106 



Fourteen nations, including the United States, adhere to the International 

 Convention for the Northwest Atlantie Fisheries. The United States faces 

 strong competition from the Soviet fishing fleet in this area. 



and Region 1 of the NEAFC area (East 

 Greenland, Iceland, and the Northeast 

 Arctic). This single annual overall catch 

 limit should be designed to maintain the 

 maximum sustainable yield of the fishery 

 and, in turn, should be divided into an- 

 nual national catch quotas. The overall 

 catch limit should be adjusted regularly 

 to take account of such factors as year- 

 class fluctuations of the stocks, recovery 

 of the stocks due to conservation meas- 

 ures, and errors in setting prior limits. 



Every participating nation should be 

 authorized to transfer all or part of its 

 quota to any other nation. 



The idea of national catch quotas is not 

 new. Such quotas in a variety of forms are 

 now used by the United States and Canada 

 in the salmon fishery of tlie Fraser River 

 system ; by the United States, Japan, and the 

 Soviet Union in the agreements relating to 

 king crab; and, in effect, by the United 



States, the Soviet Union, Canada, and Japan 

 in the conservation of Xorth Pacific fur seals. 

 There also are various informal international 

 agreements fixing national catch quotas to 

 which the United States is not a party. 



Catch quotas would satisfy the felt needs 

 of the nations participating in the cod and 

 haddock fisheries of the North Atlantic. At 

 the high level of fishing intensity reached 

 during 1962-65, mortality in these fisheries 

 exceeded limits that would maintain the 

 maximum sustainable yield. Indeed, a reduc- 

 tion in total fishing effort of 30 to -iO per 

 cent in the case of some stocks and of 

 10 to 20 per cent in the case of others would 

 sustain the catch over the long term and per- 

 haps even increase it. If total effort in these 

 fisheries is reduced 10 to 20 per cent, it is 

 estimated that aggregate annual savings of 

 $50 to $100 million can be realized by all 

 participants. 



The position of the United States in these 

 fisheries is particularly serious. Because of 



