APPENDIX VI APPENDIX VI 
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Second, as overall quotas have become smaller and smaller, the 
season for yellowfin has become shorter and shorter. The result has 
been that the technology-deficient fishing industries of some member 
states suffered as they have beer unable to harvest their "fair" share 
of tuna in the face of technologically advanced industries (such as 
as those from the United States). 
Third, over the past several years the IATTC has argued for expand- 
ing the harvest of skipjack tuna while pressing for further conservation 
Measures with regard to yellowfin. The difficulty here revolves around 
the fact that the two species mix in schools to the extent that the 
incidental catch of yellowfin, the regulated species, is substantial 
after the close of the yellowfin fishing season. 
Fourth, tuna are a highly migratory species and travel over long 
distances. It has been suggested that the IATTC's area of competence 
is not large enough and that perhaps a global institution should be 
established in order to deal more effectively with the management problem. 
Fifth, more nation-states are currently engaged in the fishing of 
tuna in the area than are presently a party to the Convention. Effective 
Management cannot be achieved while some nations remain outside the pur- 
view of Convention jurisdiction. 
- Sixth, in an exchange of notes on March 3, 1950 for the purpose of 
clarification of the treaty, Costa Rica and the United States agreed 
that "notwithstanding the specific powers conferred upon the Commission, 
nothing in the Convention shall be interpreted as a relinquishment of or 
a limitation upon the Sovereignty of a High Contracting Party over waters 
under its jurisdiction." No attempt, however, is made to define the 
"waters under its jurisdiction" nor the area of jurisdiction for waters 
within the Convention's purview. With the extension of fishery juris- 
diction to 200 miles of a number of coastal states off whose coast tuna 
are caught, a number of areas originally open to foreign fishing fleets 
will be closed. This, along with the lack of clarity in the definition 
of waters of jurisdiction, will necessitate renegotiation of this treaty. 
The 1974 Annual Report of the Commission states that, "During 1974 
vessels of 13 nations (Bermuda, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, 
France, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Peru, Spain, 
and the United States) fished for tunas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. 
These vessels captured primarily yellowfin and skipjack tuna, along with 
small quantities of other tunas. The three primary types of gear used 
to make the catches, in order of importance, were purse seine, pole 
and line, and longline. 
Because of heavy exploitation, the yellowfin tuna fishery has been 
under international management since 1966, but it has not been demon- 
strated that there is a need to implement conservation measures of skip- 
jack tuna or other species of tuna taken in the Eastern Pacific fishery. 
The area in which the yellowfin conservation program applies is referred 
to as the Commission's Yellowfin Regulatory Area (CYRA). 
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