In Presently, Revised Statutes 4311, as amended (46 U.S.C. 251), prohibits, with two exceptions, the landing of fish or fish products taken on the high seas by foreign-flag vessels in ports of the United States. The exceptions to this general prohibition are those where landing is permitted by treaty or convention to which the United States is a party and those where landing takes place in the Virgin Islands. This general prohibition is designed to protect American commercial fishermen against direct competition from foreign fishermen. our opinion, this prohibition is desirable and we generally would not favor a relaxation of its provisions. We recognize, however, that there are situations where a relaxation might be helpful in the interest of scientific research, provided such action would not have an adverse effect upon our domestic fishing industry. Therefore, if a landing provision is found to be necessary and desirable, we suggest that S. 1988, as passed by the Senate, be amended by adding a new section 6 at the end thereof to read as follows: "SEC. 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior, with the concurrence of the Secretaries of the Treasury and State, may permit a vessel, other than a vessel of the United States, owned or operated by a foregin government or by an international organization of which the United States is a member, which is engaged solely in fishery research, exploratory fishing, or training to land its catch in a port of the United States in accordance with such conditions as the Secretary may prescribe whenever he determines such action is in the national interest." The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary of the Interior. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., March 13, 1964. Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. BONNER: This supplements our views and recommendations of February 18, 1964, to your committee on S. 1988, a bill to prohibit fishing in the territorial waters of the United States and in certain other areas by persons other than nationals or inhabitants of the United States, which passed the Senate on October 1, 1963. Enclosed is a draft of the Senate-passed bill. This draft includes the various amendments to the Senate-passed bill suggested to your committee in the reports of this Department and the Department of the Treasury. In addition, it includes, in section 1 of the draft bill, a provision for reciprocity and a revised section 6. This latter amendment is recommended by the Department of State. Also, there are some technical amendments which we believe are necessary, such as a definition of the term "Continental Shelf." We recommend the enactment of S. 1988 in the form of the enclosed draft bill. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, FRANK P. BRIGGS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. AN ACT To prohibit fishing in the territorial waters of the United States and in certain other areas by vessels other than vessels of the United States, and persons other than nationals or inhabitants of the United States Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is unlawful for any vessel, except a vessel of the United States, or for any master or other person in charge of such a vessel, to engage in the fisheries within the territorial waters of the United States, its territories and possessions and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or to engage in the taking of any Continental Shelf fishery resource which appertains to the United States except as provided in this Act or as expressly provided by an international agreement to which the United States is a party. However, the Seeretary of the Treasury may issue a license authorizing a vessel other than a vessel of the United States to engage in fishing within the territorial waters of the United States or for resources of the Continental Shelf which appertain to the United States port, upon certification by the Secretary of the Interior that such permission would be in the national interest and upon concurrence of any State, Commonwealth or territory directly affected: The Secretary of the Treasury may issue a license authorizing a vessel other than a vessel of the United States to engage in the fisheries within the territorial waters of the United States, upon certification by the Secretary of the Interior that the issuance of a license would be in the public interest, upon the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense, and upon the concurrence of any State, Commonwealth, territory, or possession having jurisdiction over the fisheries within such waters. The Secretary of the Interior, upon concurrence of the Secretary of Defense, and upon concurrence of any State having jurisdiction over any Continental Shelf fishery resource, may issue a license authorizing a vessel other than a vessel of the United States to engage in the taking of any such fishery resource which appertains to the United States and which is beyond the territorial waters of the United States, whenever he finds such action to be in the public interest. The Secretary of the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretaries of the Interior and Defense may, by regulations, permit vessels other than vessels of the United States to engage in the fisheries within the territorial waters of the United States for recreational purposes without a Federal license. The licenses authorized to be issued by this section shall not be granted to any vessel registered, licensed, or documented under the laws of any country which does not extend similar fishing privileges to vessels of the United States. SEC. 2. (a) Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (b) Every vessel employed in any manner in connection with a violation of this Act including its tackle, apparel, furniture, appurtenances, cargo, and stores shall be subject to forfeiture and all fish taken or retained in violation of this Act or the monetary value thereof shall be forfeited. (c) All provisions of law relating to the seizure, summary and judicial forfeiture, and condemnation of a earge vessel, including its tackle, apparel, furniture, appurtenances, cargo, and stores for violation of the customs laws, the disposition of such earge vessel, including its tackle, apparel, furniture, appurtenances, cargo, and stores or the proceeds from the sale thereof, and the remission or mitigation of such forfeitures apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have been incurred, under the provisions of this Act, insofar as such provisions of law are applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. SEC. 3. (a) Enforcement of the provisions of this Act is the joint responsibility of the United States Coast Guard, the United States Department of the Interior, and the United States Bureau of Customs: Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating. In addition, the Secretary of the Interior may designate officers and employees of the States of the United States, of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and of any territory or possession of the United States to carry out enforcement activities hereunder. When so designated, such officers and employees 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 Civil Service Commission. (b) The judges of the United States district courts, the judges of the highest courts of the territories and possessions of the United States, and United States commissioners may, within their respective jurisdictions, upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause, issue such warrants or other process, including warrants or other process issued in admiralty proceedings in Federal District Courts, as may be required for enforcement of this Act and any regulations issued thereunder. (c) Any person authorized to carry out enforcement activities hereunder shall have the power to execute any warrant or process issued by any officer or court of competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of this Act. (d) Such person so authorized shall have the power (1) with or without a warrant or other process, to arrest any person committing in his presence or view a violation of this Act or the regulations issued thereunder; (2) with or without a warrant or other process, to search any vessel and, if as a result of such search he has reasonable cause to believe that such vessel or any person on board is in violation of any provision of this Act or the regulations issued thereunder, then to arrest such person. (e) Such person so authorized may seize any vessel, together with its tackle, apparel, furniture, appurtenances, cargo and stores, used or employed contrary to the provisions of this Act or the regulations issued hereunder. (f) Such person so authorized may seize, whenever and wherever lawfully found, all fish taken or retained in violation of this Act or the regulations issued thereunder. Any fish so seized may be disposed of pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, or if perishable, in a manner prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury. (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2464 of title 28 when a warrant of arrest or other process in rem is issued in any cause under this section, the United States marshal or other officer shall discharge any fish seized if the process has been levied, on receiving from the claimant of the fish a bond or stipulation for the value of the fish with sufficient surety to be approved by a judge of the district court having jurisdiction of the offense, conditioned to deliver the fish seized, if condemned, without impairment in value or, in the discretion of the court, to pay its equivalent value in money or otherwise to answer the decree of the court in such cause. Such bond or stipulation shall be returned to the court and judgment thereon against both the principal and sureties may be recovered in event of any breach of the conditions thereof as determined by the court. In the discretion of the accused, and subject to the direction of the court, the fish may be sold for not less than its reasonable market value and the proceeds of such sale placed in the registry of the court pending judgment in the case. See: 4. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to issue such regulations as he determines necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 4. The Secretaries of the Treasury and Interior are authorized jointly or severally to issue such regulations as they determine are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 5. (a) As used in this Act, the term "Continental Shelf fishing resource" includes the living organisms belonging to sedentary species, that is to say, organisms which, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or the subsoil of the Continental Shelf. (b) The Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the Secretary of State is authorized to publish in the Federal Register a list of the species of living organisms covered by the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. (c) As used in this Act, the term "fisheries" means the taking, planting, or cultivation of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, or other forms of marine, animal, or plant life by any vessel or vessels; and the term “fish" includes mollusks, crustaceans and all other forms of marine animal or plant life. (d) As used in this Act, the term "Continental Shelf" refers (a) to the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast but outside the area of the territorial sea, to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas; (b) to the seabed and subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coasts of islands. SEC.6. Permission for a vessel, other than a vessel of the United States, owned or operated by a foreign government or by an international organization of which the United States is a member, which is engaged solely in fishery research, may be granted by the Secretary of State in lieu of the license required in section 1 of this Act, upon the concurrence of the Secretaries of the Interior, Defense, and Treasury and after consultation with any State, Commonwealth, or possession having jurisdiction over the fisheries within the territorial waters of the United States and over any Continental Shelf fishery resource. The Secretary of the Treasury may waive vessel entry and clearance requirements for a vessel engaged in any such activity. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior, with the concurrence of the Secretaries of the Treasury and State, may permit such vessel engaged in such activity to land its catch in a port of the United States in accordance with such conditions as the Secretary may prescribe whenever he determines such action is in the national interest. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Hon. HEBERT C. BONNER, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your requests for the views of the Department of Justice concerning H.R. 7954 and companion bill S. 1988, “To prohibit fishing in the territorial waters of the United States and in certain other areas by persons other than nationals or inhabitants of the United States." As passed by the Senate, S. 1988 would make it unlawful for foreign vessels to fish in the territorial waters of the United States, its territories and possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or to take any Continental Shelf fishery resource which appertains to the United States except as provided by an international agreement to which the United States is a party. The Secretary of the Treasury would be authorized to issue licenses to foreign vessels to engage in fishing in certain circumstances. Section 2 of the bill would provide penalties for violations of the act and would provide that a vessel, and all fish taken or retained in violation of the act, may be forfeited. Section 3 would prescribe the methods for enforcing the provisions of the act, and section 4 would authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue such regulations as he determines are necessary to carry out its provisions. Since the Department of Justice is not responsible for the administration of such fisheries, we prefer to refrain from expressing any views on the merits of the bill. We note, however, that the Departments of State and of the Interior suggested to the Senate Committee on Commerce that consideration be given to eliminating the reference to the Continental Shelf fishery resources, on the ground that it presents complex problems of enforcement. See Hearings on Fishing in U.S. Territorial Waters Before the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, 88th Congress, 1st session 82 (1963) and Senate Report 500, 88th Congress, 1st session 11 (1963), respectively. We agree that such problems are presented and that it may take some time and study to resolve them. There are some technical aspects of S. 1988 to which attention is invited. The prohibitions of section 1 of the bill would apply to any vessel, except "a vessel of the United States." The quoted phrase is not defined in the bill. It is variously defined in existing statutes. See, for example, title 18, United States Code, section 9, title 46, United States Code, sections 221, 251 (1958). Accordingly, we suggest that a suitable definition may clarify any question as to which vessels would be exempt from the provisions of the bill. It should also be noted that section 2(b) provides for forfeiture of both vessels and catch, but section 2(c) relates only to cargo in incorporating by reference the customs procedure for forfeiture. We are not aware of any reason for this limitation. In the absence of a suitable reason, it would be appropriate to insert the words "vessel and" before the word "cargo" in both places where it is used in section 2 (c). The first sentence of section 3 (a) would provide: "Enforcement of the provisions of this Act is the joint responsibility of the United States Coast Guard, the United States Department of the Interior, and the United States Bureau of Customs." In its report on the general management of the executive branch, the first Hoover Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch recommended that "there must be a clear line of authority reaching down through every step of the organization and no subordinate should have authority independent from that of his superior." House docket 55, 81st Congress, 1st session 34 (1949). For an example of the implementation of this recommendation under the Reorganization Act of 1949, see sections 1 and 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 26 of 1950, transferring to the Secretary of the Treasury, with exceptions not here material, all functions of all other officers of the Department of the Treasury and all functions of all agencies and employees of such Department; and authorizing him to delegate their performance by any other officer, agency, or employee of that Department, 64 Stat. 1280, material following 5 U.S.C. 133z-15 (1958). To preserve the authority of departmental heads and to provide for the contingency in which the Coast Guard may operate as a service of the Navy under the pro visions of 14 U.S.C. 3 and 5 (1958), for the first sentence of section 3(a) of the bill there may be substituted a provision along the following lines: "The Secretary of the Treasury, the head of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, and the Secretary of the Interior shall enforce the provisions of the Act." The remainder of section 3 (a) would provide: "In addition, the Secretary of the Interior may designate officers and employees of the States of the United States, of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and of any territory or possession of the United States to carry out enforcement activities hereunder. When so designated, such officers and employees are authorized to function as Federal law enforcement agents for these purposes." We note that the report of the Comptroller General to the Senate Committee on Commerce on S. 1988 pointed out that some confusion could attend such designations in the absence of a clarifying pronouncement by Congress whether persons so designated should, while performing such duties, be afforded rights accruing to Federal employees. See Senate report 500, supra, at 13. Accordingly, the committee may wish to obtain the views of the Civil Service Commission on the matters to which he referred. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, NICHOLAS DEB. KATZENBACH, Deputy Attorney General. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 1, 1963. Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your letter of October 7, 1963, previously acknowledged, requested the Department's views and recommendations on S. 1988, a bill to prohibit fishing in the territorial waters of the United States and in certain other areas by persons other than nationals or inhabitants of the United States. After a round of consultations with other interested agencies in 1962, the Department informed the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard in January of this year that it supported a general policy of stopping or boarding foreign fishing vessels found in the territorial sea, not in innocent passage, for the purpose of examining the vessel's papers, checking for violations of U.S. laws or ordering the vessel to leave the territorial sea; such policy to be followed with respect to foreign fishing vessels without discrimination. The Commandant was also advised that the Department of State approved and would support efforts by the Department of the Interior to clarify and strengthen U.S. laws prohibiting fishing in the territorial sea by foreign vessels. In accordance with this established policy, the Department fully approves the purposes of S. 1988, and sees no objection thereto from the standpoint of the foreign relations of the United States. The Department also approves of the provisions of the bill which would permit fishing in the territorial sea or for resources of the Continental Shelf by foreign vessels when this would be in the interests of the United States. No comment is made on those provisions of the bill which relate to the enforcement responsibilities of other Departments of the Government. The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the administration's program there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, Hon. HERBERT C. BONNER, FREDERICK G. DUTTON, Assistant Secretary, (For the Secretary of State). THE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE TREASURY, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Department on S. 1988, to prohibit fishing in the territorial waters of the United States and in certain other areas by persons other than nationals or inhabitants of the United States. |