recent entry of several new countries into the North Pacific fishery as 

 well as the expansion into new fisheries by countries already engaged in 

 fishing in the area. A total of seven countries — the Federal Republic of 

 Germany, the German Democratic Republic, lapan, Poland, the Republic 

 of China (Taiwan), South Korea, and the U.S.S.R. — are presently fishing 

 in waters adjacent to the United States in the North Pacific. The United 

 States has bilateral agreements in force with japan, Poland, South Korea, 

 and the U.S.S.R., but none with the Federal Republic of Germany, the 

 German Democratic Republic, and the Republic of China (Taiwan). 

 Many stocks have continued to decline despite the imposition of lower 

 catch quotas allocated to some foreign countries by international agree- 

 ment. 



Deteriorating resources include, among others, Alaska pollock in the 

 eastern Bering Sea; Pacific hake off California, Oregon, and Washington; 

 and black cod, which have a wide distribution. The combined total 

 catches of these species by the foreign fleets exceed their species max- 

 imum sustainable yield, and, in order to arrest the decline, it will be 

 necessary to further reduce foreign catches. 



In 1975, the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (IN- 

 FPC) (consisting of — Canada, Japan, and the United States) extended an 

 agreement initially reached in 1974 to establish extensive closed areas in 

 the eastern Bering Sea in the winter and early spring seasons to protect 

 concentrations of juvenile halibut. Japan operates a large trawl fishery in 

 the area and has agreed to continue to refrain from trawling in these 

 closed areas. In addition, the parties to INFPC have agreed to conduct 

 studies on the incidental catch of halibut by off-bottom trawl gear. 

 Although the abundance of halibut is still critically low, there are some 

 hopeful indications that these trawl closures are having a positive effect. 



In December 1974, the United States renegotiated two 2-year bilateral 

 agreements with Japan — one relating to the king and tanner crabs in the 

 eastern Bering Sea and the other to finfishes of the northeastern Pacific 

 and the Bering Sea. Under these agreements, which extend to December 

 31, 1976, limitations were placed on the Japanese harvests of king crab 

 and tanner crab. Due to the small king crab quota, the Japanese industry 

 found it uneconomical to fish for this species in 1975 and is not expected 

 to do so in 1976. In addition, the Japanese quota for Alaska pollock was 

 reduced by nearly 30 percent, and limitations were placed on catches for 

 other groundfish species. 



In negotiations held with the Soviet Union in July 1975, the Soviet 

 catch of pollock was reduced in proportion to the reduction made in the 

 Japanese quota. However, the combined foreign catch of pollock still ex- 

 ceeds the maximum sustainable yield, and further reductions will be 

 necessary. The Soviet Union also agreed to the establishment of closed 

 areas in the eastern Bering Sea that would closely approximate the areas 

 of closure agreed to by Japan to protect halibut. 



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