Other Possibilities for 

 Near-Term Enforcement 



The OTA study of enforcement strategies 

 seems to indicate that several fairly simple 

 techniques which could be activated almost 

 immediately have not been given favorable 

 consideration by the Coast Guard or the Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service. 



Among these are: 



1) the establishment of an efficient report- 

 ing system which would allow domestic 

 fishermen to aid in observing foreign 

 fishing vessels, 



2) extensive use of observers onboard 

 foreign fishing vessels, and 



3) formulation of specific guidelines to be 

 followed in granting annual permits 

 and renewing the Governing Interna- 

 tional Fisheries Agreements. 



The lesser of these strategies is the reporting 

 system, which could be simply a well-defined 

 and published procedure, which domestic 

 fishermen could follow in notifying the Coast 

 Guard by radio with information on the loca- 

 tion of foreign vessels or on suspected viola- 

 tions of fisheries regulations. 



The Coast Guard is not now planning a 

 reporting system because of concern that it 

 will increase the number of bogus complaints 

 of violations and tax the already limited man- 

 power and facilities of Coast Guard in the 

 area. The Coast Guard argues that if fishermen 

 suspect serious violations, they will — and 

 already do — report these to the nearest Coast 

 Guard facility. 



Extensive use of a reporting system may not 

 be likely because many domestic fishermen 

 maintain radio silence in order to protect the 

 location of their fishing areas. Still, it is likely 

 that the lack of formal procedures for report- 

 ing may, in the future, cause the same kind of 

 gap in coverage that was demonstrated when 

 fishermen testified to congressional commit- 

 tees that some recent oil spills might have 

 been prevented if fisherman had some system 

 for reporting on the location of foreign 

 tankers which are sited outside of established 

 traffic lanes. 29 



Another minor improvement in enforce- 

 ment could probably be gained by formulat- 

 ing a detailed list of specific criteria which will 

 be taken into account in renewal of the 

 Governing International Fisheries Agree- 

 ments (GIFAs) with foreign governments and 

 in annually granting fishery permits to the 

 vessels. 



The National Marine and Fisheries Service 

 is now drafting civil procedure regulations 

 which outline the sanctions, such as permit 

 revocation, suspension, or modification, 

 which may be used against violators or 



38 



Much of the fishing activity is still conducted by hand, 

 such as the job of emptying large nets. 



