Public Law 95-73 95th Congress An Act To amend the Fishery Conservation Zone Transition Act in order to give effect during 1977 to the Reciprocal Fisheries Agreement between the United States and Canada. July 26, 1977 [H.R. 5638] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Fishery Fishery Conservation Zone Transition Act (Public Law 95-6; 91 Stat. 14-16) Conservation is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: Zone Transition Act, amendment. "SEC. 5. RECIPROCAL FISHERIES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. "(a) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.-The Congress hereby approves the Reciprocal Fisheries Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 'Agreement'), as contained in the message to Congress from the President of the United States dated February 28, 1977. The Agreement shall be in force and effect with respect to the United States during the period beginning March 1, 1977, and ending at the close of December 31, 1977. (b) APPLICATION.-During the period when the Agreement is in force and effect with respect to the United States 16 USC 1823 note. Agreement; effective date. "(1) vessels and nationals of Canada may fish within the fishery conservation zone, or for anadromous species and Continental Shelf fishery resources beyond such zone, but only pursuant to, and in accordance with, the provisions of the Agreement; and "(2) title II of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (relating to foreign fishing and international fishery 16 USC 1821. agreements) and section 307 of such Act of 1976 (relating to 16 USC 1857. prohibited acts) shall not apply with respect to fishing within the fishery conservation zone, or for anadromous species and Continental Shelf fishery resources beyond such zone, by vessels and nationals of Canada which is pursuant to, and in accordance with, the provisions of the Agreement. "(c) FISHING STATISTICS.-(1) Any person who "(A) owns or operates any fishing vessel which 66 66 (i) is a vessel of the United States, and (ii) engages in fishing to which the Agreement applies; or "(B) directly or indirectly receives, or may receive, fish to which the Agreement applies in the course of a commercial activity in quantities determined by the Secretary to be sufficient to assist in the carrying out of this paragraph, shall submit to the Secretary such statistics (including, but not limited to, catch data) regarding such fishing or such receipt of fish as are necessary to fulfill the obligations of the United States under article XIII of the Agreement. The Secretary, after consultation with the Regulations. Secretary of State, shall issue such regulations as are necessary and appropriate to carry out the purposes of this paragraph. Section 303 (d) of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 16 USC 1853. (relating to the confidentiality of statistics) shall apply with respect to all statistics submitted under this paragraph. 76-416 0 - 81 25 16 USC 1857. Penalty. 16 USC 1858. 16 USC 1859. 16 USC 1860. 16 USC 1802. "(2) Any violation of paragraph (1), or of any regulation issued pursuant to paragraph (1), by any person shall be deemed to be an act prohibited by section 307 of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. Any person who commits any such violation shall be liable to the United States for a civil penalty as provided for in section 308 of such Act of 1976. Sections 309 (relating to criminal offenses) and 310 (relating to civil forfeiture) of such Act of 1976 shall not apply with respect to any such violation. "(d) DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section, the terms 'anadromous species', 'Continental Shelf fishery resources', 'fishery conservation zone', 'fishing', 'fishing vessel', 'Secretary', and 'vessel of the United States' shall have the same respective meanings as are given to such terms in section 3 of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976.". Approved July 26, 1977. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: HOUSE REPORT No. 95–193 (Comm. on Merchant Marine and Fisheries). Apr. 25, considered and passed House. July 27, 1977 [H.R. 186] International 33 USC 1601 note. Definitions. 33 USC 1601. Proclamation authorization. 33 USC 1602. Effective date. Contents. Publication in To implement the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the (1) "vessel" means every description of watercraft, including nondisplacement craft and seaplanes, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water; and (2) "high seas" means all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of any nation. SEC. 3. (a) The President is authorized to proclaim the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the "International Regulations"). The effective date of the International Regulations for the United States shall be specified in the proclamation and shall be the date as near as possible to, but no earlier than, the date on which the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), signed at London, England, under date of October 20, 1972, enters into force for the United States. The International Regulations proclaimed shall consist of the rules and other annexes attached to the Convention. (b) The proclamation shall include the International Regulations Federal Register. and shall be published in the Federal Register. On the date specified in the proclamation, the International Regulations shall enter into force for the United States and shall have effect as if enacted by statute. Amendments. (c) Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) hereof, the President is also authorized to proclaim any amendment to the International Regulations hereafter adopted in accordance with the provisions of article VI of the Convention, and to which the United States does not object. The effective date of the amendment shall be specified in the proclamation and shall be in accordance with the provisions of the said article VI. The proclamation shall include the adopted amendFederal Register. ment and shall be published in the Federal Register. On the date speci Effective date. Publication in Presidential fied in the proclamation, the amendment shall enter into force for the United States as a constituent part of the International Regulations, as amended, and shall have effect as if enacted by statute. (d) (1) Upon receiving a proposed amendment to the International Regulations, communicated to the United States pursuant to clause 3 of article VI of the Convention, the President shall promptly notify the Congress of the proposed amendment. If, within sixty days after receipt of such notification by the Congress, or ten days prior to the date under clause 4 of article VI for registering an objection, whichever comes first, the Congress adopts a resolution of disapproval, such resolution shall be transmitted to the President and shall constitute an objection by the United States to the proposed amendment. If, upon receiving notification of the resolution of disapproval, the President has not already notified the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consulta tive Organization of an objection to the United States to the proposed amendment, he shall promptly do so. (2) For the purposes of this subsection, "resolution of disapproval" "Resolution means a concurrent resolution initiated by either House of the Con- of disapproval." gress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is to read as follows: "That the (the and concurring) does not favor the proposed amendment to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, relating to for warded to the Congress by the President on the first blank space therein to be filled with the name of the resolving House, the second blank space therein to be filled with the name of the concurring House, the third blank space therein to be filled with the subject matter of the proposed amendment, and the fourth blank space therein to be filled with the day, month, and year. committees. (3) Any proposed amendment transmitted to the Congress by the Referral to President and any resolution of disapproval pertaining thereto shall congressional be referred, in the House of Representatives, to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and shall be referred, in the Senate, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. SEC. 4. Except as provided in section 5 and subject to the provisions 33 USC 1603. of section 6, the International Regulations, as proclaimed under sec tion 3, shall be applicable to, and shall be complied with by (1) all vessels, public and private, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, while upon the high seas or in waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels, and (2) all other vessels when on waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. SEC. 5. (a) The International Regulations shall not be applicable to 33 USC 1604. vessels while (1) in the harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States, as defined in section 1 of the Act of June 7, 1897 (30 Stat. 96), as amended (33 U.S.C. 154), (2) in the Great Lakes of North America and their connecting and tributary waters, as defined in section 1 of the Act of February 8, 1895 (28 Stat. 645), as amended (33 U.S.C. 241), nor while (3) in the Red River of the North and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, as defined in section 4233 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (33 U.S.C. 301). (b) Whenever a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States is in the territorial waters of a foreign state the International Regulations shall be applicable to, and shall be complied with by, that vessel to the extent that the laws and regulations of the foreign state are not in conflict therewith. SEC. 6. (a) Any requirement of the International Regulations with respect to the number, position, range, or arc of visibility of lights, with respect to shapes, or with respect to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, shall not be applicable to a vessel of special construction or purpose, whenever the Secretary of the Navy, for any vessel of the Navy, or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, for any other vessel of the Certain Navy and exemption. Publication in United States, shall certify that the vessel cannot comply fully with that requirement without interfering with the special function of the vessel. (b) Whenever a certification is issued under the authority of subsection (a) hereof, the vessel involved shall comply with the requirement as to which the certification is made to the extent that the Secretary issuing the certification shall certify as the closest possible compliance by that vessel. (c) Notice of the certifications issued pursuant to subsections (a) Federal Register. and (b) hereof shall be published in the Federal Register. Rules. 33 USC 1606. Publication in SEC. 7. (a) The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to promulgate special rules with respect to additional station or signal lights or whistle signals for ships of war or vessels proceeding under convoy, and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating is authorized to promulgate special rules with respect to additional station or signal lights for fishing vessels engaged in fishing as a fleet. (b) The additional station or signal lights or whistle signals contained in the special rules authorized under subsection (a) hereof shall be, as far as possible, such that they cannot be mistaken for any light or signal authorized by the International Regulations. Notice of such Federal Register. special rules shall be published in the Federal Register and, after the effective date specified in such notice, they shall have effect as if they were a part of the International Regulations. SEC. 8. The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating is authorized to promulgate such reasonable rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this Act and the International Regulations proclaimed hereunder. SEC. 9. (a) Whoever operates a vessel, subject to the provisions of this Act, in violation of this Act or of any regulation promulgated pursuant to section 8, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for each such violation. (b) Every vessel subject to the provisions of this Act, other than a public vessel being used for noncommercial purposes, which is operated in violation of this Act or of any regulation promulgated pursuant to section 8, shall be liable to a civil penalty of $500 for each such violation, for which penalty the vessel may be seized and proceeded against in the district court of the United States of any district within which such vessel may be found. (c) The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may assess any civil penalty authorized by this section. No such penalty may be assessed until the person charged, or the owner of the vessel charged, as appropriate, shall have been given notice of the violation involved and an opportunity for a hearing. For good cause shown, the Secretary may remit, mitigate, or compromise any penalty assessed. Upon the failure of the person charged, or the owner of the vessel charged, to pay an assessed penalty, as it may have been mitigated or compromised, the Secretary may request the Attorney General to commence an action in the appropriate district court of the United States for collection of the penalty as assessed, without regard to the amount involved, together with such other relief as may be appropriate. |