Chapter 4 An International Legal-Political Framework for Exploiting 

 the Living Resources of the High Seas 



I. OBJECTIVES OF FRAMEWORK 



Any framework for exploring the living re- 

 sources of the oceans must be judged by the 

 extent to which it achieves the following objec- 

 tives: 



a. It must encourage the development of the 

 vast food reserves of the sea at the lowest possible 

 cost in order "to help end the tragic cycles of 

 famine and despair." 



b. It must promote the orderly and economi- 

 cally efficient exploitation of these living re- 

 sources, with adequate regard for their conserva- 

 tion. 



c. It must give the United States and its 

 nationals a fair chance to engage in the exploita- 

 tion of these resources and make it possible to 

 rehabilitate our commercial fisheries. 



d. It must otherwise promote national security 

 and welfare by not interfering unduly with uses of 

 the sea for purposes other than the exploitation of 

 its living resources. 



e. It must not provoke international conflict 

 but should contribute positively to international 

 order, welfare and equity. 



f. It must be consistent with foreign policy 

 objectives of the United States. 



Judged by these standards, the panel concludes 

 that the existing framework is seriously deficient. 



II. EXISTING FRAMEWORK 



Each coastal State, unless limited by treaty, has 

 permanent, exclusive access to the living resources 

 found in its internal or territorial waters. While the 

 freedom of fishing is one of the specified freedoms 

 of the high seas, it is beclouded by the lack of 

 agreement with respect to the breadth of the 

 territorial sea and by the extravagant claims made 

 by some States with respect to its breadth and that 

 of the exclusive fisheries zone. The United States 

 claims permanent, exclusive access to the living 

 resources of the seas up to 12 miles from the 

 baselines from which the breadth of the territorial 

 sea is measured. 



The freedom of fishing is also limited by 

 bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements 



and restricted by the coastal State's recognized 

 right of exclusive access to the Uving, sedentary 

 species on the continental shelf. 



Appendix B to the report describes the prin- 

 cipal international treaties and other agreements 

 relating to fisheries to which the United States is a 

 party. 



III. EVALUATION OF EXISTING FRAME- 

 WORK 



A. The Fishery Conventions 



1 . United States Stake in Fishery Conventions to 

 Which It Is a Party 



The value of the total United States catch of 

 fish and shellfish in 1967 was $438.3 million.^ It 

 is difficult to estimate the value of the United 

 States fishermen's catch in areas governed by 

 international fishery conventions to which the 

 United States is a party. But there is agreement 

 that it accounts for a very appreciable portion of 

 the value of the total United States catch and is 

 growing in importance. Moreover, the fishery 

 conventions also affect United States companies 

 operating under foreign flags in areas covered by 

 the conventions, as well as imports from these 

 areas in which United States companies have no 

 interest.^ 



2. Objectives of Fishery Conventions 



The dominant purpose of practically all the 

 fishery conventions is to conserve the living 

 resources of the sea. This purpose is variously 

 stated as the attainment of the "maximum sus- 

 tained catches year after year," "maximum sus- 

 tained yield," "maximum sustainable produc- 

 tivity," "greatest harvest year after year." The 

 Geneva Convention on Fishing and Conservation 

 of the Living Resources of the High Seas states 

 its objective as the attainment of the "optimum 



^Fisheries in the U.S., 1967, at 3. (U.S. Department of 

 the Interior, 1968). 



^Seventy-one percent of the United States domestic 

 supply of fishery products was imported in 1967. Id. at 



VIII-45 



