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Pending ratification of the treaties and their entry 

 into force, east coast fishery relations between the two 

 countries remain as they have since June 1978: fishermen of 

 neither country may fish in the area under the undisputed 

 jurisdiction of the other and no agreement exists with 

 respect to management measures to be applied in the boundary 

 region. 

 B. Concepts Underlying the Proposed Action 



The major premise underlying the Fisheries Agreement is 

 that stocks utilized by two or more nations can only be 

 protected through a close partnership in cooperative manage- 

 ment and regulation. Since finfish range over large areas, 

 management measures applied by one country to a stock in a 

 part of its range may affect the status of the stock in that 

 part of a range within the jurisdiction of the other country. 

 In addition, where stocks of the same species interact between 

 the zones of the two countries, management measures applied 

 by one country to stocks in its zone may affect stocks in 

 the same species in the other country's zone. The north- 

 eastern portion of Georges Bank is the location of a major 

 component of the fishery resource traditionally utilized by 

 the United States. For many species, this is an area of 

 major abundance. Some species live in the area all year and 

 others occupy it seasonally. The absence of a mechanism for 



