They found that they were able to carry out a viable commercial 

 fishery for pollock in that area. This fishery began in about 1985, 

 and vessels from Poland, China, Korea and Japan and, to a limited 

 extent, Russia, participated in it. In that first year, approximately 

 360,000 metric tons of pollock were taken from the donut hole. 



We soon concluded that this pollock was part of the Aleutian 

 Basin stock that contributes to a very substantial fishery in our 

 zone and which we manage through the North Pacific Fishery 

 Management Council. 



As the foreign catches in the Donut Hole increased to about 1.5 

 million metric tons by 1989, our managers noted the serious nega- 

 tive potential consequences for the stock and for the Bering Sea 

 ecosystem as a whole. Those negative consequences have now come 

 to pass. We have no directed fishery on this stock in our zone. And 

 after considerable effort and, as it was stated, after the stock had 

 virtually collapsed, we reached agreement in August of 1992 that 

 there would be a voluntary suspension of fishing in the Donut Hole 

 by all concerned in 1993 and 1994 while we pursue negotiations on 

 a long-term agreement. I would like to return to those negotiations 

 in a moment and set a larger international context. 



The straddling stock problem also occurs in several other areas 

 of the world. As we know, it occurs on the Grand Banks in the 

 northwest Atlantic. There is a very serious problem in the Sea of 

 Okhotsk. It also is a serious problem off the Argentine Coast and 

 off the coast of New Zealand, to name a few. 



As I am sure you know, off Canada there has been a severe prob- 

 lem for years which has embroiled Canada and the European Com- 

 munity in a very bitter political debate about the straddling stock 

 issue. 



At the onset of UNCED negotiations in Rio, Canada pressed for a 

 set of principles that would have resolved the straddling stock issue 

 in its favor, and this was strongly opposed by the European Com- 

 munity. . . 



The result at Rio was to agree to hold a conference, which is 

 often the solution to some of these problems in international set- 

 tings—but the world agreed to hold a conference under United Na- 

 tions auspices on the straddling stock and highly migratory specie 

 issues. That conference had its first session in July, and it will 

 resume in March of 1994. 



In these meetings, we have taken the position that we can 

 produce a set of principles that can be applied on a regional basis. 



We are strong advocates of the point that states must participate 

 in regional fishery management organizations if they fish in the 

 region concerned and that such organizations must be retooled to 

 become effective in conserving the resources as a matter of first 

 priority. 



Also, the straddling stock problem and other problems associated 

 with overfishing, by-catch problems, led the Food and Agriculture 

 Organization, to start on developing a Code of Conduct on Respon- 

 sible Fishing. 



I would note that the idea for this was initially a Mexican initia- 

 tive. 



One part of the Code, and the first that would be completed is an 

 international agreement on high seas fishing. This treaty, which 



