NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 405 



( S ) The intergovenim ental fisheries commissions 



To solve some of tbese problems connected with the "rational" management of 

 high seas fisheries governments in different groupings have formed intergovern- 

 mental fisheries commissions among themselves so as to jointly govern their 

 fishermen operating fisheries in the same areas of the high seas on the same 

 stocks of fish (as has been mentioned above). Some of these are charged with 

 duties concerning one siiecies of fish in one area (the International Pacific 

 Halibut Fisheries Commission), or all the species in one area (the International 

 Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries), or a group of species for the 

 whole world (the International Whaling Commission). 



Duties of such commissions involve three sorts of problems — 



{a) The research required to determine the effect of the fishery upon the 

 fish stock. This always extends to much research on the effect of natural 

 changes in the environment on the fish stocks as well ; 



(&) The establishment of proper regulations to prevent overfishing of the 

 particular fish stocks ; and 



(c) The division of the fish resulting from this management activity 

 among the fishermen of the different nations involved. 



Generally speaking these commissions have carried out the research function 

 well and much of what we know about the ocean and its living resources has 

 come from their work. 



The establishment and implementation of regulations needed to prevent the 

 overfishing which the research has detected, required by the second function, 

 has not yet been worked out on what could be said to be even a reasonably 

 satisfactory basis. The only such commission I know of which establishes an 

 annual quota designed to produce the maximum sustained yield from the fish 

 stock under its purview, does not divide the yield under this quota among 

 national quotas, and successfully stops the fishing by all nations when the quota 

 is taken, is the International Pacific Halibut Fisheries Commission. Only one 

 species of fish and two countries are involved. It has imperfections, and may 

 now be threatened in its structure by the activities of Japanese and Russian 

 fishermen, but for 30 years it has fulfilled its full function adequately and is a 

 long way from dead yet. 



The only one of these commissions that I know of which has done the research 

 function well, established and implemented the required regulations well, and 

 divided the fish resulting from the management activity amongst the national 

 fisheries involved to their reasonable satisfaction has been the International 

 Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. It deals with two species of salmon 

 coming from one river system (Fraser) fished only by two nations (Canada and 

 the United States). It divides the catches as near to half and half between 

 the national fisheries as it can. It has its problems, but it also has worked for 

 about 30 years with good satisfaction. 



The Fur-Seal Commission has also worked excellently and is the oldest of all 

 of these commissions. It works differently. The four nations (Russia, Japan, 

 Canada. United States) involved agreed to stop all killing at sea and to do all 

 the harvesting on the rookeries. This stopped the Canadian and Japanese fish- 

 eries completely because they had no rookeries. Russia and the United States 

 do all the harvesting and each gives a certain quota of skins each year to Japan 

 and Canada. In both Russia and the United States the whole operation is 

 Government owned and operated. This treaty put the entire private sealing 

 industry of all four countries out of business. It has had the outstanding merit 

 of having worked satisfactorily for more than 50 years. 



The North- West Atlantic and the North-East Atlantic Commissions have in- 

 troduced mesh-size regulations which have had beneficial effects in some of the 

 trawl fisheries within their purviews. Neither, however, has come to grips with 

 serious overfishing problems as yet. Both have these just over the horizon. 



The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission has done a beautiful job of 

 research, has discovered one overfishing problem within its purview and framed 

 adequate regulations to prevent it, but has not yet been able to get the fishing 

 nations to agree to implement its recommendations and jyrevent the overfishing. 



The International Whaling Commission so far has failed in all respects. Its 

 research has been inadequate; its regulation recommendations have been con- 

 sistently late and inadequate ; the nations have refused to prevent overfishing 

 of the whales; and the Antarctic whaling business, as well as the whales, is 

 diminishing steadily. 



None of these intergovernmental activities aside from the Fur Seal Co^mmis- 

 sion are much more than 30 years old and some axe only half that old or less. 



