466 
Within a decade, the king crab fishery in the eastern Bering Sea 
which was a ‘“‘monopoly” of the Soviet Union and Japan has become 
a completely American-operated fishery. In 1964, when the fishery 
was unregulated, Japan had caught 5.9 million crabs (67 percent) 
of the total all-nation catch of 8.8 million crabs, the Soviet Union 
2.8 million (32 percent) and the United States 123,000 crabs (1 
percent). A decade later, in 1974 the ratio of US. catch vs. foreign 
catch was completely reversed, with U.S. fishermen harvesting 8.6 
million crabs (95 percent) of the total catch. This resource is in 
good condition today. 
The Soviet Union and Japan have been allotted small king crab 
catch quotas for the 1975 and 1976 seasons but they did not engage 
in the king crab fisheries in 1975 since the quotas do not support 
a viable economic operation. They are also not expected to fish for 
king crabs in 1976. In fact, the Soviet Union has not engaged in 
the crab fisheries for either the king or tanner crabs in the eastern 
Bering Sea since 1972 when the use of tangle nets was prohibited. 
The only foreign fishery presently prosecuted by a foreign country 
for U.S. continental shelf resources is that of Japan for tanner crab. 
It should be noted that this resource is very large and in excellent 
condition. 
NORTHEAST PACIFIC FISHERIES AGREEMENT 
In 1966, the United States established a contiguous fisheries zone 
extending 9 miles beyond the 3-mile territorial sea, within which zone 
the United States has the same rights over fisheries as in the territorial 
sea (Public Law 89-659). Foreign vessels which were able to fish 
freely to 3 miles off the U.S. coast prior to the enactment of this 
law were prohibited from fishing within the contiguous fisheries zone 
except as may be provided by international agreement. Accordingly, 
the United States began to negotiate bilateral agreements with those 
countries fishing off the U.S. coast, namely Japan and the Soviet 
Union, regarding fishing in the zone. In the course of these negotia- 
tions, the United States sought to establish areas on the high seas 
beyond the 9-mile fisheries zone where U.S. fishermen could fish 
without hindrance from the activities of foreign fishermen. Since such 
arrangements involved concessions from rights under international law, 
the United States agreed in turn to permit the continuation of foreign 
fishing in certain limited areas in the 9-mile zone which had the 
least impact on the U.S. fisheries. In addition, loading and cargo 
transfer activities were permitted in a number of localities within 
the contiguous fisheries zone. 
The first Pacific Coast bilateral agreement with the Soviet Union 
relating to the newly-established 9-mile zone was negotiated in Febru- 
ary 1967. It provided for closed areas to be established on the high 
seas so as to provide opportunities for U.S. fishermen to fish un- 
molested from the activities of Soviet trawling activities, permitted 
Soviet fishermen to conduct fishing and loading operations in certain 
localities in the U.S. fisheries zone and provided for cooperative scien- 
tific studies on species of mutual concern. 
This agreement, along with the Kodiak Gear Agreement and the 
Crab Agreement, has been renegotiated every 1 or 2 years. In each 
succeeding negotiation, the United States has attempted to modify, 
improve, and strengthen the conservation measures for all stocks in 
the light of experiences and scientific information amassed in the 
previous years, as well as to provide increased protection for and 
