4 MANAGEMENT OF HIGH SEAS FISHERIES 



abstention concept removed from it. In fact, Oda (1960) indicates 

 that Japan proposed to omit both halibut and herring stocks from 

 abstention in the 1958 meeting of the International North Pacific 

 Fisheries Commission. The Japanese have consistently maintained 

 since 1958 that none of the stocks which are included in the Annex 

 of the North Pacific Fisheries Treaty and are thus protected by the 

 abstention principle, comply with the requirements for the applica- 

 tion of that principle as set down in the treaty. At the same time 

 they have asserted their right to develop the bottom fisheries south 

 and east of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula, but have 

 maintained that the principle of abstention prevents this develop- 

 ment because it prohibits incidental capture of halibut. United 

 States and Canadian fishermen on the other hand are fearful that 

 relaxation of present restrictions on the Japanese take of halibut 

 even as incidental captures will be the beginning of the end of the 

 halibut fishery in the northeastern Pacific. 



The entrance of Japan and the Soviet Union into the northeastern 

 Pacific Ocean fisheries is, however, of more interest than its imme- 

 diate effect on Canadian and United States fishermen. It provides a 

 window into the future; a measure by which we can gauge the rela- 

 tionships that will develop as more of the oceans' fisheries become 

 fully exploited and we face the problem of what to do when new 

 states wish to enter a fishery that has already been developed and 

 conserved by others. Viewed in this manner the problem is of spe- 

 cial interest, since it underlines the urgency with which we must 

 seek a solution for the immediate problems of the northeastern 

 Pacific fisheries, and it points up the need for insuring the continued 

 effective management of the halibut and salmon. Bringing these 

 problems to light might also stimulate a more active search for 

 effective solutions for the problems which we can foresee developing 

 in the high seas fisheries in other parts of the world. 



The recent book by McDougal and Burke (1962) provides a com- 

 prehensive analysis of the legal, biological, and economic aspects of 

 high seas fishing. It is our purpose here to examine in some detail 

 these aspects of fishing in the northeastern Pacific. Undoubtedly, 

 some of the following comments would be relevant to fishery prob- 

 lems in other oceans. However, the unique character of each differ- 

 ent region and each fishery suggests caution in transferring the 

 solutions from one area to another. 



