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A history of this negotiation follows. In June of 1990, 

 during the U.S. -USSR Suimiit, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev 

 issued a joint statement agreeing that urgent conservation 

 measures should be taken with regard to the unregulated 

 multinational pollock fishery in the central Bering Sea. The 

 Presidents noted that, in accordance with international law, 

 all concerned States, including the United otates and the 

 Soviet Union, as the coastal States of the central Bering Sea, 

 and distant water States fishing in the central Bering Sea, 

 should cooperate to ensure the conservation of the living 

 marine resources of this area. The U.S. and the USSR noted 

 their desire to develop cooperatively an international 

 conservation and management regime for the central Bering Sea. 



In December 1990, the U.S., in coordination with the USSR, 

 invited the Governments of the People's Republic of China, 

 Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Poland to a 

 conference to consider arrangements for the conservation of 

 the living marine resources of the central Bering Sea. At 

 that time, the U.S. and the USSR suggested, pending adoption 

 of internationally agreed measures, that all States limit 

 their fisheries in the central Bering Sea on a voluntary basis 

 to pollock catches achieved during the 1985 fishing season, 

 which totaled approximately 364,000 metric tons, in order to 

 conserve the pollock resource. We also solicited suggestions 

 on measures States would take in the interim to monitor and 

 enforce such levels of fishing. 



Each of the States fishing in the area accepted our 

 invitation, and in February 1991 the First Conference on the 

 Conservation and Management of the Living Marine Resources of 

 the Central Bering Sea was held in Washington. The Conference 

 delegates agreed on interim measures to freeze fishing efforts 

 in the area, discourage other countries from seeking to fish 

 there and discourage reflagging of vessels already operating 

 in the area. They also agreed to accelerate scientific 

 research, standardize catch reporting, and not retain 

 anadromous species or herring taken as bycatch. With regard 

 to the U.S and Soviet proposal that the take of pollock from 

 the Donut Hole be limited to 1985 levels, the distant-water 

 fishing countries refused, responding, in effect, that such a 

 proposal was unrealistic from an economic standpoint. The 

 countries agreed to meet in July 1991 to continue discussions. 



The Second Conference, held July 31 through August 2, 

 1991, in Tokyo, received scientific data which indicated that 

 the pollock resource in the central Bering Sea had declined to 

 such a point that it could not support catch at even the 1985 

 level. The U.S. and the USSR proposed that all countries 

 agree to a moratorium on fishing in the area during 1992. The 

 United States noted that the U.S. pollock fishery off Bogoslof 

 Island in the Aleutian Chain, which had been under careful 

 conservation and management controls, would likely have to be 

 curtailed or even closed. Despite the scientific data 

 presented at the second Conference, the distant-water fishing 

 States opposed the moratorium and asserted instead that other 

 regulatory measures should be sought. However, no further 

 agreement was achieved on either interim or long-term 

 conservation measures, nor in regard to the use of scientific 

 observers, inspectors, and real-time satellite transmitter 

 tracking devices. The U.S. tabled a proposal to establish an 

 international convention for the area which would address the 

 conservation and management needs of the fishery resources on 

 a long-term basis. The proposal, in our view, fairly 

 represented the interests of both the coastal States and the 

 fishing States, but was attacked by the fishing countries as 

 being one-sided. The delegates agreed to meet again in 

 November 1991 to continue discussions on both long-term 

 conservation and management measures as well as urgent interim 

 measures in the area to begin January 1, 1992. 



