14 



Western Pacific region. There is probably a doubling of fishing 

 boats, not of U.S. boats but of boats from other countries, that are 

 fishing in the region than there were maybe even 5 years ago. Our 

 experience tells us that that is going to begin to create a real prob- 

 lem in terms of the conservation of the stocks. We have begun a 

 process in working with the other countries fishing in the region 

 and working with the coastal states to begin a process of develop- 

 ing, of addressing, those kinds of problems. We will begin that dia- 

 log this December. 



I would also note that Assistant Secretary Winston Lord and I 

 will be going out to the region in another week. One of our central 

 themes will be our willingness to work with the islanders to begin 

 to help them work on the conservation issues of this very valuable 

 tuna resource in the Central and Western Pacific. 



Finally, I would like to mention just two items that are a bit of 

 a problem. They are not huge practical problems at the moment 

 but they are problems of principle and inconsistency in our prac- 

 tice. 



I have recounted a number of instances where the U.S. position 

 is to work through international organizations and to call upon 

 countries to cooperate and reach agreement. Yet even though the 

 Senate approved the NAFO Treaty for the Northwest Atlantic — in 

 1983 the Senate gave advice and consent to that treaty — we have 

 not become a party to NAFO, yet U.S. fishing vessels do from time 

 to time go into that region. And certainly, it is our view that if they 

 do that the United States should be party to that regional agree- 

 ment and U.S. vessels in that area should be fishing pursuant to 

 whatever understandings we have worked out with the other coun- 

 tries concerned. So, we certainly feel that it is important for the 

 Congress to pass implementing legislation for NATO so that we 

 may deposit our instrument of ratification, if it is indeed true that 

 there are people in New England that still want to go up to the 

 Grand Banks and fish there. 



Today there are not very many fish in that region. There is a 

 real conservation crisis in the region. The few U.S. boats that have 

 been going to the region have not been able to make a go of it, very 

 easily. But the bottom line here is. Are we going to do what we say 

 other countries should do? Are we going to ensure that our fisher- 

 men, when they fish in other parts of the world, fish in a manner 

 consistent with the relevant international conservation organiza- 

 tion. 



Finally, on a similar point, the Sea of Okhotsk: There is an enor- 

 mous conservation problem in the Sea of Okhotsk, and I think the 

 Congress recognized this last year. On the Senate side you passed 

 S. 1515 and on the House side a similar bill passed. But somehow 

 or other things did not gel so we did not get a piece of legislation 

 out of it. 



It is really important, I think, for our bilateral relations with the 

 Russians, and that is key to a cooperative relationship in the Ber- 

 ing Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, that we ensure that any fish- 

 ing activity by U.S. vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk takes place in 

 a manner that is consistent with understandings with Russia. It 

 would just be disastrous for us, I think, in a whole range of issues, 

 if we suddenly had a number of U.S. vessels entering that area 



