15 



while there is a conservation crisis without any controls imposed 

 upon them through an agreement with the Russians. 



So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are certainly many other is- 

 sues that we could talk about, but I would be happy to answer any 

 questions you might have. 



[The prepared statement of Ambassador Colson follows:] 



Prepared Statement of Ambassador David A. Colson 



I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Committee on current inter- 

 national fishery conservation and management issues. 



The State Department's involvement with fisheries issues dates from the earliest 

 history of the United States. In 1789, Thomas Jefferson, when he was Secretary of 

 State, submitted a report to Congress describing the decline of New England fish- 

 eries harvests. Until recently, many have considered the seas to be an inexhaustible 

 source of fish Living marine resources are now known to be under extreme stress. 

 World harvests of marine species peaked at about 86 million metric tons in 1989. 

 The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports that the catch of 

 marine species declined to 82 million metric tons in 1992. Absent concerted efforts 

 to bring about responsible fishing practices, we can expect this downward trend to 

 continue. The fishing power in the world is simply too great; new care must be 

 taken to conserve the fishery resources of the sea so that they can be used 

 sustainably by future generations and play their central role in the marine eco- 

 system. 



As we consider these facts, however, two other points need to be noted: first, since 

 about 90 percent of the world's fish catch occurs in the 200 mile zone of coastal 

 states, much of the responsibility lies with individual countries to conserve and 

 manage the resources for which they are responsible. Second, our awareness of the 

 importance of fisheries to our economies and way of life, and the need to be prudent 

 and wise in our international fisheries management, emerges at the same time that 

 the world is on the brink of a population explosion. Our ocean resources cannot help 

 but come under increasing pressure from this fact alone. We must be very wise in 

 the years ahead to ensure the sustainabilitv of the world's fishery resources. 



The Department of State has aggressively pursued an approach over the last sev- 

 eral years of taking the initiative in the international community to address fishery 

 conservation and management issues, both bilaterally and muftilaterally, with an 

 emphasis on solving high seas fisheries problems. This is consistent with the ap- 

 proach adopted at UNCED, and has proven successful. We have recently concluded 

 several agreements which contribute to the sustainable use of international fisheries 

 and which should be to the long-term benefit of U.S. fishermen. I would like to dis- 

 cuss some of these agreements, and describe other areas which we continue to ad- 

 dress. 



I am accompanied today by Mr. Will Martin of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 

 pheric Administration. He will address one of the major international fishery nego- 

 tiations now under way, the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks 

 and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. 



fao "flagging" agreement 



On June 28, 1994, I testified, on behalf of the Administration, in support of the 

 Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Manage- 

 ment Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (the "Agreement") before tne 

 Committee on Foreign Relations. The Agreement was adopted at Rome by consensus 

 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on November 24, 

 1993. 



The Agreement was made possible largely by the initiative of the United States. 

 It represents one critical element of our efforts to bring fisheries conducted on the 

 high seas under greater control in order to protect the marine ecosystem and to en- 

 sure the sustainable use of high seas fishery resources over time. 



The Agreement rests on the legal framework established in the 1982 United Na- 

 tions Convention on the Law of the Sea. It builds upon the basic obligations con- 

 tained therein for States whose vessels fish on the high seas to cooperate in the con- 

 servation and management of high seas resources. It seeks to ensure that there is 

 a genuine link between those states and the vessels that fly their fiag. 



The Agreement addresses a growing threat to the integrity of multilateral fishery 

 organizations. Fishing vessels flying the flag of some States participating in such 

 organizations have increasingly reilagged to non-member States as a means of 



