6 MANAGEMENT OF HIGH SEAS FISHERIES 



miles; the U.S.S.R., Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and the United 

 Arab Republic, 12 miles. Canada has recently announced its inten- 

 tion to go from 3 to 12 miles. An examination of recent history 

 indicates a tendency toward a greater diversity, and toward greater 

 expansion of these claims. However, no nation yet claims a terri- 

 torial sea of more than 12 miles. 



A number of countries also claim bays that are more than twice 

 the width of their territorial seas. These claims are sometimes based 

 on so-called ''historic rights," i.e., claims which have been made over 

 a substantial period of time and which, during that period, have re- 

 ceived acquiescence by other nations. One of the most extensive 

 such claims is that of the Soviet Union over Peter the Great Bay, 1 15 

 miles wide. A recent effort by the state of Alaska to claim, or induce 

 the United States to claim, much of Bristol Bay on this basis failed 

 (Rosenow, 1963), the U.S. preferring to adhere to the rule an- 

 nounced in Article 7 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and 

 the Contiguous Zone (McDougal and Burke, 1962, App. A) and 

 claim only that portion of Bristol Bay which is 24 miles or less wide. 



An increasing number of states are also making "specialized" 

 claims to the sea, arguing for exclusive jurisdiction of the mineral 

 resources or fisheries of the continental shelf, far beyond their admit- 

 tedly limited territorial seas. The United States and many other 

 countries now claim the mineral resources of the continental shelves 

 off their coasts. Such claims, when limited to mineral resources, have 

 not met with any substantial objection froin other states. Off the 

 coasts of Central and South America, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Costa 

 Rica, and El Salvador claim up to 200 miles of exclusive fishery 

 jurisdiction. Argentina claims exclusive fishery jurisdiction over the 

 continental shelf off her coast. These claims have met with persistent 

 protests by several other countries, and in particular the United 

 States. They have not, however, been withdrawn, and there appears 

 to be little evidence at the moment that they will be. A few coun- 

 tries have announced an intention to establish fishery conservation 

 zones off their coasts, to aid in fisheries management programs. Thus, 

 in 1945 President Truman issued a proclamation saying the United 

 States claimed the right to "establish conservation zones to regulate 

 fisheries" over certain waters beyond the territorial sea. (U.S. Presi- 

 dent's Office, 1945). Although no such conservation zones have ever, 

 in fact, been created by the United States the proclamation is said to 



