made available to the other Party regularly for verification purposes, subject to the Parties’ respective rules on data confidentiality.
  5. In order to obtain better information concerning the stocks of albacore tuna that migrate off the west coasts of the United States and Canada, each vessel engaged in fishing pursuant to this Treaty is required to provide to its government statistics and other scientific information on its operations in the EEZ 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 the EEZ of the other Party. Each Party shall provide this information on an annual basis at least 30 days prior to the annual consultations referred to in paragraph 6. The Parties shall decide on other specific information to be provided, as well as the forms and procedures for providing such information.
  6. The Parties shall consult annually, inter alia, to:
    1. discuss data and information exchanged on albacore tuna fisheries under paragraph 5; and
    2. 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.

Each Party shall also notify the other of the conservation and management laws and regulations applicable to vessels fishing its EEZ pursuant to Article I(b) of this Treaty.

ANNEX C

  1. Each Party agrees to limit fishing by its respective vessels engaged in fishing for albacore tuna in the EEZ of the other Party, which is defined in Article I(b) of this Treaty, in accordance with the limitation regime (the “Regime”) below. The Regime is defined to include the “fishing season” as set out in paragraph 2 and the “port access season” as set out in paragraph 3.
  2. During the term of the Regime, a “fishing season” is defined as the period of fishing.
  3. During the term of the Regime, a “port access season” is defined as the period in which fishing vessels fishing pursuant to this Treaty are authorized to enter the Canadian or American ports as listed in Annex B of this Treaty.
  4. For the United States, the fishing season commences on June 15 and ends on October 31, 2013. The port access season commences on June 15 and ends on December 31, 2013.
  5. For Canada, the fishing season commences on June 15 and ends on September 15, 2013. The port access season commences on June 15 and ends on September 15, 2013.
  6. During the term of the Regime, Canada shall limit fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in the EEZ of the United States to 45 troll vessels. The United States shall limit fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in the EEZ of Canada to a number of vessels reflective of historical levels.
  7. On or before December 31, 2013, the Parties shall consult with a view to negotiating an extension or a revision of the Regime, as appropriate, for a period of one or more years.
    1. A Party may only terminate the Regime by providing written notice to the other Party that during the course of 2013:
      1. 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
      2. as a result of domestic fisheries management requirements, regulation or laws, a Party 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.
    2. Upon notification, the Parties shall consult, taking into account paragraph 3, to consider re-establishment of a reciprocal fishing regime for a subsequent year. Unless a Party notifies the other Party of its intention to terminate the regime in accordance with paragraph 7(a), the Regime terminates on December 31, 2013.”

If the above proposals are acceptable to the Government of the United States of America, I have the honour to propose that this Note, and your Excellency’s affirmative Note in reply, which are equally authentic in the English and French versions, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments, which shall apply provisionally from the date of your Excellency’s affirmative note in reply and which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

Please accept, your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Gary Doer

Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America

II

The Secretary of State of the United States of America to the Ambassador of Canada

Washington, June 18, 2013

His Excellency Gary A. Doer, Ambassador of Canada.

Excellency:

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note No. WSHDC 225 dated June 17, 2013 which reads as follows in its entirety:

“Note No. WSHDC 225

I have the honour to refer to the proposed amendments to Annexes A and C of the Treaty between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges done at Washington, D.C., on 26 May 1981, as amended, as developed between the Canadian and U.S. delegations in Portland, Oregon, on April 16 and 17, 2013, which follow in their entirety and which shall replace the existing Annexes A and C.

ANNEX A

    1. The Canadian Government shall create and maintain a list of Canadian vessels with licenses permitting fishing for albacore tuna in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States and that list, described as the USA68 list in paragraph 1 (f), shall remain fixed for the 2013 fishing season and every season thereafter. The Canadian Government shall not add or replace vessels and associated licenses on the list except pursuant to paragraphs 1(e), 1(f) and 1(h), as appropriate.
    2. Each Party agrees to provide to the other Party a list of its fishing vessels that propose to fish albacore tuna in the EEZ of the other Party, as defined in Article I(b) of this Treaty, for the 2013 fishing season. 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.
    3. For Canada, the list of vessels shall be transmitted to the United States by June 1, 2013. For the United States, a provisional list shall be transmitted by July 1, 2013 and may be revised during the fishing season.
    4. With regard to the list of Canadian vessels, the list shall remain fixed for the 2013 fishing season as defined in paragraph 2 of Annex C and thereafter. The Canadian Government shall not add or replace vessels on the list except pursuant to paragraph 1(e) or (f).
    5. In the event of force majeure or other exceptional circumstances that occur during the 2013 fishing season, a captain or owner of a vessel on the Canadian list in paragraph 1(a) may make a request to the Canadian Government for the replacement of the captain or owner’s vessel by another vessel in that season. If such a request is received by the Canadian Government, the Parties to this Treaty shall refer the request to an ad hoc panel established pursuant to the process in paragraph 1 (f) that shall approve the request provided that the replacement vessel meets the criteria set out in paragraph 1 (f).
    6. If a request for vessel replacement by the owner of a Canadian vessel on the list in paragraph 1(a) is received by the Canadian Government prior to the commencement of the 2013 fishing season, the Parties to this Treaty shall convene, in a timely manner, an ad hoc panel to review the request and determine whether the request is warranted and, if so, to grant the request in accordance with the following criteria:
      • The replacement vessel has an enforcement record acceptable to the Parties;
      • The replacement vessel has a history of fishing for albacore tuna in the EEZ of the United States;
      • The replacement vessel is one of the 179 vessels listed on the USA68 list;
      • The replacement vessel does not exceed the length overall of the original vessel it is replacing.
    7. As soon as possible after receipt of the list of proposed fishing vessels, and subject to paragraph 1(f), the receiving Party shall determine whether 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.
    8. 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(e), with regard to other vessels shall not be delayed. Following consultations, each Party shall notify its respective vessels that both Parties agree that that vessel shall not be included on the list referred to in paragraph 1(f).
  2. Each vessel, prior to entering and leaving the EEZ of a Party shall, if so required by that Party, inform the appropriate authorities and provide them with the vessel name, radio call sign or Vessel Identification Marking, captain or operator’s name, and the reason why the vessel is in that Party’s EEZ.
  3. When in the EEZ of the other Party, each vessel is required to have its name and radio call sign or Vessel Identification Marking prominently displayed where they are clearly visible both from the air and from a surface vessel.
  4. Each Party shall ensure that its vessels 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. Each Party shall develop a real-time data protocol to report catches by the vessels of one Party fishing in the EEZ of the other Party. Any logbooks and related databases maintained by a Party shall be made available to the other Party regularly for verification purposes, subject to the Parties’ respective rules on data confidentiality.
  5. In order to obtain better information concerning the stocks of albacore tuna that migrate off the west coasts of the United States and Canada, each vessel engaged in fishing pursuant to this Treaty is required to provide to its government statistics and other scientific information on its operations in the EEZ 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 the EEZ of the other Party. Each Party shall provide this information on an annual basis at least 30 days prior to the annual consultations referred to in paragraph 6. The Parties shall decide on other specific information to be provided, as well as the forms and procedures for providing such information.
  6. The Parties shall consult annually, inter alia, to:
    1. discuss data and information exchanged on albacore tuna fisheries under paragraph 5; and
    2. 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.

Each Party shall also notify the other of the conservation and management laws and regulations applicable to vessels fishing its EEZ pursuant to Article I(b) of this Treaty.

ANNEX C

  1. Each Party agrees to limit fishing by its respective vessels engaged in fishing for albacore tuna in the EEZ of the other Party, which is defined in Article I(b) of this Treaty, in accordance with the limitation regime (the “Regime”) below. The Regime is defined to include the “fishing season” as set out in paragraph 2 and the “port access season” as set out in paragraph 3.
  2. During the term of the Regime, a “fishing season” is defined as the period of fishing .
  3. During the term of the Regime, a “port access season” is defined as the period in which fishing vessels fishing pursuant to this Treaty are authorized to enter the Canadian or American ports as listed in Annex B of this Treaty.
  4. For the United States, the fishing season commences, on June 15 and ends on October 31, 2013. The port access season commences on June 15 and ends on December 31, 2013.
  5. For Canada, the fishing season commences on June 15 and ends on September 15, 2013. The port access season commences on June 15 and ends on September 15, 2013.
  6. During the term of the Regime, Canada shall limit fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in the EEZ of the United States to 45 troll vessels. The United States shall limit fishing for albacore tuna by its vessels in the EEZ of Canada to a number of vessels reflective of historical levels.
  7. On or before December 31, 2013, the Parties shall consult with a view to negotiating an extension or a revision of the Regime, as appropriate, for a period of one or more years.
    1. A Party may only terminate the Regime by providing written notice to the other Party that during the course of 2013:
      1. 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
      2. as a result of domestic fisheries management requirements, regulation or laws, a Party 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.
    2. Upon notification, the Parties shall consult, taking into account paragraph 3, to consider re-establishment of a reciprocal fishing regime for a subsequent year. Unless a Party notifies the other Party of its intention to terminate the regime in accordance with paragraph 7(a), the Regime terminates on December 31, 2013.

If the above proposals are acceptable to the Government of the United States of America, I have the honour to propose that this Note, and your Excellency’s affirmative Note in reply, which are equally authentic in the English and French versions, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments, which shall apply provisionally from the date of your Excellency’s affirmative note in reply and which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.”

My Government concurs with the proposed amendments to the Annexes to the Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada on Pacific Coast Albacore Tuna Vessels and Port Privileges. Therefore, your Excellency’s note, together with this note in reply, which are equally authentic in the English and French languages, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments, which shall apply provisionally from the date of this note and which shall enter into force on the date of the second note that is part of a subsequent exchange of notes confirming the completion by each Party of all internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.

For the Secretary of State:

David A. Balton
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Oceans and Fisheries

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