Chapter IV — International 



Fisheries Service jointly prepare for a regional re- 

 view. In this regard, it recommended that a group of 

 U.S. experts be convened to assess the adequacy of 

 available information on the effects of high seas 

 driftnet fisheries in the North Pacific and the condi- 

 tions, if any, under which the fisheries might be 

 permitted to continue. The letters also recommended 

 that a regional review by international experts be 

 undertaken in the spring of 1991 to examine: 

 (1) available at-sea sighting data, (2) the range and 

 extent of target and non-target species taken by 

 driftnet fisheries, (3) the biological and population 

 data related to those species, and (4) data and infor- 

 mation on the impacts of driftnet fishing on affected 

 stocks. The agencies agreed and efforts were begun 

 to prepare for a regional review of North Pacific 

 driftnet fisheries in June 1991 (see below). 



In addition, in August 1991, the Department of 

 State began convening weekly meetings of an at/ hoc 

 interagency group that also involved representatives of 

 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 and National Marine Fisheries Service, the Coast 

 Guard, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Marine 

 Mammal Commission. The group provided advice on 

 actions related to the driftnet fishing agreements with 

 Japan, Taiwan, and Korea as well as other internation- 

 al conservation efforts discussed in this Report. 



1991 Regional Review of North PaciFic Driftnet 

 Fisheries — As noted above. Resolution 44/225 called 

 upon regional fisheries organizations to hold regional 

 reviews on the status of high seas driftnet fisheries by 

 30 June 1991. In response to this request, Canada 

 offered to host a meeting to review driftnet fisheries 

 in the North Pacific Ocean. The offer was accepted 

 and the meeting was held in Sidney, British Colum- 

 bia, Canada, on 11-14 June 1991. 



The purpose of the meeting was to review available 

 scientific information on the effects of large-scale 

 driftnet fisheries on marine resources of the North 

 Pacific Ocean. Participants included scientists, 

 resources managers, and observers from Australia, 

 Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the 

 United Nations, the United States, and the Internation- 

 al North Pacific Fisheries Commission. U.S. partici- 

 pants in the meeting included representatives of the 

 Marine Mammal Commission. The primary back- 



ground information available for the review included 

 catch summaries for the 1989 and 1990 Japanese 

 squid driftnet fishing seasons. The summaries were 

 products of the 1989 and 1990 monitoring programs 

 carried out by Japan, Canada, and the United States. 

 The discussions were limited because results of the 

 1990 observer programs with Taiwan and the Repub- 

 lic of Korea were not available. 



The Japanese participants provided estimates of the 

 total catch and bycatch for the 1990 Japanese squid 

 driftnet fishery. They estimated that, to harvest 

 approximately 106 million neon flying squid in 1990, 

 the Japanese squid driftnet vessels had taken more 

 than 41 million individuals of more than 100 other 

 species. More specifically, they estimated that the 



1990 bycatch in this one driftnet fishery included 39 

 million fish (including 33.8 million Pacific pomfret, 

 700,000 blue sharks, and more than 141,000 salmon), 

 270,000 seabirds, nearly 25,000 individuals of other 

 species, 24,000 marine mammals, and 406 sea turtles. 

 The meeting participants also concluded that popula- 

 tions of northern right whale dolphins and Pacific 

 white-sided dolphins had declined and would likely 

 continue to decline as a result of incidental takes in 

 driftnet fisheries. The report of the Sidney meeting 

 was submitted to the United Nations Office of Ocean 

 Affairs and Law of the Sea in August 1991. 



Actions by the United Nations and others in 



1991 — As indicated above, the United Nations Office 

 of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea had been re- 

 quested to prepare a sunmiary report on the results of 

 regional reviews, the North Pacific review, and other 

 information for consideration by the United Nations 

 General Assembly at its 1991 session late in 1991. 

 As part of this effort, the Department of State took 

 steps in 1991 to further clarify U.S. views and analy- 

 ses based on more recent information. Late in July 

 1991, it circulated a draft submission to the United 

 Nations on U.S. driftnet policy. 



By letter of 24 July 1991 to the State Department, 

 the Commission noted that the draft U.S. paper 

 reflected outdated single-species management concepts 

 that failed to adequately consider to uncertainties and 

 concerns regarding ecological effects caused by 

 driftnet fishing-related disruptions to marine food 

 chains. The letter also noted that, while referring to 



123 



