APPENDIX VI APPENDIX VI 
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The rule of unanimity applies with regard to all decisions, recom- 
mendations and resolutions (Article II). 
The passage of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 
1976 will have some significant impacts on the International Convention 
for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean, since the 
national extension of jurisdiction will obviate existing Convention 
regulations. On March 1, 1977 when the United States extends its 
fishery jurisdiction to 200 miles for the purpose of effective manage- 
ment and conservation, the United States will have jurisdiction over 
living resources west of 175° West Longitude (an area now reserved for 
Japanese fishery interests). The abstention principle contained in 
the International North Pacific Fisheries Convention will be negated 
as a result of the implementation of FCMA. Renegotiation of the Con- 
vention is, therefore, to be expected. 
In light of the current Law of the Sea negotiations, along with 
Article 6 (1) of the 1958 Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the 
Living Resources of the High Seas, the United States negotiating position 
will be formulated around the recognized special interest of coastal 
states in maintaining the productivity of living resources in the high 
seas adjacent to the territorial sea. The Japanese negotiating position 
will probably be formulated around recognition of historic fishing rights. 
On the basis of these disparate positions renegotiation will be a lengthy 
and time-consuming process. 
G. International Pacific Halibut Convention 
The Convention for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the 
Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (March 2, 1953) established the 
International Pacific Halibut Commission in order to provide for more 
effective preservation of stocks of halibut. Unlike most international 
fisheries treaties, this convention is bilateral in nature; Canada and 
the United States being the only signatories. 
The Commission's primary functions are investigative and regulatory 
for the purpose of managing the fishery around maximum sustainable 
yield. Therefore, the Commission is authorized to: 
Article III(2) 
(a) divide the Convention waters into areas; 
(b) establish one or more closed seasons as to each area; 
(c) limit the size of the fish and the quantity of the 
catch to be taken from each area within any season during which 
fishing is allowed; 
(d) during both open and closed seasons, permit, limit, 
regulate or prohibit, the incidental catch of halibut that may 
be taken, retained, possessed, or landed from each area or 
portion of an area, by vessels fishing for other species of fish; 
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