(a) Except as provided in section 973d of this title, it is unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States—

(1) to violate any provision of this chapter or any regulation or order issued pursuant to this chapter;

(2) to use a vessel for fishing in violation of an applicable national law;

(3) who has entered into a fishing arrangement under paragraph 3 of Article 3 of the Treaty, to violate the terms and conditions of such fishing arrangement if the Secretary of State has decided under section 973p of this title that Article 4 and paragraph 6 of Article 5 of the Treaty shall apply to the arrangement;

(4) to use a vessel for fishing in any Limited Area in violation of any requirement in Schedule 3 of Annex I of the Treaty;

(5) to use a vessel for fishing in any Closed Area;

(6) to falsify any information required to be reported, notified, communicated, or recorded pursuant to a requirement of this chapter, or to fail to submit any required information, or to fail to report to the Secretary immediately any change in circumstances which has the effect of rendering any such information false, incomplete, or misleading;

(7) to intentionally destroy evidence which could be used to determine if a violation of this chapter or the Treaty has occurred;

(8) to refuse to permit any Authorized Officer or Authorized Party Officer to board a fishing vessel for purposes of conducting a search or inspection in connection with the enforcement of this chapter or the Treaty;

(9) to refuse to comply with the instructions of an Authorized Officer or Authorized Party Officer relating to fishing activities under the Treaty;

(10) to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with—

(A) any Authorized Officer or Authorized Party Officer in the conduct of a search or inspection in connection with the enforcement of this chapter or the Treaty; or

(B) an observer in the conduct of observer duties under the Treaty;


(11) to resist a lawful arrest for any act prohibited by this section;

(12) to interfere with, delay, or prevent, by any means, the apprehension or arrest of another person, knowing that such other person has committed any act prohibited by this section; or

(13) to ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, purchase, import, export, or have custody, control, or possession of, any fish taken or retained in violation of this chapter or any regulation, permit, or the Treaty, with the knowledge that the fish were so taken or retained.


Terms Used In 16 USC 973c

  • Administrator: means the individual or organization designated by the Pacific Island Parties to act on their behalf under the Treaty and notified to the United States Government. See 16 USC 973
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • applicable national law: means any provision of law of a Pacific Island Party which is described in paragraph 1(a) of Annex I of the Treaty. See 16 USC 973
  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
  • Authorized Officer: means any officer who is authorized by the Secretary, or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, or the head of any Federal or State agency which has entered into an enforcement agreement with the Secretary under section 973h(a) of this title. See 16 USC 973
  • Authorized Party Officer: means any officer authorized by a Pacific Island Party to enforce the provisions of the Treaty. See 16 USC 973
  • Closed Area: means any of the closed areas identified in Schedule 2 of Annex I of the Treaty. See 16 USC 973
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • fishing: means &mdash. See 16 USC 973
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Limited Area: means any area so identified in Schedule 3 of Annex I of the Treaty. See 16 USC 973
  • officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
  • Party: means a nation which is a party to the Treaty. See 16 USC 973
  • person: means any individual (whether or not a citizen or national of the United States), any corporation, partnership, association, or other entity (whether or not organized or existing under the laws of any State), and any Federal, State, local, or foreign government or any entity of any such government. See 16 USC 973
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of Commerce, or the designee of the Secretary of Commerce. See 16 USC 973
  • State: means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. See 16 USC 973
  • Treaty: means the Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America, signed in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, April 2, 1987, and its Annexes, Schedules, and implementing agreements. See 16 USC 973
  • vessel: means any boat, ship, or other craft which is used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type normally used for commercial fishing, and which is documented under the laws of the United States. See 16 USC 973

(b) Except as provided in section 973d of this title, it is unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States when in the Licensing Area—

(1) to use a vessel to fish unless validly licensed as required by the Administrator;

(2) to use a vessel for directed fishing for southern bluefin tuna or for fishing for any kinds of fish other than tunas, except that fish may be caught as an incidental by-catch;

(3) to use a vessel for fishing by any method other than the purse-seine method;

(4) to use any vessel to engage in fishing after the revocation of its license, or during the period of suspension of an applicable license;

(5) to operate a vessel in such a way as to disrupt or in any other way adversely affect the activities of traditional and locally based fishermen and fishing vessels;

(6) to use a vessel to fish in a manner inconsistent with an order issued by the Secretary under section 973i of this title; or

(7) except for circumstances involving force majeure and other emergencies involving the health or safety of crew members or the safety of the vessel, to use an aircraft in association with the fishing activities of a vessel unless it is identified in the license application for the vessel, or any amendment thereto.

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