109 



Fishermen from Japan, a party to 

 the International Convention on the 

 High Scan Fixlirrint of tlir Xortli 

 Pacific, land salmon on a floating 

 cannery in the Pacific. 



kiiowledged that ;i nation wliich keeps its 

 Hshernien from depleting a resource has an 

 equitable claim to the cooperation of all other 

 nations in its conservation eft'orts, it is de- 

 nied that it also has an equitable claim to 

 exclusive access to the resource. The latter 

 claim, it is argued, seeks to preserve a status 

 (jut) that discriminates against the develop- 



ing nations and that conflicts with the free- 

 dom of the high seas. 



However the equities may be judged, it is 

 most unlikely that the abstention doctrine 

 will be acceptable as a means of excluding 

 new entrants from fisheries already being 

 exploited fully. The doctrine was rejected 

 when the United States proposed it during 

 the delibei-ations that preceded adoption of 

 the Convention on Fishing and Conservation 

 of the Living Resources of the Sea. Its ap- 

 plication in the North Pacific has engendered 

 controversy between Japan, on the one hand, 

 and Canada and the United States, on the 

 other. The United States also must consider 

 that it, too, may be a prospective entrant into 

 the fisheries of many areas of the world from 

 which it would not like to be barred by the 

 abstention doctrine or have the doctrine 

 used to justify admitting it on unfavorable 

 terms. 



Preferential Treatment of the Coastal 

 Nation 



Expanding claims with respect to the 

 l)readtli of the territorial sea and the ex- 

 clusive fisheries zone have provoked a series 

 of acrimonious international disputes. Of 

 gravest concern to the United States is the 

 dispute between it and certain Latin Ameri- 

 can countries. 



Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras, Panama, 

 Peru, and Colombia have seized U.S. vessels 

 for fishing in waters in which these countries 

 claim exclusive fishing rights but in which 

 the United States claims the freedom to fish. 

 Since 1961, half of the U.S. tuna vessels have 

 either been chased, shot at, or seized. Through 

 June 1967, a total of $3.32,702 has been paid 

 to the named countries to secure the release 

 of vessels and crews. The Department 

 of State has not succeeded in recover- 

 ing any part of this money from the 

 seizing governments. 



The Fishermen's Protective Act, originally 



