The Commission operates under the terms of reference 

 provided by the Convention. It has no authority to make 

 decisions or recommendations except as provided by the 

 Convention's terms. This frame of reference cannot be 

 changed by the Commission but only by agreement among 

 the three countries party to the Convention. The United 

 States Section, as part of the Commission, cannot change 

 the basic rviles under which it works. It must rely upon the 

 establishment of a solid scientific basis for the principles 

 under which the Convention was negotiated. 



Operating in this manner, the Commission, and the United 

 States Section, have been engaged in a number of research 

 programs which have yielded extremely valuable results. 

 One of the most important, of course, is the program of 

 research relating to abstention. Unless the applicability of 

 the abstention requirement can be demonstrated clearly by 

 scientific research, the whole basis for the principle is 

 jeopardized, and abstention as a method of fishery manage- 

 ment cannot survive, 



A review of the principal research projects will be 

 undertaken in greater detail later. However, it may be 

 useful at this time to summarize what the United States 

 Section has been doing in this regard. First, with respect to 

 salmon and halibut, the analysis carried out by United States 

 scientists has added substantially to our knowledge and has 

 greatly strengthened out abstention case in the Commission. 

 We feel that we have made a strong case for our salmon and 

 halibut stocks. Work in this field continues in order that 

 our case regarding all requirements for abstention with 

 respect to these stocks may be clearly demonstrated. 



An extensive analysis of the data on herring stocks has 

 clearly shown a decrease in the utilization of herring in 

 recent years. It has shown further that increased fishing 

 would resiolt in a substantial and sustainable increase in 

 yield. Since the herring stocks of Alaska thus fail to meet 

 one of the primary requirements for abstention; i. e,, full 

 utilization, the United States Section and the Commission 

 had no choice but to recommend that they be removed from 

 the abstention list. A failure so to act would have undermined 

 the whole basis of the abstention principle. 



Another important line of research is providing a basis 

 for interpretation of the Protocol to the Convention and the 

 question of possible relocation of the provisional line for 

 abstention by other countries from fishing American salmon. 

 The Protocol requires the Commission to investigate the 

 distribution of salmon of North American and Asian origin 

 to determine the area and extent of intermingling. Acting 

 under this requirement, the Commission, and particularly 

 the United States Section, has sponsored the nriost intensive 

 and extensive high- seas fishery research program ever 

 conducted. 



This program has developed a surprising picture of the 

 distribution of salmon. They are found in large numbers 

 ranging completely across the ocean from North America 



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