16 U.S.C. § 1412 — International Dolphin Conservation Program

The Secretary^* of State, after consulting with the Secretary, must seek a binding international agreement establishing an International Dolphin Conservation Program^* that requires:
(1) Total annual dolphin deaths in the purse-seine yellowfin-tuna fishery^* in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean may not exceed 5,000. The agreement must also commit to and aim for progressively reducing deaths toward zero by setting annual limits.
(2) Through calendar year 2000, each stock^* must have a yearly dolphin-mortality limit between 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent of its minimum population estimate^*, as the Secretary calculates, revises, or approves it.
(3) Starting in calendar year 2001, each stock must have a yearly mortality limit no higher than 0.1 percent of its minimum population estimate, as the Secretary calculates, revises, or approves it.
(4) If a limit is exceeded: (A) for paragraph (1), all dolphin sets must stop for the applicable fishing year; and (B) for paragraph (2) or (3), all sets on the covered stocks and on mixed schools containing any covered stock must stop for that fishing year.
(5) A scientific review and assessment in 1998 must (A) assess progress toward the 2000 objectives in paragraph (2), and (B) when appropriate, consider recommendations for meeting them.
(6) A scientific review and assessment in 2000 must (A) review the stocks covered by paragraph (3), and (B) when appropriate, consider recommendations to advance that paragraph’s objectives.
(7) Each vessel must have a maximum yearly dolphin-mortality limit consistent with the yearly limits established under paragraphs (1) through (3).
(8) The program must provide incentives for vessel captains to keep reducing dolphin deaths, with the goal of eliminating them.