Background 



Brief History of Fisheries Law 

 Enforcement 



Management of the new 200-mile U.S. fish- 

 ery zone will, of necessity, have enforcement 

 of regulations as an integral part if it is to ac- 

 complish restoration and conservation of fish 

 stocks and provide the domestic fishing in- 

 dustry with the potential and incentive to 

 grow, as mandated by the Fishery Conserva- 

 tion and Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 

 94-265). 



Management plans to be drawn-up under 

 provisions of the Act will lay the groundwork 

 for the types of regulations which will be re- 

 quired and which must be enforced. However, 

 fish resources are already scarce enough and 

 the demand for fish products high enough 

 that it is logical to conclude that foreign na- 

 tions can justify the risk of violating these 

 regulations and the United States can justify 

 the effort and expense of enforcing them. In 

 fact, the U.S. Coast Guard, the agency pri- 

 marily charged with the enforcement task, has 

 concluded in a report on its preparations for 

 increased fisheries duties that "the state of the 

 fish stocks today is too critical to allow for any 

 lapse in enforcement. "20 



A discussion of enforcement problems and 

 opportunities is offered first in this report for 

 two reasons: 



1) Clear and timely indication of U.S. inten- 

 tions to strictly enforce fishery regula- 

 tions within the 200-mile zone is impera- 

 tive for gaining foreign cooperation. 



2) Even the best of management plans can- 

 not succeed without effective enforce- 

 ment of its provisions. 



Later sections of this report deal with the 

 problems and opportunities of managing the 

 200-mile fishing zone and with the need for 

 much additional information as Federal agen- 

 cies and Regional Councils seek to refine and 

 improve management techniques. 



The United States began to exercise control 

 over its coastal fisheries soon after it became a 

 country. Until the passage of the Bartlett Act, 

 in the middle 1960's, however, enforcement 

 was essentially confined to the "territorial 

 sea", the area within 3-nautical miles offshore. 



The early control activities were generally 

 mild. It wasn't until the late 1800's and early 

 1900's, that strong legislation was passed to 

 resolve fishery and marine mammal problems 

 in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In the 

 early 1900's, foreign fishing vessels were 

 seized and brought to American ports, and 

 fines were successfully levied against the 

 crews and vessels. 



The Bartlett Act has been the primary fish- 

 eries law. Foreign fishing is not only 

 prohibited within the territorial sea, but also 

 is excluded within a contiguous 9-mile fish- 

 eries zone beyond the 3-mile territorial sea. In 

 addition, foreign fishermen cannot retain 

 creatures of the Continental Shelf (shellfish 

 and Crustacea). Violations of the Bartlett Act 

 could result in fines, imprisonment, and for- 

 feiture of the vessel, gear, and catch. 



There are a number of treaties and interna- 

 tional agreements in which the United States 

 and other countries have agreed to manage 

 fishery resources, outside the 12-mile zone. 

 ICNAF (International Convention for the 

 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries) is an example of 

 one important treaty. Here, the 18 member 

 governments prepare the regulations, which 

 for the most part are concerned with quota 



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