After Caracas/Vienna—What? 
NACOA considers here some possible outcomes of the Law of the Sea Con- 
ference in Caracas, Venezuela. Our purpose is to sense where it might be im- 
portant to prepare in detail for possible eventualities and where it might be 
more suitable to hold off. 
It does not make sense to remain mute about what the United States 
might be faced with in 1975 when it comes to mining the deep sea, fisheries 
conservation, pollution control, and all the other important matters hinging 
on the outcome of the Law of the Sea Conference at Caracas. 
Interim legislation now being considered in the Congress about extended 
fisheries jurisdiction, and investment protection and authority for deep 
seabed mining, are only a few of the manifestations of the pressures—or the 
pessimism—regarding the possibilities of that important U.N. Conference. 
NACOA does not wish to complicate the already complex problems faced 
by the conferees, and in particular those of our own negotiating team. But 
neither does NACOA feel it should remain silent about the need to 
formulate alternatives in advance and to assess possible impacts of various 
Conference outcomes and what we might do about them. We realize that 
suppositions about the Conference outcomes might be taken as a prediction 
of what may happen. This misunderstanding is a danger we must risk. The 
Committee is not unanimous in either its hopes or predictions, but it is 
unanimous that the implications of possible outcomes should be examined 
and considered in advance. It is as much in the national interest to be 
ready should Conference progress stall as it is in the national interest to 
work for successful international agreement. 
BACKGROUND 
Eighty-six states met at Geneva in 1958 to address questions having to 
do with the appropriate breadth of the territorial sea and the zone con- 
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