September 30, 1974
Page 32833
By Mr. MUSKIE (for himself and Mr. HATHAWAY):
S. 4061. A bill to amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 in order to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make loans to U.S. fishermen to cover the costs of damages to their vessels and
gear by foreign vessels. Referred to the Committee on Commerce.
THE FISHING CLAIMS ASSIGNMENT ACT OF 1974
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, earlier this month, I met with a group of New England fisherman in Kennebunkport, Maine, to discuss some of the most pressing problems facing the U.S. fishing industry. There was unanimous agreement among the participants at the meeting that American fishermen are rapidly losing the livelihood of generations because as a nation we have not responded adequately to global developments in recent years. In their search for food, an increasing number of foreign fishermen have appeared off our coasts, and their numbers now threaten our offshore stocks with extinction. Without exception, the fishermen recommended immediate enactment of legislation extending our management jurisdiction over fish out to 200 miles and I am hopeful that the Senate will soon pass S. 1988, a bill which would extend our fisheries jurisdiction out to 200 miles.
The legislation I am introducing today on behalf of myself and Senator HATHAWAY, the Fishing Claims Assignment Act of 1974, is designed to deal with a serious problem resulting from this increasing incursion of foreign fleets into our offshore waters – the problem of reimbursement of American fishermen for damage to their vessels or gear caught by foreign fishermen. For many years, fishermen off the New England coast as well as the west coast have suffered serious and often disastrous economic losses as a result of the increasing intrusion by foreign fishermen, while the claims process has been cumbersome and seldom effective. In many cases American fishermen do not even file a claim, since they feel it will be useless.
Mr. President, a Maine gill-netter commonly makes daily trips to his chosen fishing ground, often up to 30 miles offshore, in a vessel of approximately 40 feet in length. He arrives sometime before sunrise at the spot where he placed his nets the previous day. At dawn, he confirms what his radar already indicated – that some 10 or 20 foreign fishing vessels, three to four times the length of his own, are in the vicinity of where he last saw his nets.
The "flag buoys" marking his gear – bamboo poles with metallic radar reflectors rising some 10-15 feet out of the water – are gone or damaged, and with them, his catch and some $3,500 of equipment. The flag buoys, two to a net, are not isolated markers, I am told. Maine's fishermen generally fish together and the appearance of their distinctive buoys is, in their own words, a "bamboo forest." For this reason, it is difficult to believe that a series of gear incidents, taking place on several consecutive days, can be the result of anything other than a deliberate pattern of disregarding the property rights of American citizens.
The chances are that the individual fisherman has not seen the particular vessel which caused the damage. Even if he has, with his smaller boat, he is clearly in no position to take corrective or preventive action. By the time the Coast Guard can respond to a radioed call for assistance, the vessels will have moved off.
Second, this bill would set up within the Department of Commerce a United States Fishing Vessel Claims Commission which would investigate and handle claims filed by American fishermen for destruction of the gear caused by foreign fishermen. We have such a board for the settlement of United States-Soviet fishery claims and plan to set up soon a similar board for the settlement of United States-Polish claims. I see no reason why one such board should not be
established to handle all international fishery claims.
At present, faced with a difficult filing procedure and little certainty about repayment of claims, American fishermen frequently conclude that filing claims in vain is hardly worth the time, money, and trouble. And in those rare cases where the filing procedure and investigation prove successful, the individual fisherman is still forced to carry the financial burden for several months or longer.
If this legislation is enacted, the effect would be to have the U.S. Government stand in the place of the fisherman in presenting the claims to foreign governments. Satisfaction of the claim would go to a fisheries loan fund.
Mr. President, assignment of these claims to the Federal Government – rather than to the individual fisherman – makes a great deal of sense to me. American fishermen are suffering enough because the Congress has not had the wisdom to enact 200-mile fish limit legislation on an interim basis. This legislation will not solve all of our fishermen's problems, but it will certainly be a helpful first step.
At this point I ask unanimous consent that the Fishing Claims Assignment Act of 1974 be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
S. 4061
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Fishing Claims Assignment Act of 1974".
SEC. 2. Section 4 of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742c) is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:
"(f) (1) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application filed with him at any time after the effective date of this subsection by the owner or operator of any vessel of the United States which is documented or certificated as a commercial fishing vessel, and determining that such vessel or its gear was damaged while under the control of such owner or operator in the territorial waters of the United States or in the contiguous fishery zone by the actions of a vessel or vessels (including crew) of a foreign nation shall, within 30 days, make a non-interest-bearing loan to such owner or operator out of the fisheries loan fund in an amount equal to the replacement value of the damaged property and the market value of fish caught before damage to such vessel or gear and lost or spoiled as the result of such damage. Any such loan shall–
(A) be conditional upon assignment to the Secretary of any rights to recover for such damages,
(B) be subject to other requirements of this section with respect to loans which are not inconsistent with this subsection, and
(C) be subject to other terms and conditions which the Secretary determines necessary for the purposes of this subsection.
(2) The Secretary of Commerce shall establish within the Department of Commerce a United States Fishing Vessel Claims Commission and through such Commission shall within 180 days
(A) investigate each incident as a result of which a loan is made pursuant to paragraph (1), and
(B) upon determining in any such case that the damage involved was not principally attributable to the actions of the owner or operator receiving such loan, cancel repayment of such loan and refund any principal paid thereon prior to such cancellation
(3) The Secretary of Commerce shall, with the assistance of the Attorney General pursuant to the provisions of title 28 of the United States Code, make a determination on any claim assigned to him under the provisions of clause (A) of paragraph (1). Amounts collected pursuant to this paragraph on any such claim shall (A) if such loan was cancelled pursuant to paragraph (2), be paid into the fisheries loan fund to the extent of the amount so cancelled, (B) if not so cancelled, be applied to the repayment of such loan, and (C) to the extent not used pursuant to clause (A) or (B), be paid to the owner or operator assigning such claim.
(4) This section shall apply with respect to damages or destruction of vessels of the United States occurring on or after January 1, 1972.
(5) There are authorized to be appropriated for this Section such sums as may be necessary."
Mr. MUSKIE. This summer, there have been a series of incidents damaging the fixed gear of fishermen off the Maine coast. These incidents of wanton and apparently deliberate destruction leave our fishermen with little but uncertain claims against nameless perpetrators. Under the existing procedures, the most likely result of recovery efforts is nothing more than lost income, lost equipment, and added frustration.
It is bad enough that we are allowing foreign fishermen to deplete our offshore stocks and to threaten the health of the U.S. fishing industry. We must not continue to allow foreign fishing vessels to destroy the gear of American fishermen without providing adequate and immediate financial reimbursement for our fishermen.
The bill I am introducing today is designed to meet this problem. Very simply, this legislation would do two things.
First, it would require the Federal Government within 30 days to assume financial responsibility for losses to fishermen caused by foreign vessels, pending international negotiations to recover the loss from the foreign governments involved. Government responsibility would be retroactive, covering damage caused by foreign vessels since January 1, 1972, since much of the most serious damage has been done to fishermen's gear in Maine and elsewhere in the United States in the past 3 years.