INTRODUCTION 3 



Bristol Bay salmon fishery (Pacific Fisherman, 1939) and as a result 

 of this protest, Japan in March 1938 agreed not to take salmon in 

 this area. 



Since World War II, Japan has expanded her fisheries east\vard 

 and has only been restrained from fishing salmon and halibut, and, 

 before 1959, Alaska herring, by provisions of the North Pacific 

 Treaty. The Soviet Union has increased her fishing fleet in the 

 eastern Bering Sea manyfold since 1958, and has no^v moved into 

 the Gulf of Alaska. As far as is known, Soviet fishermen have not 

 taken the same species as have United States and Canadian fishermen, 

 though some of our halibut fishermen have lost gear and have occa- 

 sionally been forced off fishing grounds by Soviet trawlers. However, 

 for the most part, the Soviets have concentrated on the taking of 

 ocean perch in the Gulf of Alaska and have not taken halibut, and 

 recently they have also fished for king crab south of the Aleutian 

 Peninsula, indicating that certain fisheries can be developed in this 

 area without interfering with the halibut or salmon. The Soviets, 

 however, have made no commitment to abstain from utilizing any 

 particular stocks of fish, and in fact have plainly stated that they plan 

 to enter the halibut fishery in the Gulf of Alaska (Bevan, D. E. and 

 O. A. Mathisen, 1961 and 1963; Kulikov, 1961). 



The entrance of Soviet fishermen into the northeastern Pacific 

 fisheries approximately five years ago has greatly complicated the re- 

 quirements for management of these fisheries from 1953, when the 

 present North Pacific Treaty was concluded. Since the Soviet Union 

 is not party to any Pacific area fishery treaty with the United States 

 and Canada, she is bound by no legal restrictions and can fish any 

 species she desires outside United States and Canadian territorial 

 waters. At the present time these territorial waters extend only three 

 miles from shore. Even though Canada should extend her limits for 

 fisheries to twelve miles, as she has recently announced she intends 

 to do, unless an entirely new principle is developed for drawing base 

 lines, this still will not protect the major offshore or high seas fishing 

 grounds. At the present time Soviet fishermen can fish salmon and 

 halibut on the high seas, as they are now taking ocean perch, and 

 Canada, the United States, or Japan would not have any legal 

 grounds for objection. 



Japanese fishing interests have for some time been exerting pres- 

 sure to change the North Pacific Fisheries Treaty and to have the 



