An agreement with Poland, a fairly new entrant to the North Pacific 

 fisheries, primarily engaged in fishing hake, was negotiated in May 1975, 

 and renegotiated in December 1975. Poland's hake quota was reduced by 

 39 percent to 26.000 metric tons, but the combined foreign catch still ex- 

 ceeds the maximum sustainable yield. The United States presently has 

 only a small fishery for hake but hopes to expand it. 



A Republic of China (Taiwan) trawler began fishing in the eastern 

 Bering Sea in late 1974 and continued to fish the area in 1975. It was ob- 

 served fishing for salmon with gillnets in the approaches to Bristol Bay 

 in the summer of 1975. Firm representations were made to the Govern- 

 ment of the Republic China by the United States requesting that the 

 vessel be ordered to stop fishing for salmon: Following these representa- 

 tions, discussions were held between the two governments and the 

 Republic of China agreed not to license its vessels to fish for salmon, 

 halibut, and Continental Shelf fishery resources off the U.S. coast. 



The United States, Canada, Japan and the U.S.S.R. met in March and 

 again in December 1975 to renegotiate the Interim Convention on Con- 

 servation of North Pacific Fur Seals. Although the United States, as re- 

 quested by Congress, was not able to obtain conformance with the provi- 

 sions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, articles were introduced 

 allowing for the supply of subsistence needs to native populations living 

 on rookery islands; the ensuring humane methods of capturing, killing, 

 and marking fur seals; and the conduct of research on the effect of en- 

 vironmental and marine ecosystem changes on the fur seal populations. 

 A draft protocol resulting from the negotiations has yet to be signed by 

 the participating governments. 



During 1975, the United States continued to pursue efforts to conserve 

 whales, primarily through its efforts as a member of the International 

 Whaling Commission (IWC). Since 1972, United States representatives 

 to the IWC have urged a 10-year moratorium on commercial whaling. 

 Despite U.S. inability to obtain a moratorium, during the past 3 years, the 

 IWC at United States urging has developed progressively more effective 

 conservation proposals. The most important of these was the Austrialian 

 Amendment passed in 1974 and implemented at the June 1975 session of 

 the IWC. This new management procedure provides total protection for 

 depleted stocks, plus stricter rules governing the quotas for stocks not 

 yet seriously depleted. To implement this procedure at the June 1975 

 meeting, the IWC has prohibited commercial whaling for the following: 

 all fin and sei whales in the North Pacific; fin whales in almost all of the 

 Antarctic; fin whales in the North Atlantic except for areas around Ice- 

 land and Newfoundland; sei whales in a major region of the Southern 

 Hemisphere; and sperm whales in the vicinity of eastern Australia. The 

 new management procedure is also notable for identifying specific 

 regional stocks for each species and setting quotas or providing protec- 

 tion on a stock-by-stock basis. This will permit more effective manage- 



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