34 



under its continental shelf out to 200 meters in depth or 130 fath- 

 oms or 780 feet. That would put the U.S. boundary between Can- 

 ada at the center of the Northeast Channel where it was before the 

 World Court ruling in 1984. 



Therefore, if Canada also signs the Law of the Sea, it must agree 

 the Hague Line is obsolete. 



Further, anyone that claims crabs and lobsters are bound to the 

 continental shelf, but not scallops, has got to be a landlubber. That 

 is perfectly ridiculous. Crabs and lobsters can swim like a fish, but 

 the most a scallop can do is clack it's way a few feet above the bot- 

 tom to escape predators and is at the mercy of the tidal flow while 

 off the bottom. 



We should make the same claim for our scallops on our Con- 

 tinental Shelf, which, incidentally, our Continental Shelf in its en- 

 tirety is within 200 miles of the U.S. coast, whereas Canada's con- 

 tinental shelf extends at least 40 miles beyond the 200 mile limit. 



You say you blame the Reagan administration for our problem. 

 I guess you're alluding to the Hague Line. Well, President Reagan 

 made a statement in 1984 that any ruling that the World Court 

 made would not be recognized by the United States. It was the 

 U.S. Senate who went ahead and ratified the Hague Line. 



I was in communication with a New England Senator, and I 

 mentioned in a letter to him about the Hague Line, and what I 

 thought of it, and here's his response. "Except for an information 

 controversy which was settled in 1991, the Hague Line is proven 

 to be a reasonable and compatible agreement that has allowed the 

 United States and Canada to retain amiable relations and a coop- 

 erative atmosphere in regards to fisheries issues. I believe it has 

 proven to be highly satisfactory." That's what the U.S. Senate 

 thinks about that. 



Now, with regards to Canada, they simply jumped the gun on the 

 Law of the Sea which comes into effect in November, and decided 

 to place their scallops under their jurisdiction before that becomes 

 actually law. If they can do it, why can't we? Our entire Continen- 

 tal Shelf is within 200 miles. It's only the opinion of a few people 

 in the World Court who said they thought the Hague Line should 

 be moved up onto our Continental Shelf 



In reality, 117 nations have already signed a Law of the Sea, and 

 they no doubt serve on the World Court. They wouldn't expect any- 

 body to take part of their continental shelf away from them under 

 this new agreement, so why should we? 



Do you want to solve tne unlawfulness on the northern edge? 

 Take the northern edge of Georges Bank back and include it in our 

 200-mile limit or whatever you call it. Magnuson Act. 



[The memo on Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration before the 

 World Court, 1910, and miscellaneous material may be found in 

 the committee files.] 



Senator Kerry. Frank, let me just ask you, I accept that you 

 were the scourge of the bluefin. I do not want you to be the scourge 

 of the hearing here by taking too much time. I want to get to some 

 of the other issues we are dealing with here. 



Mr. Cyganowski. I understand that perfectly. Isn't this the Gov- 

 ernment of, by and for the people? Let the people decide if they 

 want to hear more of this or want me to be cut oft. 



