APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
are available to move into the fishery when the stock 
recovers. 
Product development and processing 
Product development and processing are not obstacles 
to revitalizing this fishery. Demand for halibut is already 
high. Abundant processors and cold storage facilities are 
located in all the major ports where halibut is landed. 
Market development 
The market for halibut exists and is large; however, 
depletion of the stock has limited the amount of halibut 
available. 
Management controls 
The effect of foreign trawlers on the halibut stock 
has required the Commission to adopt more stringent conser- 
vation measures. However, only the United States and Canada 
conform their halibut fishing to Commission regulations. 
Japanese and Soviet trawlers have harvested the halibut con- 
trary to conservation measures adopted by the International 
Pacific Halibut Commission except for the Commission's 
size limits which were adopted by the Japanese. 
The United States and Canada have attempted to limit 
the catch of halibut by Japanese trawlers on recommendations 
of the International Pacific Halibut Commission through 
agreements by International North Pacific Fisheries Commis- 
sion member nations. The Japanese enforcement of Inter- 
national North Pacific Fisheries Commission regulations has 
been inadequate and some of their vessels have violated the 
agreements reached through this Commission. The Soviet Union 
is not a member of this Commission and can legally fish 
anywhere in waters outside the U.S. 12-mile limit and can 
keep any fish they catch. Thus, past actions by the Inter- 
national Pacific Halibut Commission to conserve the halibut 
stock were offset by the effect of foreign trawlers. 
In 1973 the International Pacific Halibut Commission 
proposed that foreign trawling be prohibited in particular 
areas of the Bering Sea where the incidence of halibut was 
high, but trawl effort was low. Other areas would remain 
open to trawling yearround and the closed areas would be 
open to fishing during those times when the incidental 
catch of halibut was low. The Japanese agreed to most of the 
closures through negotiations with the U.S. and Canadian 
Governments. In 1974 the Japanese, in response to a second 
144 
