I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 531
To amend the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mrs. R
ADEWAGEN(for herself and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act of 2025’’. 5
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6
this Act is as follows: 7
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Amendment of South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Prohibited acts.
Sec. 5. Exceptions.
Sec. 6. Criminal offenses.
Sec. 7. Civil penalties.
Sec. 8. Licenses.
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Sec. 9. Enforcement.
Sec. 10. Findings by Secretary.
Sec. 11. Reporting requirements; disclosure of information.
Sec. 12. Closed Area stowage requirements.
Sec. 13. Observers.
Sec. 14. Technical assistance.
Sec. 15. Arbitration.
Sec. 16. Disposition of fees, penalties, forfeitures, and other moneys.
Sec. 17. Additional agreements.
Sec. 18. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF SOUTH PACIFIC TUNA ACT OF 1988.
1
Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 2
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 3
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-4
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 5
section or other provision of the South Pacific Tuna Act 6
of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 973 et seq.). 7
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8
(a) A
PPLICABLENATIONALLAW.—Section 2(4) (16 9
U.S.C. 973(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘described in para-10
graph 1(a) of Annex I of’’ and inserting ‘‘noticed and in 11
effect in accordance with’’. 12
(b) C
LOSEDAREA.—Section 2(5) (16 U.S.C. 973(5)) 13
is amended by striking ‘‘of the closed areas identified in 14
Schedule 2 of Annex I of’’ and inserting ‘‘area within the 15
jurisdiction of a Pacific Island Party that is closed to ves-16
sels pursuant to a national law of that Pacific Island Party 17
and is noticed and in effect in accordance with’’. 18
(c) F
ISHING.—Section 2(6) (16 U.S.C. 973(6)) is 19
amended— 20
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(1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘for any 1
purpose’’ after ‘‘harvesting of fish’’; and 2
(2) by amending subparagraph (F) to read as 3
follows: 4
‘‘(F) use of any other vessel, vehicle, air-5
craft, or hovercraft, for any activity described 6
in this paragraph except for emergencies involv-7
ing the health or safety of the crew or the safe-8
ty of a vessel.’’. 9
(d) F
ISHINGVESSEL.—Section 2(7) (16 U.S.C. 10
973(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘commercial fishing’’ and 11
inserting ‘‘commercial purse seine fishing for tuna’’. 12
(e) L
ICENSINGAREA.—Section 2(8) (16 U.S.C. 13
973(8)) is amended by striking ‘‘in the Treaty Area’’ and 14
all that follows and inserting ‘‘under the jurisdiction of 15
a Pacific Island Party, except for internal waters, terri-16
torial seas, archipelagic waters, and any Closed Area.’’. 17
(f) L
IMITEDAREA; PARTY; TREATYAREA.—Section 18
2 (16 U.S.C. 973) is amended— 19
(1) by striking paragraphs (10), (13), and (18); 20
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (12) 21
as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively; 22
(3) by redesignating paragraph (14) as para-23
graph (12); and 24
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(4) by redesignating paragraphs (15) through 1
(17) as paragraphs (14) through (16), respectively. 2
(g) R
EGIONALTERMS ANDCONDITIONS.—Section 2 3
(16 U.S.C. 973) is amended by inserting after paragraph 4
(12), as so redesignated, the following: 5
‘‘(13) The term ‘regional terms and conditions’ 6
means any of the terms or conditions attached by 7
the Administrator to the license issued by the Ad-8
ministrator, as notified by the Secretary.’’. 9
SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS. 10
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 5(a) (16 U.S.C. 973c(a)) 11
is amended— 12
(1) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in section 13
6 of this Act, it’’ at the beginning and inserting 14
‘‘It’’; 15
(2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4); 16
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through 17
(13) as paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; 18
(4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by in-19
serting ‘‘, except in accordance with an agreement 20
pursuant to the Treaty’’ after ‘‘Closed Area’’; 21
(5) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, by 22
striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 23
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(6) in paragraph (11), as so redesignated, by 1
striking the period at the end and inserting a semi-2
colon; and 3
(7) by adding at the end the following: 4
‘‘(12) to violate any of the regional terms and 5
conditions; or 6
‘‘(13) to violate any limit on authorized fishing 7
effort or catch.’’. 8
(b) I
N THELICENSINGAREA.—Section 5(b) (16 9
U.S.C. 973c(b)) is amended— 10
(1) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in section 11
6 of this Act, it’’ and inserting ‘‘It’’; 12
(2) by striking paragraph (5); and 13
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 14
paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively. 15
SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS. 16
Section 6 (16 U.S.C. 973d) is repealed. 17
SEC. 6. CRIMINAL OFFENSES. 18
Section 7(a) (16 U.S.C. 973e(a)) is amended by 19
striking ‘‘section 5(a) (8), (10), (11), or (12)’’ and insert-20
ing ‘‘paragraphs (6), (8), (9), or (10) of section 5(a)’’. 21
SEC. 7. CIVIL PENALTIES. 22
(a) D
ETERMINATION OF LIABILITY; AMOUNT; PAR-23
TICIPATION BYSECRETARY OF STATE INASSESSMENT 24
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PROCEEDING.—Section 8(a) (16 U.S.C. 973f(a)) is 1
amended— 2
(1) by striking ‘‘Code’’ after ‘‘liable to the 3
United States’’; and 4
(2) by striking ‘‘Except for those acts prohib-5
ited by section 5(a) (4), (5), (7), (8), (10), (11), and 6
(12), and section 5(b) (1), (2), (3), and (7) of this 7
Act, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’. 8
(b) W
AIVER OFREFERRAL TO ATTORNEYGEN-9
ERAL.—Section 8(g) (16 U.S.C. 973f(g)) is amended— 10
(1) by striking ‘‘section 5(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), 11
(5), (6), (7), (8), (9), or (13)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-12
graphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (11), (12), or 13
(13) of section 5(a)’’; and 14
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, all Limited 15
Areas closed to fishing,’’ after ‘‘outside of the Li-16
censing Area’’. 17
SEC. 8. LICENSES. 18
(a) F
ORWARDING AND TRANSMITTAL OFVESSELLI-19
CENSEAPPLICATION.—Section 9(b) (16 U.S.C. 973g(b)) 20
is amended to read as follows: 21
‘‘(b) In accordance with subsection (e), and except 22
as provided in subsection (f), the Secretary shall forward 23
a vessel license application to the Administrator whenever 24
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such application is in accordance with application proce-1
dures established by the Secretary.’’. 2
(b) F
EES ANDSCHEDULES.—Section 9(c) (16 U.S.C. 3
973g(c)) is amended to read as follows: 4
‘‘(c) Fees required under the Treaty shall be paid in 5
accordance with the Treaty and any procedures estab-6
lished by the Secretary.’’. 7
(c) M
INIMUMFEESREQUIREDTOBERECEIVED IN 8
I
NITIALYEAR OFIMPLEMENTATION FOR FORWARDING 9
ANDTRANSMITTAL OFLICENSEAPPLICATIONS.—Section 10
9 (16 U.S.C. 973g) is amended— 11
(1) by striking subsection (f); 12
(2) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 13
subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 14
(3) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig-15
nated, to read as follows: 16
‘‘(f) The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 17
of State, may determine that a license application should 18
not be forwarded to the Administrator if— 19
‘‘(1) the application is not in accordance with 20
the Treaty or the procedures established by the Sec-21
retary; or 22
‘‘(2) the owner or charterer— 23
‘‘(A) is the subject of proceedings under 24
the bankruptcy laws of the United States, un-25
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less reasonable financial assurances have been 1
provided to the Secretary; 2
‘‘(B) has not established to the satisfaction 3
of the Secretary that the fishing vessel is fully 4
insured against all risks and liabilities normally 5
provided in maritime liability insurance; or 6
‘‘(C) has not paid any penalty which has 7
become final, assessed by the Secretary in ac-8
cordance with this Act.’’; and 9
(4) in subsection (g), as so redesignated— 10
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 11
follows: 12
‘‘(1) chapter 12113 of title 46, United States 13
Code;’’; 14
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘of 15
1972’’ after ‘‘Marine Mammal Protection Act’’; 16
(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘of 17
1972’’ after ‘‘Marine Mammal Protection Act’’; 18
and 19
(D) in the matter that follows paragraph 20
(3), by striking ‘‘any vessel documented’’ and 21
all that follows and inserting the following: 22
‘‘any vessel documented under the laws of the United 23
States as of the date of enactment of the Fisheries Act 24
of 1995 for which a license has been issued under sub-25
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section (a) may fish for tuna in the Licensing Area, and 1
on the high seas and in waters subject to the jurisdiction 2
of the United States west of 146° west longitude and east 3
of 129.5° east longitude in accordance with international 4
law, subject to the provisions of the Treaty, this Act, and 5
other applicable law, provided that no such vessel inten-6
tionally deploys a purse seine net to encircle any dolphin 7
or other marine mammal in the course of fishing.’’. 8
SEC. 9. ENFORCEMENT. 9
(a) N
OTICEREQUIREMENTS TO PACIFICISLAND 10
P
ARTYCONCERNINGINSTITUTION AND OUTCOME OF 11
L
EGALPROCEEDINGS.—Section 10(c)(1) (16 U.S.C. 12
973h(c)(1)) is amended— 13
(1) by striking ‘‘paragraph 8 of Article 4 of’’; 14
and 15
(2) by striking ‘‘Article 10 of’’. 16
(b) S
EARCHES ANDSEIZURES BYAUTHORIZEDOF-17
FICERS; LIMITATIONS ONPOWER.—Section 10(d)(1)(A) 18
(16 U.S.C. 973h(d)(1)(A)) is amended— 19
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 20
and 21
(2) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end. 22
SEC. 10. FINDINGS BY SECRETARY. 23
(a) O
RDERTOLEAVEWATERSUPONFAILURETO 24
S
UBMIT TOJURISDICTION OFPACIFICISLANDPARTY; 25
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PROCEDURE APPLICABLE.—Section 11(a) (16 U.S.C. 1
973i(a)) is amended— 2
(1) by striking ‘‘, all Limited Areas,’’; 3
(2) in paragraph (1)— 4
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 5
‘‘paragraph 2 of Article 3 of’’; and 6
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 7
‘‘within the Treaty Area’’ and inserting ‘‘under 8
the jurisdiction’’; and 9
(3) in paragraph (2)— 10
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sec-11
tion 5 (a)(4), (a)(5), (b)(2), or (b)(3)’’ and in-12
serting ‘‘paragraph (4) of section 5(a) or para-13
graphs (2) or (3) of section 5(b)’’; 14
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(7)’’ 15
and inserting ‘‘(6)’’; and 16
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘(7)’’ 17
and inserting ‘‘(6)’’. 18
(b) O
RDER OFVESSELTOLEAVEWATERSWHERE 19
P
ACIFICISLANDPARTYINVESTIGATINGALLEGEDTREA-20
TYINFRINGEMENT.—Section 11(b) (16 U.S.C. 973i(b)) is 21
amended by striking ‘‘paragraph 7 of Article 5 of’’. 22
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SEC. 11. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; DISCLOSURE OF IN-1
FORMATION. 2
Section 12 (16 U.S.C. 973j) is amended to read as 3
follows: 4
‘‘SEC. 12. REPORTING. 5
‘‘(a) P
ROHIBITEDDISCLOSURE OFCERTAININFOR-6
MATION.—The Secretary shall keep confidential and may 7
not disclose the following information, except in accord-8
ance with subsection (b): 9
‘‘(1) Information provided to the Secretary by 10
the Administrator that the Administrator has des-11
ignated confidential. 12
‘‘(2) Information collected by observers. 13
‘‘(3) Information submitted to the Secretary by 14
any person in compliance with the requirements of 15
this Act. 16
‘‘(b) P
ERMITTEDDISCLOSURE OFCERTAININFOR-17
MATION.—The Secretary may disclose information de-18
scribed in subsection (a)— 19
‘‘(1) if disclosure is ordered by a court; 20
‘‘(2) if the information is used by a Federal em-21
ployee— 22
‘‘(A) for enforcement; or 23
‘‘(B) in support of the homeland and na-24
tional security missions of the Coast Guard as 25
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defined in section 888 of the Homeland Secu-1
rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 468); 2
‘‘(3) if the information is used by a Federal em-3
ployee or an employee of the Fishery Management 4
Council for Treaty administration or fishery man-5
agement and monitoring; 6
‘‘(4) to the Administrator, in accordance with 7
the requirements of the Treaty and this Act; 8
‘‘(5) to the secretariat or equivalent of an inter-9
national fisheries management organization of which 10
the United States is a member, in accordance with 11
the requirements or decisions of such organization, 12
and insofar as possible, in accordance with an agree-13
ment that prevents public disclosure of the identity 14
of any person that submits such information; 15
‘‘(6) if the Secretary has obtained written au-16
thorization from the person providing such informa-17
tion, and disclosure does not violate other require-18
ments of this Act; or 19
‘‘(7) in an aggregate or summary form that 20
does not directly or indirectly disclose the identity of 21
any person that submits such information.’’. 22
SEC. 12. CLOSED AREA STOWAGE REQUIREMENTS. 23
Section 13 (16 U.S.C. 973k) is amended by striking 24
‘‘. In particular, the boom shall be lowered’’ and all that 25
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follows and inserting ‘‘and in accordance with any require-1
ments established by the Secretary.’’. 2
SEC. 13. OBSERVERS. 3
Section 14 (16 U.S.C. 973l) is repealed. 4
SEC. 14. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 5
Section 15 (16 U.S.C. 973m) is amended to read as 6
follows: 7
‘‘SEC. 15. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 8
‘‘The Secretary and the Secretary of State may pro-9
vide assistance to a Pacific Island Party to benefit such 10
Pacific Island Party from the development of fisheries re-11
sources and the operation of fishing vessels that are li-12
censed pursuant to the Treaty, including— 13
‘‘(1) technical assistance; 14
‘‘(2) training and capacity building opportuni-15
ties; 16
‘‘(3) facilitation of the implementation of pri-17
vate sector activities or partnerships; and 18
‘‘(4) other activities as determined appropriate 19
by the Secretary and the Secretary of State.’’. 20
SEC. 15. ARBITRATION. 21
Section 16 (16 U.S.C. 973n) is amended— 22
(1) by striking ‘‘Article 6 of’’ after ‘‘arbitral tri-23
bunal under’’; and 24
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(2) by striking ‘‘paragraph 3 of that Article’’, 1
and inserting ‘‘the Treaty, shall determine the loca-2
tion of the arbitration’’. 3
SEC. 16. DISPOSITION OF FEES, PENALTIES, FORFEITURES, 4
AND OTHER MONEYS. 5
Section 17 (16 U.S.C. 973o) is amended by striking 6
‘‘Article 4 of’’. 7
SEC. 17. ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS. 8
Section 18 (16 U.S.C. 973p) is amended by striking 9
‘‘Within 30 days after’’ and all that follows and inserting 10
‘‘The Secretary may establish procedures for review of any 11
agreements for additional fishing access entered into pur-12
suant to the Treaty.’’. 13
SEC. 18. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 14
Section 20(a) (16 U.S.C. 973r(a)) is amended to read 15
as follows: 16
‘‘(a) There are authorized to be appropriated such 17
sums as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes 18
and provisions of the Treaty and this Act for fiscal year 19
2025 and each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 20
Æ
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