the inshore salmon catch by local Greenland fishermen will not be increased 

 over the average level of recent years. The agreement serves the interests 

 of such countries as the United States and Canada which undertake heavy 

 expenditures to protect salmon runs in the streams of origin. It also serves 

 those of Denmark by considering the special importance of the local salmon 

 fishery to the economy of Greenland. 



Denmark and the United States will seek to have the essentials of their 

 agreement incorporated in the conservation regulations of ICNAF at its 

 annual meeting in May 1972. ICNAF has already adopted a ban on high- 

 seas salmon fishing effective for 12 nations and interim measures on other 

 aspects of the salmon fishery in the Northwest Atlantic. 



In addition to conservation measures, 1971 was marked by a high degree 

 of success in resolving conflicts over fishery resources. A new and potentially 

 serious problem appeared in the spring of 1971 when the operations of 

 foreign trawlers resulted in large-scale destruction of lobster pots in the de- 

 veloping American deepwater lobster fishery off the North Atlantic coast. 

 Prompt action by the Department of State, the Coast Guard, and NOAA, 

 and the full cooperation of American fishermen and foreign fisheries author- 

 ities brought the problem under control. The State Department helped the 

 American fishermen recover damages for their lobster pot losses. 



In the North Pacific, the United States continued its participation in 

 the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission. In addition, voluntary 

 cooperation of other nations with regard to high-seas salmon fishing helped 

 to conserve this valuable resource more efTectively. International agreements 

 reached earlier resulted in minimizing gear conflicts in the king crab and 

 halibut fisheries. 



Agreements with the Soviet Union regarding North Pacific fisheries were 

 reviewed in 1971 and new versions providing additional protection for 

 American coastal fishermen and improved measures for conservation of 

 the fish stocks were signed. In addition, the United States and Soviet Union 

 agreed to broaden their Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Agreement to include river 

 herring, a species of interest to American sports and commercial fishermen. 

 Final agreement had not been reached on this species in the earlier renegotia- 

 tion in late 1970. 



United States distant-water tuna and shrimp operations have in recent 

 years been among the most profitable sectors of our fishing industry. In 

 1971, these fisheries continued to be plagued by problems arising out of 

 the unsettled status of international law on breadth of the territorial sea 

 and the extent of coastal State fishery jurisdiction (see appendix E). In 

 1971, 51 U.S. tuna ships were seized by Ecuador while operating ofT the 

 Pacific coast of Latin America. Nearly $2.5 million in fines were paid. The 

 tuna-boat seizures by Ecuador in the early months of 1971 produced reactions 

 by the United States, particularly a suspension of military equipment sales, 

 and counterreactions by Ecuador, notably an accusation of "economic coer- 

 cion" against the United States in the Organization of American States 

 (OAS) , making it impossible to hold the scheduled quadripartite conference 

 between Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and the United States to consider this 

 problem. Diplomatic efforts to achieve even a temporary solution continued 

 actively but have not been successful. 



46 



