98 



Mr. Salmon. Senator, this experience you relate is similar to that 

 which was discussed and served as the purpose and l)asis for the item 

 in annex 1 of tlie convention that Mr. Leitzell referred to. 



The operation of the convention indicates that the Government of 

 Japan, or any other government, should institute domestic legislation 

 to require that nets not be dumped under any conditions, except in an 

 emergency, and it is my current knowledge that the Japanese domestic 

 legislation on ocean dumping does not include tliis specific item. 



However, it is my understanding that they intend to ratify the con- 

 vention. They have a couple of other problems that the convention 

 ])resents and that they must undertake before implementing domestic 

 legislation to control such disposal. 



Senator Stevens. Pardon me. I don't know if you know it, but the 

 chairman, and Senator Kennedy, and I, and several other Senators 

 will be inti-oducing legislation today to take unilateral action to extend 

 the jurisdiction of the United States out beyond the 12-mile limit. 



I think many of us are getting weary of waiting for the international 

 community to set up any form of policing of these areas that arc 

 oifshore — off our shores in particular — and periodically, I inform the 

 Senate the mmiber of foreign vessels off the coast of Alaska. I think 

 sometimes that I ought to put all these people who are going to go to 

 the law of the sea conference on a plane and take you up there, right 

 about now, and let you see one of the vessels. 



I will show you one that has a 14-story a])artment building in the 

 bow — not in tlie stem, but in the bow. They have so much gear in the 

 stern, that they put the people up front. Their smallest vessel is larger 

 than the largest xlmerican vessel in the AVest Coast fleet. 



You have" no comprehension of what is up there unless you go see 

 it. You can talk all you want about the East Coast vessel operations. 

 Those are comparatively small. The West Coast are smaller in number, 

 but you ought to see the size of them. I am going to suggest that to 

 the Secretary, that before you people go over there, you go up and 

 take a look at what is going on in the North Pacific. One fishing fleet 

 took a billion pounds of one species of fish out of the North Pacific 

 in 1 year, and at the time we are limiting the taking of ocean mammals, 

 they are taking all the food of the ocean mammals. 



There are more ocean mammals that are going to die of malnutrition 

 than have been harvested in the past. Unless we do something about 

 the foreign fishing, there aren't going to be any more mammals in the 

 North Pacific after a while. 



I really think that the solution lies ultimately in the law of the sea 

 conference. If they get some teeth in these laws, then these foreign 

 nations enforce them. But if they don't, there are some of us here Avho 

 say we should follow our neighbor Canada and go a little bit further 

 aiid exert unilateral jurisdiction out there and force that jurisdiction 

 as far as antipollution activities are concerned. 



I know we are not very welcome at the law of the sea conference 

 with those attitudes, but we are really in a state of despair in the North 

 Pacific now. "\Ve don't know what to do. The runs are disappearing, 

 tlie fish I'uns ai-e disappeai-ing. their food stocks are declining, the 

 increased pollution activities are obvious to anybody, and yet we see 

 nothing being achieved except, with due respect to you gentlemen, 

 more talk on the international scene. 



