Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73
§773 Definitions
Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 10— - NORTHERN PACIFIC HALIBUT FISHING › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - NORTHERN PACIFIC HALIBUT ACT OF 1982 › § 773
Summary
Defines key words used for managing the halibut fishery between the United States and Canada. Convention: the U.S.-Canada halibut agreement signed March 2, 1953, as amended March 29, 1979, and the rules made under it. Commission: the International Pacific Halibut Commission created by that Convention. Fishery conservation zone: the U.S. zone set by section 1811. Convention waters: the sea areas off the U.S. and Canadian west coasts described in article I of the Convention. Halibut: the fish species Hippoglossus stenolepis in those waters. Fishing vessel: any vessel that catches, processes, transports, is outfitted for, or normally supports those activities in Convention waters. Secretary: the Secretary of Commerce.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §773
Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
As used in this subchapter the term:
(a)“Convention” means the Convention between the United States of America and Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, signed at Ottawa, Canada on March 2, 1953, as amended by the Protocol Amending the Convention, signed at Washington March 29, 1979, and includes the regulations promulgated thereunder.
(b)“Commission” means the International Pacific Halibut Commission provided for by article III of the Convention.
(c)“Fishery conservation zone” means the fishery conservation zone of the United States established by section 1811 11 See References in Text note below. of this title.
(d)“Convention waters” means the maritime areas off the west coast of the United States and Canada described in article I of the Convention.
(e)“Halibut” means fish of the species Hippoglossus stenolepis inhabiting Convention waters.
(f)“Fishing vessel” means—
(1)any vessel engaged in catching fish in Convention waters or in processing or transporting fish loaded in Convention waters;
(2)any vessel outfitted to engage in any activity described in paragraph (1); or
(3)any vessel in normal support of any vessel described in paragraph (1) or (2).
(g)“Secretary” means the Secretary of Commerce.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Amendment of Section Pub. L. 102–251, title III, §§ 302(a), 308, Mar. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 64, 66, provided that, effective on the date on which the Agreement between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Maritime Boundary, signed June 1, 1990, enters into force for the United States, with authority to prescribe implementing
Regulations
effective Mar. 9, 1992, but with no such regulation to be effective until the date on which the Agreement enters into force for the United States, section is amended by amending subsection (c) generally and adding subsection (h) to read as follows: (c) “Exclusive economic zone” means the zone established by Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated
March 10, 1983. For purposes of applying this subchapter, the inner boundary of that zone is a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each of the coastal States. (h) “Special areas” means the areas referred to as eastern special areas in Article 3(1) of the Agreement between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Maritime Boundary, signed
June 1, 1990; in particular, the term refers to those areas east of the maritime boundary, as defined in that Agreement, that lie within 200 nautical miles of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Russia is measured but beyond 200 nautical miles of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of the United States is measured.
Editorial Notes
References in Text
section 1811 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), which established the fishery conservation zone, was amended generally by Pub. L. 99–659, title I, § 101(b), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3706, and now relates to United States sovereign rights to fish and fishery management authority within the exclusive economic zone. Proclamation Numbered 5030, referred to in subsec. (c), is Proc. No. 5030, Mar. 10, 1983, 48 F.R. 10605, which is set out as a note under section 1453 of this title.
Amendments
1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–208 made technical amendment to reference in original act which appears in text as reference to section 1811 of this title.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1996 Amendment Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(a) [title II, § 211(b)], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009–41, provided that the amendment made by that section is effective 15 days after Oct. 11, 1996.
Effective Date
of 1992 Amendment Pub. L. 102–251, title III, § 308, Mar. 9, 1992, 106 Stat. 66, provided that: “(a) In General.—The amendment made by section 301(e)(3) [amending section 1822 of this title] takes effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Mar. 9, 1992], and the
Amendments
made by the other provisions of this title [amending this section and section 773e, 1151, 1362, 1801, 1802, 1811, 1821, 1822, 1824, 1853, 1857, 1861, 3631, and 3636 of this title and section 1122 and 1124a of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters], except as provided in subsection (b), shall be effective on the date on which the Agreement between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Maritime Boundary, signed June 1, 1990, enters into force for the United States. “(b) Authority To Prescribe
Regulations
.—The authority to prescribe
Regulations
to implement the
Amendments
made by this title shall be effective on the date of enactment of this Act [Mar. 9, 1992], but no such regulation may be effective until the date on which the Agreement described in subsection (a) enters into force for the United States.”
Short Title
Pub. L. 97–176, § 1, May 17, 1982, 96 Stat. 78, provided: “That this Act [enacting this subchapter and repealing subchapter III of this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982’.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 773
Title 16 — Conservation
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73