17 



on the Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources in the Central Bering 

 Sea." It is a state-of-the-art fisheries agreement that will establish an international 

 regime which will ensure the long-term conservation and management of pollock re- 

 sources in the Central Bering Sea. 



Under the Convention, harvest levels of pollock in the "Donut Hole" will be based 

 on the best scientific and technical information available. There are strong enforce- 

 ment and compliance provisions to ensure responsible fishing. Chief among these 

 are the requirements tnat each and every vessel fishing for pollock in the Central 

 Bering Sea use a real-time satellite position fixing device; each carry scientific ob- 

 servers; and each consent to boarding and inspection by enforcement officials to en- 

 sure compliance with the Convention. 



These are provisions that, with others, make the Convention a unique, forward- 

 looking agreement. Representatives of the U.S. fishing industry, govemrnent offi- 

 cials, and Congressional representatives strongly supported the U.S. negotiating ef- 

 fort. The regime the Convention creates will aid in ensuring the continued viability 

 of the U.S. pollock industry. It will also serve as an effective forum for closer and 

 improved international coordination of fishery enforcement activities on the high 

 seas of the North Pacific. The benefits to be derived from the Convention will make 

 its establishment extraordinarily worthwhile. 



The Administration is preparing to submit the Convention to the Senate for its 

 advice and consent to ratification. I hope that upon receipt from the President, the 

 Senate will give favorable consideration to the Convention and provide its advice 

 and consent to ratification in order that we can deposit the U.S. instrument of ratifi- 

 cation and the agreement can enter into force as quickly as possible. Finally, we are 

 prepared to work with the Congress to secure implementing legislation as necessary. 



LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION 



Secretary of State Christopher recently announced the decision of the United 

 States to sign, later this month, a new agreement that will fundamentally revise 

 the deep seabed mining provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the 

 Law of the Sea. Once tnis agreement is signed, the Administration intends to sub- 

 mit it, along with the Law of the Sea Convention, to the Senate for advice and con- 

 sent. We firmly believe that the United States should become party to this regime 

 to advance our wide-ranging interests in proper governance of the world's oceans 

 that will be achieved throu^ broad acceptance of the Law of the Sea Convention, 

 as revised by the new agreement. 



Like most States, the United States has long accepted the fishery provisions of 

 the Law of the Sea Convention as reflecting customary international law. By rec- 

 ognizing the sovereign rights of coastal States to conserve and manage fisheries 

 within their exclusive economic zones, the Convention has brought most living ma- 

 rine resources under the control of coastal States. The Convention also creates basic 

 obligations for all States to cooperate in the conservation and management of high 

 seas fisheries. These provisions of the Convention have established the very frarne- 

 work within which the United States and others in the international community 

 have reached more specific fishery agreements, usually on a regional basis. The 

 Central Bering Sea pollock convention is a good example of a fishery agreement 

 built on the Law of Sea framework. 



CONVENTION ON FUTURE MULTILATERAL COOPERATION IN THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC 



FISHERIES 



I would also like to discuss the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation 

 in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (the Convention), done at Ottawa on October 

 24, 1978. The Convention established the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization 

 (NAFO), which regulates fisheries on straddling stocks in that portion of the Atlan- 

 tic. The Convention provides for conservation and management of fish stocks that 

 occur outside national zones of jurisdiction. It also provides a framework for sci- 

 entific cooperation on fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. 



The United States has not yet acceded to the Convention. The time has come to 

 do so if we have an interest in the fisheries of this region and if our fishermen are 

 going to fish there. Our policy — on a wide range of international conservation is- 

 sues — is to participate in regional conservation and management regimes. We rnake 

 it a cornerstone of our laws and policies to encourage others to do so. Our failure 

 to participate in the NAFO regime for stocks in the Atlantic, which U.S. fishermen 

 occasionally harvest, is inconsistent with our policies to encourage cooperation in 

 international resource management and to ensure the sustainable use of fisheries 

 resources through participation in international management agreements. Our fail- 

 ure to participate also undermines our credibility, both in terms of our support for 



