principles include a requirement that research be conducted only for 

 peaceful purposes, a clause dealing with noninterference with other 

 uses, a requirement that research comply with environmental 

 regulations, and agreement that research activities not form the legal 

 basis for any claim to any part of the marine environment or its 

 resources. 



Problems arose when the group began work on the more important 

 issues of research in the economic zone. Four trends emerged: (1] 

 explicit consent of the coastal state is required; (2) consent cannot be 

 withheld when certain conditions are met in lieu of consent; (3) an 

 agreed-upon set of international obligations will be placed upon the 

 state conducting the research; (4) total freedom to carry out research 

 in the economic zone will be granted, except research aimed at 

 exploration or exploitation of living and nonliving resources, which 

 shall be subject to the consent of the coastal state. 



DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 



At the Caracas session representatives of 30 countries held 

 constructive meetings to discuss provision for a dispute-settlement 

 chapter of the convention. The 11-point paper that these sessions 

 produced will probably stimulate much discussion and study before 

 the next session of the conference is convened. 



The United States went to Caracas prepared to negotiate a 

 comprehensive ocean-law treaty. The Caracas meeting set up the 

 framework, the issues, and the alternatives, but the treaty was not 

 negotiated. 



Living Resources Management 



A better knowledge of the abundance and movement of fishing 

 stocks is essential if we are to manage the living resources inhabiting 

 the 200-mile Economic Resource Zone proposed at the Law of the Sea 

 Conference. To provide the data needed for fishing management, The 

 Department of Commerce's (DOC's] National Oceanic and At- 

 mospheric Administration (NOAA) is intensifying its Marine 

 Resources Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction (MARMAP) 

 program. 



MARMAP, conducted by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries 

 Service (NMFS), collects and analyzes stock-assessment informa- 

 tion required to manage and allocate fish and shellfish resources off 

 U.S. coasts. These recourses are subject to competitive harvesting 

 by foreign and domestic fishermen; 14,000 U.S. vessels of over 5 

 gross tons and as many as 1,000 foreign vessels, most over 250 tons, 

 fish off U.S. coasts. This situation has led to overfishing of at least 10 

 major commercial stocks (Alaskan pollock, California sardine, 



