FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 2 



The U.S. government began negotiations with 

 the Soviet Union for regulating crab fishing in 

 the eastern Bering Sea. In this case, both gov- 

 ernments were parties to the continental shelf 

 convention and recognized the king crab stock 

 as a resource of the U.S. continental shelf. An 

 agreement was signed to limit the Soviet king 

 crab production in the eastern Bering Sea to 

 118,600 cases for the seasons 1965 and 1966. 

 The agreement has been revised from time to 

 time since then, resulting in a continuous re- 

 duction of the Soviet quota, to 52,000 cases for 

 1969-70. The tanner crab catch was also lim- 

 ited to 40,000 cases per year for the same 

 seasons. 



The United States also suggested that there 

 be a system of allocating tangle-net crab grounds 

 between the Japanese and Soviet fleets, which 

 would be similar to one implemented in Kam- 

 chatka for some time. Negotiations between the 

 three governments were held in 1967, resulting 

 in an arrangement shown in Figure 8. The 

 agreement was renewed for 1969-70; the area 

 reserved for pot fishing was expanded, and the 

 remaining grounds for tangle-net were divided 

 between the fleets of the two nations again. 

 The allocated fishing strips have been rotated 

 annually between the Soviet Union and Japan 

 (there are many practical problems under this 

 arrangement, including the use of fishing lots 

 after the fleet of one nation has left) . 



166*^ 



— I 



164°W 



162°W 



160°W 



— I r 



width, n miles 



158°W 



55°16'N 



Figure 8. — Allocation of king crab fishing grounds in 

 the eastern Bering Sea, 1969 (from Suisan-sha, 1970). 



In short, a system of allocation has been de- 

 veloped between the three nations for crab fish- 

 ing in the Bering Sea, Japanese fishing has 

 been subject to catch limits under a United 

 State-Japan agreement, which is legally not 

 based on the continental shelf convention; So- 

 viet fishing has been subject to catch limits under 

 a Soviet-United States agreement which is based 

 on the continental shelf convention; U.S. fishing 

 has not been subject to catch limits; the Jap- 

 anese and the Soviet quotas have been reduced, 

 while the U.S. catch has increased rapidly in the 

 last few years; a large area has been allocated 

 exclusively for pot fishing; the tangle-net fish- 

 ing area has been divided between the Japanese 

 and Soviet fleets and rotated annually; size lim- 

 its and other conservation measures have been 

 applied to all nations. These arrangements have 

 been made through executive agreements, and 

 not by treaties requiring ratification. 



On the Asian side, Japanese crab fishing in 

 waters off the west coast of Kamchatka was re- 

 sumed in 1956. The government authorized two 

 motherships, each operated jointly by two com- 

 panies, with a production quota of 60,000 cases 

 each (plus 5% allowance), which was increased 

 to 70,000 during the fishing season. Four moth- 

 erships operated in 1956, with a production quota 

 of 70,000 cases each (plus allowance). The ac- 

 tual production reached 313,000 cases.'' The 

 Japan-Soviet fishery convention, which entered 

 into force in late 1956, included regulatory mea- 

 sures for two species of king crab {P. camtscha- 

 tica and P. platypus), but the Japan-Soviet fish- 

 eries commission did not restrict fishing eff'ort 

 or the catch during the season 1957. At the an- 

 nual meeting of the commission in 1958, the 

 Soviet Union stressed the need to restrict crab 

 fishing, and each government undertook to take 

 certain measures (not as commission's decisions 

 but as actions by each government), including 

 a limitation on the number of motherships (no 

 more than four Japanese motherships for 1958- 

 60 and six Soviet motherships for 1958) and pro- 

 duction quotas (no more than 320,000 cases per 



" The government also authorized one mothership to 

 operate in the Olyutorski area, but the fleet could not 

 reach its production quota. The unfilled portion of the 

 quota was taken by one of the four motherships oper- 

 ating in west Kamchatka. 



252 



